Solution Pitch
The Problem
There are nearly 3 million cases of cholera across 47 countries each year—often caused by contaminated water following a major disaster. This preventable disease costs $2 billion yearly in treatment and lost productivity. Yet current detection technologies are expensive, and it takes nearly a week to get results, leaving at-risk populations vulnerable to widespread outbreaks.
The Solution
OmniVis is transforming cholera detection and response through a testing system that identifies water-based contamination in a mere half-hour. The handheld device combines hardware and a single-use kit. Its findings can generate early warnings of disease hotspots to prevent outbreaks, while highlighting contaminated water for immediate treatment.
After collecting and analyzing available data, the point-of-use device attaches to a smartphone to share detailed results and automated notifications with interested stakeholders, including community leaders and health workers. The cloud-based platform puts public health responders at an advantage: they can use it to proactively control potential outbreaks before they begin and to implement remediation strategies.
Market Opportunity
Cholera affects nearly 3 million people each year, and this number is estimated to be highly underreported. Complementary diagnostics are limited by processing time, lower reliability, and operational inefficiencies. In all, the cholera water detection and surveillance market is estimated to be worth $2 billion.
Partnership Goals
OmniVis currently seeks:
- Advice on how to refine its business and pricing strategy for different clients; and
- Connections to multinational corporations with an interest in diagnostics and disease detection.
Organization Highlights
Some of OmniVis’ notable achievements include:
- A pilot study with a cholera hospital in Bangladesh that will help adapt the product to different markets in Haiti, Kenya, and Bangladesh;
- Media coverage on NPR and in TechCrunch.
Existing Partnerships
OmniVis currently partners with:
- Purdue University, which develops much of the laboratory science behind OmniVis;
- Notre Dame University, which runs OmniVis’ first user-centered design pilot and scientific field testing in Dhaka, Bangladesh alongside Médecins sans Frontières; and
- Emerging Pathogens Institute and Code for Africa, which provided feedback on device improvements and have offered to pilot the device.
Stats
OmniVis reduced cholera detection time from one week to 30 minutes through smartphone-enabled analytics and a novel testing procedure.
Solver Team
Organization Type:
For Profit
Headquarters:
San Francisco, CA, USA
Stage:
Prototype
Working in:
Bangladesh
Employees:
4
Website:
https://www.omnivistech.com/
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LC
Lynne Cheng Head of Operations, OmniVis
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Dr. Katherine Clayton Co-Founder and CEO, OmniVis Inc
Fast, Accurate Disease Detection
Solver OmniVis received the $30,000 UN Women She Innovates Prize for Gender-Responsive Innovation from Members UN Women and Johnson & Johnson in 2019 to develop fast, accurate disease detection and enable rapid response.
Fast, Accurate Disease Detection
Solver OmniVis, which develops fast, accurate disease detection to enable rapid response, received a $10,000 grant from Solve in 2019 for being selected as a Healthy Cities Solver.
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