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I feel like I keep seeing these as science fair wins and innovation award wins, but where are they in real life? Are they making it to (the biomedical equivalen

I feel like I keep seeing these as science fair wins and innovation award wins, but where are they in real life? Are they making it to (the biomedical equivalent of) prod?

Prcmaker 6y ago
I work for a winner of a similar type of award. The tech quite predictably went nowhere. There was an initial surge of interest and funding, all of which was squandered. Primary issues ignored while making more science fair demonstrations with deal-breaker issues of their own. It's been a ride, I'm looking for work.
- whatshisface 6y ago
  How successful do you think someone could be by picking up the ashes of the great-idea flareouts, and re-executing them with competent scientific and business practices?
  - Prcmaker 6y ago
    Some of the most simple things are ready to become products, but they're sitting on a shelf. We've had widespre commercial interest, but it seems the boss isn't interested in small things. The more complex and involved ideas have a long way to go, even if there were people dedicated to solving the problems. I doubt a solution exists that will work outside of the lab. I'm sure we would have been better selling hundreds of cheaper sensors than zero complex ones.
redis_mlc 6y ago
In the US, the FDA usually has to approve medical devices like this. 23 and Me was paused while they talked to the FDA. The cloud connection of the award winner is of some concern. Should you include PII and a sample, US health insurers could use that against you in the future for pre-existing conditions. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics/direct-consumer-tests https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics/direct...
- scatters 6y ago
  Isn't it insurance fraud to fail to report a pre-existing condition anyway? Are you suggesting that people engage in fraud?
  - k_sze 6y ago
    Consider this: when you initially submitted your data, the NN said you’re fine, and so you forget about it. Later on, the NN is tweaked and would say you actually probably have cancer, but you don’t know because you never bother checking again. The insurance companies get their hands on those results. You’re not committing fraud (because you don’t know), but now the insurance companies are more reluctant to sell you insurance. (To be fair, I don’t think the insurance companies are allowed to discriminate against you using only that data. They probably need an official, recognized diagnosis from a real human doctor.)
  - redis_mlc 6y ago
    1) Some US insurers consider acne and pregnancy pre-existing conditions and have denied claims. 2) Most people don't know their genetic pre-dispositions. Oh, and stop being a dick.
hobofan 6y ago
I feel like "innovation award" wins are a strong predictor that you won't see something in real life, as it may indicate that the founders are chasing PR rather than focusing their efforts on building a real product.

I feel like I keep seeing these as science fair wins and innovation award wins, but where are they in real life? Are they making it to (the biomedical equivalent of) prod?

Prcmaker 6y ago

I work for a winner of a similar type of award. The tech quite predictably went nowhere. There was an initial surge of interest and funding, all of which was squandered. Primary issues ignored while making more science fair demonstrations with deal-breaker issues of their own. It's been a ride, I'm looking for work.

whatshisface 6y ago
How successful do you think someone could be by picking up the ashes of the great-idea flareouts, and re-executing them with competent scientific and business practices?
- Prcmaker 6y ago
  Some of the most simple things are ready to become products, but they're sitting on a shelf. We've had widespre commercial interest, but it seems the boss isn't interested in small things. The more complex and involved ideas have a long way to go, even if there were people dedicated to solving the problems. I doubt a solution exists that will work outside of the lab. I'm sure we would have been better selling hundreds of cheaper sensors than zero complex ones.

redis_mlc 6y ago

In the US, the FDA usually has to approve medical devices like this. 23 and Me was paused while they talked to the FDA. The cloud connection of the award winner is of some concern. Should you include PII and a sample, US health insurers could use that against you in the future for pre-existing conditions. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics/direct-consumer-tests https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics/direct...

scatters 6y ago
Isn't it insurance fraud to fail to report a pre-existing condition anyway? Are you suggesting that people engage in fraud?
- k_sze 6y ago
  Consider this: when you initially submitted your data, the NN said you’re fine, and so you forget about it. Later on, the NN is tweaked and would say you actually probably have cancer, but you don’t know because you never bother checking again. The insurance companies get their hands on those results. You’re not committing fraud (because you don’t know), but now the insurance companies are more reluctant to sell you insurance. (To be fair, I don’t think the insurance companies are allowed to discriminate against you using only that data. They probably need an official, recognized diagnosis from a real human doctor.)
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  1) Some US insurers consider acne and pregnancy pre-existing conditions and have denied claims. 2) Most people don't know their genetic pre-dispositions. Oh, and stop being a dick.

hobofan 6y ago

I feel like "innovation award" wins are a strong predictor that you won't see something in real life, as it may indicate that the founders are chasing PR rather than focusing their efforts on building a real product.