Team CS-M from The Prince Royal’s College, Chiang Mai are Thailand’s first-ever high school winners with health tech that enables anyone to self-check for signs of cardiovascular diseases through an accessible combination of AI app and smartphone
BANGKOK, 10 March 2023 – Microsoft Thailand has named team CS-M from The Prince Royal’s College as the winners of the Imagine Cup Thailand 2023, making them the first high-school students to secure the top prize at the national-level competition. The winning innovation is CS-M Tool (Cardiac Self-Monitoring Tool), a heart disease detector that turns AI technology, a stethoscope and a smartphone into a tool that enables anyone to regularly check the condition of their hearts and potentially reveal signs of illnesses or abnormalities. The AI behind the app is capable of analyzing heartbeat patterns and rhythms before presenting its findings as a dashboard that shows risk levels for cardiovascular diseases based on abnormalities detected. This can potentially increase the likelihood of survival for patients or those at risk of heart diseases through regular self-assessments.
The CS-M team carried out a trial run of the technology with over 34,000 potential users and conducted focus-group testing with support from Chiang Mai University’s Medicine and Engineering faculties, both of which helped supply and validate a data set of 4,000 heartbeat audio recordings while also working with the project’s medical and engineering advisors in training the AI to understand heartbeat patterns and their connections to cardiovascular diseases. The team was ultimately selected as the winner out of 38 competing teams from schools and universities nationwide.
The Microsoft Imagine Cup competition has been held annually for over 21 years to encourage students to turn their creativity into impactful technology that makes our world better. The competition today features submissions across four categories – Earth, Education, Health, and Lifestyle. During the competition, participating teams receive training from Microsoft experts and meet up with other teams to exchange their knowledge and ideas. In addition to the valuable experience and prize money on offer, winning teams will have an opportunity to bring their inspirations to life with Microsoft technologies and funding.
Mr. Vasupon Thankakan, Microsoft Azure Business Group Director for Microsoft Thailand, said, “Health is a priority for people around the world – and heart diseases continue to be a major issue. Data from the Ministry of Public Health[1] indicates that Thailand is losing an average of 7 people per hour – or about 58,681 per year – to cardiovascular conditions, which can appear in any age range. This is a very high number, and the ability to get a basic heart check-up – the more often the better – can be vital to solving this problem. The question we face is how to make this happen through technology, and CS-M team’s innovation is a project that hits the mark. It is easy for patients to use. Anyone with a smartphone can access the app, which has AI embedded and is enhanced by the capabilities of the cloud. Microsoft remains committed to enhancing the skills of next-generation Thai talent as they use technology to improve quality of life in every aspect – a goal that is highly aligned with our “AI for Good” and “AI for All” programs. On behalf of Microsoft Thailand, I would like to offer congratulations to the winning team, and I hope that every participant can build upon their accomplishments in the Imagine Cup to make even greater impact in the future.”
Mr. Jeerawat Kulsapudom, Chief Growth Officer at AppliCAD Public Limited Company, said, “I believe that technological progress can be measured by its capacity to enhance the standard of living for people at all levels of society. This is especially evident when technological innovation is applied to a viable concept and implemented effectively. As a representative of the judging panel that has witnessed the growth of Imagine Cup Thailand and the novel ideas from participants down the years, I feel that this win is a major step for the team in realizing their ambition to make an impact on society with technology. This innovative app combines simple-to-use hardware with software that is well thought out both in the front end and backend, which puts the entire project in position to take advantage of AI capabilities and grow even further. I and everyone else on the panel of judges deeply appreciate the chance to be part of this creation and the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition.”
The CS-M team, winners of Imagine Cup Thailand 2023, comprises four Grade 11 students: Mr. Tanapat Charunworaphan, Mr. Noppawit Chunram, Mr. Matt Tanthai Cosh and Mr. Lenny Thomas from The Prince Royal’s College, Chiang Mai province. The four students developed the Cardiac Self-Monitoring Tool by modifying a stethoscope to work with smartphones before bringing AI in for analysis of the audio recording produced. This combination of software and hardware can accurately interpret and analyze a user’s heartbeat, and its simplicity makes regular self-checkups a possibility for anyone – including those living in far-flung communities where access to healthcare may be limited. The team’s outstanding achievement in creating this cutting-edge technology has earned them a cash prize of 1,000 USD.
Mr. Tanapat Charunworaphan, head of the CS-M team, said, “As more people make their health and well-being a priority, we can see that heart diseases are collectively the number one health concern globally, contributing to a significant number of deaths worldwide. Unfortunately, more than 80% of heart-related deaths occur without any prior medical consultation. This can be attributed to the difficulty in identifying symptoms and signs of risk, a shortage of specialized medical practitioners, and the absence of an accessible self-diagnosis tool. To address this pressing issue, we carried out extensive research and development efforts to design an innovative solution that can screen individuals based on the risk of developing heart diseases, enabling them to go through preliminary assessment before receiving medical treatment. We developed a stethoscope that can work alongside our app on a smartphone over a period of almost two years. Throughout that time, we offered patients with cardiovascular illnesses, students, and the elderly at care homes the opportunity to try out our solution in blind tests. Our efforts yielded excellent results with an accuracy rate of approximately 90% in assessing the heart’s condition. We believe that our product has the potential to revolutionize healthcare access for individuals of all ages – particularly those in remote areas or with limited access to medical facilities, who will have the opportunity to use this tool for initial self-diagnosis and increase their chances of survival.”
Mrs. Rungkan Wangboon, Head of the Project for The Development of Intelligent Learners in Technology at The Prince Royal’s College and the team’s advisor, added: “We would like to express our gratitude to Microsoft and the Imagine Cup competition for providing a platform that fosters the development of creative problem-solving skills among students and promotes the use of technology in a world-class competition. This competition has played a significant role in their growth – not just as developers but also as innovators making a difference for society. Through this competition, our students have been able to witness firsthand the exceptional talents of their peers, inspiring them to strive for excellence and leverage technology to address the needs of society in their future endeavors.”
In addition to CS-M team as the winners, the Imagine Cup Thailand 2023 competition concluded with O-RA Team from The Prince Royal’s College as first runners-up and IMAGINE CARE Team – with members from Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi – as second runners-up. CS-M will go on to represent Thailand at the highly anticipated World Championships taking place in Seattle, USA in May 2023. This global event will bring together some of the brightest young talents from across the world to compete for the coveted Imagine Cup, complete with a grand prize of 100,000 USD.