AIIMS and IIITH conducts an AI for healthcare hackathon, bringing together doctors and techies

AIIMS Bibinagar and CIE (Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at IIIT Hyderabad) hosted the MedCare AI Impact Hackathon — a unique innovation challenge designed to empower doctors, medical students, and health researchers to tackle real-world clinical problems through deep tech research led innovation.

The day-long event saw participation from 17 shortlisted teams, representing doctors, medical faculty, researchers, and students. The program aimed to bridge clinical expertise with AI-driven research and development by nurturing healthcare innovations directly from the field. Launched as a grassroots initiative by AIIMS Bibinagar, the hackathon focused on building clinical tools, diagnostics, patient care apps, and new care delivery models.

Participants received intensive 1:1 mentorship, attended expert lectures, and collaborated with IIIT Hyderabad faculty and startups during the immersive sessions. The event featured two tracks - one for medical practitioners and another for med-tech researchers. Through table mentoring sessions, idea refinement workshops, and guided pitch preparation, participants translated practical challenges from their clinical environments into scalable AI-powered healthcare solutions.

The top five finalist ideas showcased smart dental diagnostics, post-RCT dental canal defect detection using ML/CV, Portable dental caries scanner, predictive analytics for patient care and surgical planning technologies.

Dr. Ahanthem Santa Singh, Executive Director of AIIMS Bibinagar, addressed the gathering, applauding the collaborative innovation model between AIIMS and IIITH.

Prof. Bapi Raju, Professor & Head Cognitive Sciences at IIIT Hyderabad, added: "The MedCare AI Impact Hackathon program demonstrates how deep tech research and clinical practice can intersect to create impactful healthcare innovation.”

Mr. Satish Kathirisetti, Seasoned Entrepreneur & Chief Mentor for medtech startups at CIE, added: "The MedCare AI Impact Hackathon reflects CIE’s vision of fostering innovation at the intersection of healthcare and technology. By empowering medical professionals to co-develop AI-driven solutions, we’re building a foundation for long-term impact in clinical practice and public health.”

The top winning teams will now be supported with: Access to a POC seed grant of ₹5 lakh; First prototype and tech/research support from IIIT-H research labs; Access to the joint CIE-AIIMS incubation track for continued mentoring and market discovery.

Annexure: The final 17 teams and ideas

AI Dent Triage - AI Dent multimodal AI triage platform designed to assist dentists by developing and validating clinical workflows that integrate intraoral photographs, RVG images, and OPG scans.

Neuro Risk - Neuro Risk is an AI-powered tool that analyzes dental X-rays to help dentists assess nerve injury risk before lower wisdom tooth surgeries. It automatically detects signs of nerve proximity using panoramic radiographs.

NeoScreen AI - NeoScreen AI is an AI-powered smartphone app for early EHBA detection, this solution analyzes stool images using deep learning. Built for rural India, it supports offline use, daily monitoring, and public health system integration.

Enamel Eyes - Portable Dental Aids - Aims to evaluate a customized portable dental caries detection aid by comparing its performance against clinical diagnoses, to support broader clinical adoption.

AI Network - AI Network is building a portable device that provides real-time monitoring of end-tidal CO₂ and respiratory flow, enabling accurate ventilation assessment in critical care, transport, and field settings.

Jam Avinya - Jam Avinya develops a machine learning model for diagnosing facial asymmetry using individually facial photographs and radiographs.Snoozelad - Snoozelad is a low-cost, portable vital signs monitor with alerts designed for rural clinics to detect danger signs early and save lives.

Safeped AI - Safeped AI is an AI-powered Paediatric Surgical Safety Checklist tailored to the unique needs of paediatric surgery in India.

Theronex - Theronex is developing an AI-powered tool that delivers clinical-grade skin analysis at home using smartphone-based fluorescence imaging.

TMJ 3D View - TMJ 3D View is an Advanced algorithm for automated 3D segmentation of the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) and disc from MRI DICOM data, enabling faster diagnosis of TMDs and disc displacement by non-specialist clinicians.

Gluco Pulse: IoT Enabled Smart Self Diagnostic - Gluco Pulse is a Smart 3D-printed mouthguard prosthesis with embedded biosensors that continuously monitors salivary glucose levels &transmits real-time data to a smartphone app for non-invasive diabetes mgmt

Geriatric Care - detection of emotional stress - Developing an AI-powered system that integrates facial expressions, vocal tones, and physiological signals to detect emotional distress in elderly patients.

AI based Anemia Screening Device - A non-invasive anaemia screening tool that uses smartphone-based imaging and AI to detect anaemia in children aged 1 month to 18 years

AI Endo - Developing a Deep learning-based tool using YOLOv5 architecture to accurately segment second mesiobuccal (MB2) canals in maxillary molars from CBCT scans.