AI Watches Over People in Medically Underserved Areas!

ad-dice Co., Ltd. (CEO: Daisuke Ito / Headquarters: Taito City, Tokyo)  announces that its healthcare AI solution "ResQ AI," is being used in Bolivia to monitor the health of expectant and nursing mothers living in medically underserved areas with the support of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency / President: Akihiko Tanaka / Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) and IDB Lab, Inter-American Development Bank Group, on October 17, 2024.

ad-dice will continue striving to realize a society where all people are well-being through healthcare AI solutions based on its proprietary AI platform technology, “SoLoMoN® Technology” (Patent No. 6302954).

Bolivia is located in the center of the South American continent, with approximately 10 million people living in a land area more than three times the size of Japan. Medical resources are concentrated in large cities, and securing medical services for people scattered across the country has been a longstanding issue.

In particular, the maternal mortality rate is the second highest in South America at 161 per 100,000 live births (compared to 4 per 100,000 in Japan*). JICA has been working on a technical cooperation project to strengthen maternal and child health in Bolivia for over 20 years, and the maternal mortality rate has been steadily improving.

*Unicef “White Paper on the World's Children 2020”

However, the maternal mortality rate has not yet reached Global Indicator 3-1, which aims to “Reduce the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030” as part of SDG Goal 3.

In November 2021, the healthcare AI “ResQ AI” was selected for the “Open Innovation Challenge TSUBASA” by JICA and IDB Lab, the Inter-American Development Bank Group. With the support of both organizations, ad-dice launched an initiative to solve healthcare-related social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean region using its proprietary AI technology. 

In this context, we have focused on maternal health management, aiming to avoid such problems as pregnancy-induced hypertension and postpartum depression that endanger the lives of both mother and child, especially for mothers who have difficulty accessing medical care. Since the introduction from IDB Lab, we have been working with CIES, a Bolivian NGO providing health and medical services related to women's pregnancy and childbirth since 1987. 

In 2024, with the aim to further reduce the maternal mortality rate, we began a social demonstration of maternal health monitoring with CIES as the implementing entity under financial support from IDB Lab.

(1) Monitoring Mechanism

CIES provides a smartwatch (ResQ Band) to pregnant women who wish to receive it. The smartwatch measures vital data and sends it to ResQ AI in the cloud.

ResQ AI is based on ad-dice's proprietary SoLoMoN🄬 Technology. It analyzes vital data, captures and visualizes abnormal values and disease risks, and notifies the user with alerts and other information.

Medical institutions can check the health status of pregnant and nursing mothers at any time on the AI platform, and medical professionals can assist mothers if they detect any danger signs.

(2) Advantages

ResQ AI offers the following advantages to both expectant and nursing mothers and medical institutions:

Expectant and nursing mothers:

• Receive medical oversight while in an area with limited access to medical care

• Use the system by simply wearing a smartwatch, even if they have limited knowledge or experience, such as those with young pregnancies

• Notice the risk of abnormality or disease at an early stage, and medical intervention can be provided as needed, allowing them to go through pregnancy and delivery with peace of mind

Medical Institutions:

• Monitor the health status of expectant and nursing mothers in remote locations

• Make more comprehensive decisions by not only during face-to-face consultations but also 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, uninterrupted health status

• Manage users' vital data centrally, enabling quick detection of those who may be unwell and prompt countermeasures.

In this way, ResQ AI reduces the maternal mortality rate in medically underserved areas.

ResQ AI is an easy-to-implement SaaS-based AI solution.

All you need is a PC to use the AI platform in the cloud via a browser.

Fees are monthly subscription-based. No initial investment is required to get started.

There is no need to hire or outsource experts for AI operations. Only on-site personnel are required to operate the system.

General AI requires the assistance of AI experts, such as data scientists, each time it is updated for re-learning. This generates time-consuming work and costs. However, ad-dice's AI does not require the permanent employment of an AI specialist because it automatically updates itself through the patented “SoLoMoN Technology.”

Urban population concentration is a global issue, not limited to Bolivia. Currently, 55% of the world's population lives in cities, and the United Nations estimates that this percentage will increase to 70% by 2050.

While urban population concentration is happening, the issue of “unequal access to health and medical services” is becoming more apparent in depopulated areas. Remote health management holds great promise as a means to solve this issue, as it allows people living in depopulated areas to receive enough health and medical services while remaining in their residences.

ResQ AI is a healthcare AI solution that contributes to solving this global issue by improving the quality of care for residents through remote healthcare technology, even when resources such as medical professionals and equipment are limited.

It is estimated that 1 to 2 billion people worldwide are facing unequal access to health and medical services.

In developed countries, there is a shortage of medical facilities and personnel in rural areas, making access to advanced treatments and specialist physicians difficult. Additionally, an aging population is increasing the demand for home care and community medicine, but the supply of these services is not keeping pace with the market demand (*1).

In middle-developed countries, the shortage of medical personnel in rural areas is exacerbated as young people migrate to urban areas (*2).

In developing countries, many regions lack medical facilities in depopulated areas, resulting in high infant mortality rates due to inadequate maternal and child health care (*3).

We believe that securing health and medical services for people in underpopulated areas represents a significant global market. We are committed to improving the well-being of these individuals through ResQ AI.

Well-being management is crucial for companies in risk management, employee retention, and enhancing employer benefits.

ResQ AI is expected to be used by companies and organizations that consider well-being management as a solution to address both mental and physical health issues.

＜Reference＞ 

Developed Under the Supervision of Doctors 

ResQ AI has been developed together with medical professionals affiliated with universities such as the University of Tokyo, the National Hospital Organization, and others. Health management using wearable IoT has been developed under the supervision of Dr. Yasunori Ohta of the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo. 

About “SoLoMoN Technology,” the AI platform technology

ad-dice's proprietary AI platform technology, “SoLoMoN® Technology (Patent No. 6302954,)” is an AI-based autonomous environmental management technology. AI learns to evaluate and intervene in “environment + habits = lifestyle” based on experts' intuition and experience, enabling predictive control. ad-dice will continue to take on the challenge of solving various social issues with SoLoMoN Technology.

About TSUBASA, an Open Innovation Challenge by JICA and IDB Lab

TSUBASA (Transformational Start Ups' Business Acceleration for the SDGs Agenda) is an open innovation challenge organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and IDB Lab, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group.

It aims to support Japanese start-ups with innovative ideas and high expertise in developing their businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean, contributing to achieving the SDGs.　

<Reference＞

• JICA article: Summary of Open Innovation Challenge TSUBASA2021
• JICA article: JICA and IDB Lab's start-up support in Latin America and the Caribbean, and subsequent progress in commercialization (2023.09.11)
• Inter-American Development Bank Group and IDB Lab

＜Company Profile＞

ad-dice  Co., Ltd.

Representative: Daisuke Ito, CEO and Representative Director

Address: Head Office: IT Akihabara Building 1F, 5-4-2 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005, Japan

　　　SoLoMoN Labo 3F MK Building, 6-3-6 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021

Establishment: 2005 (Heisei 17)

Business: Provision of business management services using artificial intelligence and consulting to support implementation

For more information about ad-dice's AI solutions, please send your inquiries to

https://sites.google.com/ad-dice.com/behavioral-health-ai/contact