Pittsburgh Winner Codes to Help Grandfather
Success Stories
Sritej Padmanabhan, Pennsylvania Regional Science & Engineering Fair & Broadcom MASTERS
Can Video Analysis of Hand Tremors Aid in Telehealth?
Sritej’s project and passion to help others resulted in being recognized for the 2022 Broadcom Coding with Commitment award while in 8th grade at the Marshall Middle School in Pittsburgh.
Broadcom Coding with Commitment recognizes students in grades 5-8 who combine STEM learning with coding to solve a community problem they care about that aligns with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
He also won First Place in Mathematics at the Broadcom MASTERS competition in Washington DC. He was awarded $3,500 to be used toward a STEM summer camp experience, sponsored by Robert John Floe, President Floe Financial Partners.
“Broadcom MASTERS was an adventure of a lifetime! I learned how STEM can be used in different ways to solve difficult challenges,” said Sritej. “The judges asked great questions and have me thinking about further improvements to my project like machine learning to solve health-related issues. Being part of Broadcom MASTERS has inspired me to continue my STEM journey and I enjoyed becoming friends with all the finalists the most.”
Project Inspiration
While visiting from India last year, Sritej’s grandfather, who has Parkinson’s disease, struggled with hand tremors that affected his daily tasks. His neurologist in India was unable to monitor his condition while he was in the United States which inspired Sritej to figure out how to remotely monitor hand tremors.
Sritej used coding to analyze videos of simulated hand tremors that he recorded. He stored the videos, analyzed the movement, and used machine learning algorithms to track finger movement. His video analysis provided accurate and reliable measures of hand tremors. This capability can improve access to neurologists for underserved and rural communities, aiding in telehealth.
“What I like best about coding is its application to real life analysis -- coding was the basis of my entire project,” says Sritej.
Sritej has many ideas to continue improving his work that will help neurologists diagnose, monitor and treat diseases and hand movement disorders using machine learning and AI algorithms as well as an App for anyone with a smartphone to monitor their health.
Raspberry Pi Foundation has free resources to help anyone learn how to code. Visit the Projects site to get started.
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