$10 portable cholera detection kit (down from $1,000)
Cholera is waterborne, which means it spreads at the community level. Once water is contaminated, everyone who drinks from it is at risk. The existing detection methods are all reactive: by the time you get test results from a lab 5 hours away by car, the outbreak has already spread. There was no way to detect contamination proactively, before people got sick.
We miniaturized a standard biolaboratory cholera detection kit from $1,000 per test down to $10. Using a master mix formulation that dramatically reduces reagent waste, the kit produces results immediately on site. This turns detection from reactive to proactive: communities can test their water before anyone falls ill.
We conducted 50+ stakeholder interviews, including advisors from WHO, Gates Foundation, and UNDP. Field-deployed the kit in India with community-level testing.
The biggest insight was understanding why existing systems were reactive in the first place. It wasn't a technology problem. It was a cost and accessibility problem. When a single test costs $1,000 and requires a lab, of course you only test after people are already sick. Changing the form factor changed the entire logic of when and why you test. That principle, that the shape of the solution determines when it gets used, has influenced how I think about AI deployment too.