A $10 million prize to develop a mobile solution that can diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians has been announced by the X PRIZE Foundation and Qualcomm.

The Tricorder X PRIZE aims to incentivize consumer empowerment in healthcare by extending the reach of health information and services to more people.

The two organizations seek to achieve this by combining advancements in expert systems and medical point-of-care data for sources such as wireless sensors, improved medical-imaging systems, and microfluidics.

The collaboration will bring together experts in technology usability, wireless sensors, cloud computing, and mobile health to accelerate the convergence of these fields.

The winning tool will enable consumers in any location to quickly and effectively assess health conditions, determine if they need professional help and answer the question, “What do I do next?”

The X PRIZE Foundation will be collaborating with industry experts and advisors to complete the Tricorder X PRIZE design in 2011. It expects to launch the competition in early 2012.

Related:
Medical tricorder Wikia