MU'S RESEARCH TEAM WINS FIRST PLACE IN A HACKATHON ON HEALTH INNOVATION

A group of MU students won first place in the hackathon launched by King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) at the National Guard in Riyadh. More than 60 innovative projects from 13 Saudi universities participated in the hackathon. 

MU's project in the hackathon was a device for drying and fixing medical tissues, which operates with the ideal heating system on medical laboratory slides fixed on wax paraffin tissues, which require accurate and consistent heat to keep the tissues fixed during laboratory experiments on slides, as well as making dyes after the fixation process on them.

The team included students from MU and King Saud University under the supervision of Prof. Raed Al-Baraadi, and they are Ahmed Al-Darweesh, Ayed Al-Shammari, Jaser bin Boaijan, Mohammed Al-Mohareb and Ghala bin Rashood. 

The device was manufactured at an economic cost that allows it to enter the competition for the industrial markets for medical devices. The device, which costs 340 SR, is way cheaper than devices with similar functions. The approximate price for a device used for the drying and fixation process could reach up to 6000 SR. 

The research team also included Mr. Saud Al-Ateeq and Mr. Isa Al-Isa from King Khalid Hospital, and Mr. Fahad Al-Suwayed from the Ministry of Health. 

This achievement is attributed to the generous fund of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Tuwaijari Research Chair for Stroke.