Tapping on thermal imaging and AI: How S’pore firms are protecting elderly from falls and ‘fingerprinting’ food in seconds

The other winner is ProfilePrint, whose system lets users take digital “fingerprints” of agricultural produce samples within seconds. This allows producers to rapidly ascertain the quality of their crop and share the information electronically, while buyers globally can assess the quality of the produce without having to request for samples to be shipped and tested physically.

ProfilePrint’s solution, which combines sensor technology and an AI system with predictive capabilities, has been deployed in over 50 locations across the globe. ProfilePrint is used to fingerprint any food ingredient, focusing on verticals where quality matters, such as coffee, tea, cocoa, juices, grains and edible oils.

Founder and CEO Alan Lai, an engineer by training, has two patents and another four pending for his system, which promises to revolutionise the onerous processes within the agri-food sector.

Potential to scale and expand overseas

The solutions developed by CoNEX and ProfilePrint can address problems faced by many countries around the world.

According to the United Nations, the number of people aged 65 years or older worldwide is projected to more than double from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050. The number of people aged 80 years or older is growing even faster, putting a strain on healthcare systems.

CoNEX’s Tan says the idea of using thermal imaging to monitor patients came about after her mother suffered a fall and was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

“I happened to speak to the chief nurse about the challenges the nurses were facing in terms of fall prevention. This led to a project with TTSH,” says Tan, who previously developed thermal imaging-based security applications. 

Besides TTSH, the other hospitals using PreSAGE include Changi General, Ng Teng Fong and Mount Elizabeth Novena.

PreSAGE comprises a thermal sensor mounted on the ceiling above each bed that transmits data to a nearby computer, allowing nurses to monitor several patients from a single workstation. The thermal images collected are fed into an AI system to predict when a patient is likely to fall, potentially saving lives. 

As the system becomes more effective as additional information is collected and analysed, Tan believes CoNEX will have an edge over newcomers entering the field.

CoNEX hopes to one day expand PreSAGE’s capabilities to alert nurses to breathing difficulties and other problems a patient might have, doing away with the need for additional sensors or monitors. The system can also be adapted to track patients’ body posture and activity during rehabilitation.

Using technology in innovative ways

Meanwhile, ProfilePrint is making its presence felt in some of the world’s largest agricultural exporters. In Brazil, the firm has signed contracts to deploy its technology with three large food companies to help them ascertain the quality of agricultural products, which can vary sharply across different farms. 

In Tanzania, Cotacof, a large coffee exporter, uses ProfilePrint to assist humans in grading green coffee bean samples and generates AI-powered assessment reports as if human experts have cupped it, within seconds. This enables the company to swiftly identify speciality-grade coffee for export during the Tanzania Coffee Board’s weekly auctions.

ProfilePrint recently added a feature that enables clients to seamlessly send digitalised sample reports through its platform, facilitating instant viewing and approval of sample quality, and eliminating the cumbersome process of sending physical pre-shipment samples for evaluation.

Apart from being a profiling tool, ProfilePrint can also analyse food ingredients like coffee and tea and offer recommendations on how clients can develop new blends without having to manually screen through hundreds of different combinations.

“ProfilePrint’s Al-driven profiling and patented food fingerprinting technology provide users with an accessible, affordable, and portable methodology to predict outcomes at the point of use,” says Cotacof Quality Assurance Supervisor Kudrath Majid.

ProfilePrint recently completed a Series B fundraising led by China’s Tai Partners. Its other investors include Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, Olam, Sinar Mas and Sucafina, which are among the world’s largest agri-commodities firms. 

ProfilePrint has grown rapidly since it was set up in 2018, and its founder Lai hopes to achieve US$100 million (S$132 million) in revenue in five to seven years.