A 29-year-old woman from Chennai has made it to the Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ list in the area of healthcare. Her achievement? She developed a wearable device for those who want to nip their smoking addiction in the bud.
Akshaya Shanmugam, chief executive officer of Lumme Labs, completed her Bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Anna University, Chennai. In 2009, she moved to the United States for a Master’s degrees and PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass).
The product Shanmugam developed is a wearable device which aims to beat addictive behaviour by combining wearable technology, machine learning, and behavioural psychology. The smartwatch monitors the smoker’s behaviour, social interactions, and movements to predict a likely relapse.
It assesses the smoking patterns of the user and predicts when they’re likely to smoke next.
It sends them a notification six minutes before they are likely to smoke by telling them not to light the cigarette.
Shanmugam told The Times of India:
Our platform automatically detects addictive behaviour, predicts indulgence in addictive behaviour, and prevents it by delivering clinically validated interventions. It also helps individuals gain better insights into their daily life and helps them understand the why, how, and what surrounding their lifestyle choices.
Shanmugam set up Lumme Labs in 2015 along with Abhinav Parate and a few professors from UMass and Yale, with the aim of solving the massive smoking addiction problem across the globe.
Lumme has since raised US $1.7 million in non-dilutive funding.
The technology is in the process of being clinically validated, and Shanmugam hopes to launch the product in the market by the summer of 2018. She said this could be included in corporate companies as part of their employee wellness programmes.
She told TOI that being ranked in the Forbes’ list validated the potential of their product and it would drive them to make meaningful contributions to the field of healthcare.
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