Qualcomm, renowned for its role in developing next-generation mobile technologies, wants to know if you have the X factor when it comes to innovative device design. Through its X Prize Foundation, the company has launched the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, a competition aimed at spurring the development of innovative consumer products that demonstrate the intersection of diagnostic technology and mobile platforms.

Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, the competition draws inspiration from the high-tech, handheld gadget dubbed the Tricorder featured in Star Trek. “Healthcare today certainly falls far short of the vision portrayed in Star Trek. By sponsoring the Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE competition, the Qualcomm Foundation will stimulate the imaginations of entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, and doctors to create wireless health services and technologies that improve lives, increase consumer access to healthcare, and drive efficiencies in the healthcare system,” says Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm chairman and CEO. “This competition will accelerate the development of tools that can empower consumers to take charge of their own bodies and manage their own care.”

Dovetailing with the rising interest of mobile health and the shift in care from clinicians to consumers in many cases, the contest requires teams to develop "a mobile platform that most accurately diagnoses a set of 15 diseases across 30 consumers in three days. Teams must also deliver this information in a way that provides a compelling consumer experience while capturing real-time, critical health metrics, such as blood pressure, respiratory rate, and temperature."

Achieving these lofty goals for integrated diagnostic technology won't be easy, though. In fact, CNET reports that the foundation expects that it will take roughly three to eight years for a team to develop the winning design. But if successful, it will be a giant leap forward in health technology. And in an effort to promote innovation, design requirements do not appear to be especially demanding: The mass of the device's components together has to weigh no more than five pounds, for example. On the other hand, there is no limit to the number of discrete components employed in the device. Systems must include the ability to store and share data via the Internet, and consumer safety guidelines and protocols must be followed, according to the foundation.

Scanadu, a Silicon Valley startup, is already eyeing the prize, developing a handheld sensor that would allow parents to monitor their children's vital signs and conditions from home. So, put your thinking caps on and see if your trusted engineering team could revolutionize healthcare and take home a cool $10 million in the process. For more information on the competition, including rules and overviews, visit the foundation's site.