BiteSense wins Rep. Darin LaHood’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in Illinois’ 16th District

When asked what inspired the creation of BiteSense, the students said, “BiteSense was born out of a very personal experience; one of our close friends was hospitalized after being bitten by a bug they were allergic to. They were unable to identify the type of bite despite being aware that they had a severe allergy, which caused a dangerous allergic reaction and delayed the necessary treatment. We learned how easily bug bites can be misidentified and how important it is to get timely, accurate information to prevent serious health risks as a result of this incident. Seeing our friend’s hardship inspired us to come up with a solution that might help keep others from going through what they had. In addition to accurately identifying bug bites, we wanted to develop a tool that would provide tailored treatment recommendations. We discovered that many people experience the same level of uncertainty when it comes to recognizing bug bites, particularly those who have allergies or reside in regions where insect-borne illnesses are common. 

We came together to create BiteSense in response to this need for easily accessible, real-time information. We saw a chance to use artificial intelligence to develop an app that could instantly analyze a bite image and produce results, providing a precise and user-friendly tool for bite identification by utilizing a convolutional neural network (CNN) model that had been trained on a sizable dataset of bug bite photos. In addition to identification, we wanted to offer users personalized, real-time treatment recommendations based on the type of bite so they could act right away. Our goal with BiteSense is to lessen the fear and anxiety that frequently accompany getting bitten by an unfamiliar insect. It was evident from our friend’s experience that prompt detection and suitable action could mean the difference between a medical emergency and a manageable reaction. We’ve developed a tool that we believe will provide users with peace of mind and avoid circumstances similar to the one our friend encountered.”