European Inventor Awards 2024 (5) – The Winners

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The winners of the European Inventor Awards 2024 were announced earlier, at 12:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST), on July 9th, 2024. The high-tech ceremony was live-streamed online from Valletta, the UNESCO World Heritage Center, and capital city of Malta, in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean, 80 miles from the coast of Sicily. The European Inventor Lifetime Achievement Award was announced, as well as the winning inventors in the four Award categories of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises, Non-European Countries, and Research. The three Young European Inventor finalists were also each awarded cash prizes. Finally, the Popular Prize was announced, with the polling QR Code flashing onscreen live, well into the ceremony. The hyperlinked list of winners is included below:

Lifetime Achievement: 

Dame Carol Vivien Robinson (UK)  (info here)

Invention: Mass spectrometry that has significantly advanced biochemical research and medical diagnostics. 

Industry

Fiorenzo Dioni (IT) and Richard Oberle (DE) (info here)

Invention: Reduction of carbon emissions in automotive manufacturing using high-precision aluminum casting methods. 

Small and Medium Enterprises & Popular Prize (info here)

Olga Malinkiewicz and team (PO)

Invention: Printable solar cell technology that is very cost-effective.  

Non-European Countries

​​Masato Sagawa (JP) (info here)

Invention:  Super strength magnets, crucial to various high-tech applications. 

Research 

Cordelia Schmid (DE) (info here)

Invention: AI solutions for improved machine visual perception.

Young Inventors' Prizes

First place 20,000 euros–Rochelle Niemeijer (NL) (info here)

Invention: Portable AI-driven chemistry kit that quickly identifies bacteria causing infections like urinary tract infections. This invention allows for faster, point-of-service, and more accurate medical treatment decisions.

Second place 10,000 euros–Valentyn Frechka (UA) (info here)

Invention: Method to turn fallen leaves into sustainably made paper, significantly reducing the need for tree harvesting in paper production.

Third place $5000 euros–Khaoula Ben Ahmed, Ghofrane Ayari, Souleima Ben Temime, and Sirine Ayari (TN) (info here)

Invention: Thought, voice and facial movement-driven wheelchair control system, enhancing mobility and autonomy for individuals with severe physical disabilities. 

 

Below, the YouTube video of the 2024  Inventor Award Ceremony. 

Congratulations to all!

This year's European Inventor Awards ceremony was also an occasion to announce sweeping changes to the future European Inventor Awards and Young European Inventor Prizes. Going forward, the Awards and Prizes will take place on alternating years.  Beginning in 2025, Young European Inventors will compete separately for Prizes that will be announced at a ceremony, taking place for the first time in Iceland. Whereas, the next European Inventor Awards competition and ceremony will take place in 2026 (at a hitherto undisclosed location), independently from the Young Inventors competition. The nominations period  for the Young European Inventor Prizes extends from this day through to September 27, 2024.    

References

EPO announces European Inventor Award winners  

https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/news/epo-announces-european-inventor-award-winners

Nominations for the 2025 Young Inventor Prizes

https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/young-inventors-prize/nominations 

European Inventor Awards - The 2021 Finalists

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Each year, since 2006 (except 2020), the European Patent Office has recognized inventors in five categories, within the context of the European Inventor Awards. The five categories of award are Research, Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), Non-European Patent Organization country, and Lifetime Achievement. The EPO just announced the list of the fifteen 2021 Finalists (included below), three in each of the five previously mentioned categories. 

In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Award ceremony promises to be special. Indeed, the ceremony will take place on June 17^th 2021, at 19:00 hours, Central European Summer Time (CEST), in an extended reality mode, including 3D animation, with no pre-registration. In other words, for the first time since the inception of the Awards, the awards ceremony will be open to the public on a global basis, free of charge.  

Considering the new distributed augmented reality format of the 2021 Awards ceremony, the 2021 trophy also promises to be interesting. In the shape of a sail, fabrication of the Inventor Award trophy is always commissioned from local manufacturers, as a showcase of renowned craftsmanship, in the country where the Awards ceremony takes place. For example, the trophy was made of Murano glass, when the 2017 Awards ceremony took place in Venice, Italy.  Likewise, the trophy was made of azulejo ceramics when the 2016 Awards ceremony took place in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2021, however, the trophy commission is much harder to predict.

An EPO YouTube video presenting the list of Finalists is included below, together with a list of the inventors and hyperlinked patents of the contending inventions.

Research

• Marco Donolato and team (IT/DK)

    Invention: Magnetic nanoparticles to diagnose disease.

    Sample patent: EP3014245

• Robert N. Grass (AT) and Wendelin Stark (CH)

    Invention : DNA-based data storage.

    Sample patent: EP2831268

• Mathias Fink and Mickael Tanter (FR)

    Invention: Ultrasound imaging method using shear waves.

    Sample patents: EP2561380, EP2342582, EP1866667, EP1546757 and EP1531734

Industry

• Per Gisle Djupesland (NO) 

    Invention : Better nasal drug delivery.

    Sample patent: EP2340865

• Christoph Gürtler, Walter Leitner and team (DE)

    Invention : Using carbon dioxide to make greener plastics.

    Sample patents:  EP3041883, EP3008100

• Jan van der Tempel (NL)

    Invention: Safe transfer to and from offshore platforms.

    Sample patents :  EP1993902, EP2603422

 Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)

• Carmen Hijosa (ES)

    Invention: Turning pineapple leaves into a sustainable alternative to leather.

    Sample patent: EP2576881 

• Ben Kibel and Pete Kibel (UK)

    Invention: Fishing hook cover to save seabirds.

    Sample patent: EP2731423 

• Henrik Lindström and Giovanni Fili (SE)

    Invention: Flexible solar cells for portable devices.

    Sample patent: EP2625703

 Non-European Patent Organization country

• Bo Pi and Yi He (CN)

    Invention: Live fingerprint sensors for greater security.

    Sample patent : EP3072083 

• Kim Lewis and Slava S. Epstein (US/RU)

    Invention: Tools to cultivate microbes.

    Sample patents:  EP1456401, EP1999248

• Sumita Mitra (IN/US)

    Invention: Restoring smiles with nanomaterials.

    Sample patents : EP1225867, EP1227782, EP1229886, EP1771143

Lifetime Achievement

• Metin Colpan (DE)

    Efficient tools to analyze nucleic acids.

    Sample patents: EP0268946, EP0104210 

• Karl Leo (DE)

    Advances in organic semiconductors.

    Sample patents: EP1488468, EP1861886, EP2658006 

• Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (RS/US)

    Advances in tissue engineering.

    Sample patents : EP2408401, EP1112348

References

European Patent Office ( EPO) www.epo.org

EPO – European Inventor Awards https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor.html

EPO - European Inventor Awards 2021 Finalists Announced  https://www.epo.org/news-events/press/european-inventor-award/2021.html

Interlude - The Teeter Totter Wall Project

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Designed by the Chair of the SJSU Department of Design, Professor Virginia San Fratello, in collaboration with UC Berkeley Architecture Professor Ronald Rael, and the Colectivo Chopeke in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, the Teeter Totter Wall project briefly transformed the horrors of separation and cartel violence, surrounding the US-Mexican border wall, into a fun and joyful playground for children and their families. This miracle project, consisting of three pink see-saws wedged between the steel gaps of the wall, was only up and running for 40 minutes, on July 28, 2019. The project was technically impermanent, essentially because it is unlawful to permanently affix any sort of object, or structure, onto government property. Nonetheless, the short duration was plenty of time for the Teeter Totter Wall project to garner more than one prestigious award, after footage of the event went viral, and extensive media coverage.

However short-lived, the transformation of a small section of one of the most controversial pieces of construction in the United States, into a physical, and metaphorical, fulcrum of opportunity, created an exemplary work of resilience and activism. As Ronald Rael put it, the driving force of the project was an attempt to “dismantle the wall, to dismantle its meaning and identity, to disempower it in some way” (Rael San Fratello, April 2020). San Fratello also pointed out that the seesaws were painted bright pink, together with a bright palette of colors for the seats, in memory of the women, also weavers, victims of savage femicide in Cuidad Juarez, just across the US city of El Paso, Texas, on the other side of the wall (Rael San Fratello, April 2020). For Rael, “the dragon was slain”, at least temporarily, as the seesaws were thrust into the wall’s gaps, during installation. Indeed, most recently, on January 19, 2021, on the final day of the Trump Administration, the Teeter Totter Wall project was awarded the London (UK) Beazley Design Museum Award of the Year, (best overall, out of six categories), the equivalent of an Oscar in Design (Staff, Beazley Museum).

The below YouTube video captures a few enchanting moments of the fleeting project, when it was installed and in use. Both Professors Ronald Rael and Victoria San Fratello are seen seesawing into the sky, 10 seconds into the video.

References

Colectivo Chopeke  https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Cause/Colectivo-Chopeke-158264838093669/

Emerging Objects  http://emergingobjects.com/

Rael San Fratello https://www.rael-sanfratello.com/

Rael San Fratello (April 24, 2020) Transforming the border wall into a teeter-totter. Artist Stories, MOMA.   https://youtu.be/1bbeBo3te5E?list=TLPQMjkwMTIwMjFuRL2AOoFmSA

Rael, R. (2017) Borderwall as Architecture: A manifesto for the US-Mexico boundary. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Rael, R. (UCB Faculty webpage)  https://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/faculty-staff/ronald-rael

San Fratello, V.  (SJSU Faculty webpage) https://www.sjsu.edu/design/interior-design/faculty/vsfratello.php

Staff (Jan. 19, 2021) Beazley Designs of the Year 2020 Winners revealed. Beazley Design Museum. https://www.beazley.com/news/2021/beazley_designs_of_the_year_2020_winners_revealed.html? 

Oh, patents! Concours Lépine 2019

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

On April 27, the grand opening of the 118^th year of the Concours Lépine International was celebrated within the auspices of  the annual Paris fair, Foire de Paris, held at the Parc des Expositions, Porte de Versailles, from April 27 to May 8, 2019.

Louis Lépine

Indeed, it was in 1901 that the Paris Police Commissioner Louis Lépine drafted and decreed the official rules for the Concours Lépine, a contest and exhibit for small artisan inventors, which offered to patent the entries to the contest and exhibit. At the turn of the twentieth century, the idea was to protect Parisian toymakers, who were facing stiff foreign competition, while populating the Foire de Paris with interesting exhibits.

Since then, the contest is open to all inventors who have received patents for their inventions. The inventions on exhibit are also judged and awarded the many contest prizes. Beyond the major Concours Lépine Prizes: the Grand Prize, the Jury’s Prize and the President of the Jury’s Prize, awarded in Bronze, Silver and Gold, for the various contest categories ranging from smart home to construction materials and energy efficiency, many additional prizes are awarded. Each award highlights the connections between the contest and the Public Administration at the foundation of the contest. Thus, for example, awards are designated The President of the Republic Award, The Prime Minister’s Award, The Senate Award, The National Assembly Award, The Mayor of Paris Award etc.

In addition to the International Contest and Exhibit, held each year in Spring at the Foire de Paris, many regional Concours Lépine are also held in France.  The same company, founded in 1901, to administer the contest, La Société des Petits Fabricants et Inventeurs Français (SPFIF), now designated Association des Inventeurs et Fabricants Français (AIFF), manages and administers the Concours Lépine.

This year’s award-winning inventions are listed here.

References

Concours Lépine

https://www.concours-lepine.com/

Foir de Paris

https://en.foiredeparis.fr/

Oh, patents! Zaha Hadid

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Just one US design patent for the formidable British architect and designer, Zaha Hadid, who died a year ago. 

USD638161 titled Floor lamp was awarded for a cobra-looking floor lamp.

As a reminder the difference between a US utility and a US design patent is the following:

“a “utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a "design patent" protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171).” [USPTO]

Beyond this design patent, Zaha Hadid buildings are found worldwide and she is the recipient of the most prestigious prizes of her profession. Hadid was the first woman to receive the prestigious architectural Pritzker Prize in 2014, and she received the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011.

Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-born British architect. She is celebrated this day with a Google Doodle too!

The video below shows some of her extraordinary architectural creations, and iconic “curves”.

 References

Brooks, K. (May 31, 2017) Game changing architect Zaha Hadid gets the Google Doodle she deserves (The Huffington Post)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/game-changing-architect-zaha-hadid-gets-the-google-doodle-she-deserves_us_592ed754e4b0e09b11ec8ea9

Google Doodle

https://www.google.com/doodles

Google Doodle – Zaha Hadid

https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-zaha-hadid

Pritzker Prrize

http://www.pritzkerprize.com/

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)- Stirling Prize

https://www.architecture.com/ribastirlingprize

Seabrook, J (Dec. 2009) The Abstractionist - Zaha Hadid’s Unfettered Invention (The New Yorker)

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/21/the-abstractionist  

USPTO: Guide to filing a design patent application
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/pdf/brochure_05.pdf

Zaha Hadid Architects

http://www.zaha-hadid.com/

Zaha Hadid Architecture (Pinterest)

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/zaha-hadid-architecture/

Zaha Hadid – Queen of the Curve (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/sep/08/zaha-hadid-serpentine-sackler-profile

Oh, patents! Canailles Dream

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

This invention is not only a rascal’s* dream, it is the stuff of parents’ dreams traveling with small infants!

Hard to travel lightly with a small infant… the crib, the bassinet, the stroller, the rocker, the tub, the diaper changing station.. plus all the accessories. The difficulty of packing so much gear for one small passenger is the underlying dilemma and problematic situation addressed in two patents: WO2017042507 titled Suitcase with adjustable legs, and US2014311843 titled Multifunctional case.

Imagine now, an all-in-one, multifunctional solution, in compact form, the size of a large wheeled suitcase, and you will find the Canailles Dream invention, an ingenious 6-in-one (crib + bassinet + stroller + rocker + tub + diaper changing station) solution!

6-in-one no kidding, see the video…!

The Canailles Dream Multi product was engineered by Alexis Crignon, father of two, himself facing the quintessential problem of traveling “lightly” with a newborn…..

This invention was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award at the Concours Lépine in May 2017, and has also garnered quite a few more awards on the journey from design and prototyping to production and marketing.

No worries now, you can pick up and go, with baby and gear in style! 

* The term "canaille", in terms of endearment, means "rascal" in French.

References

Canailles Dream

https://www.canaillesdream.com/

Concours Lépine 

http://www.concours-lepine.com

Oh, patents! The Concours Lépine

Copyright Françoise Herrmann

Louis Lépine 1846-1933

The Concours Lépine is France’s oldest inventor awards competition! It was founded in 1901 by the Police Commissioner of Paris, Louis Lépine, who even wrote the rules of the contest. The competition was initially designed both to protect and to give exposure to small artisan inventors, manufacturing toys, who were facing growing foreign competition in Paris. To legally protect their inventions, exhibitors were granted patents free of charge. Thus, hundreds of artisan-inventors attended the first 1901 combination Concours-Exposition Lépine.

To date, 116 years later, the Concours Lépine International de Paris retains the ‘exhibit' portion of the event, as it takes place within the auspices of the Foire de Paris (Paris Fair) held every Spring in Paris. It is organized by the Association des Inventeurs et Fabricants Français (AIPF), originally founded in 1901 as the Société des Petits Fabricants et Inventeurs Français (SPFIF). The Concours Lépine also now holds regional competitions, in France, intended to reward young inventors in particular, and European inventors also. The contest is open to all inventors who have received patents for their inventions.

The Concours Lépine retains its original eponymized connections to public service and administration in the designation of the dozens of prizes awarded to inventors. Beyond the Grand Prix du Concours Lépine, the Jury’s Award and the President of the Jury’s Award, the highest award is the Prix du Président de la République (France’s Presidential Award) followed by the Prix du Premier Ministre (the Prime Minister’s Award), Grand Prix du Sénat (Senate Grand Award), Prix de l’Assemblée Générale (House of Representatives Award), Prix du Maire de Paris (Paris Mayor’s Award), the First, Second and Third Police Commissioner Awards, and so forth, including bronze, silver and gold medals and various other French government dignitary and agency awards, such as the INPI Awards (France’s Patent Office Awards). 

For a list of the recipients of the 2017 Concours Lépine International de Paris Awards, click here!

References

Concours Lépine

http://www.concours-lepine.com/

Foire de Paris (Paris Fair)

https://en.foiredeparis.fr/

UNFCCC COP21 – 2015 INPI environmental trophy nominations

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The following eight contenders for the French patent office INPI Innovation Trophies were nominated for a 2015 environmental innovation award in one of the four trophy categories:  patents,  trademarks, design and research. The Trophies were awarded to the winners on December 7, 2015, during the 21st session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC COP21, held  in Paris from Nov. 30th to December 11, 2015.

Fermentalg (nominated in the patent category) – a cutting-edge clean-tech company that seeks to use the exceptional properties of microalgae in view of producing compounds such as Omega 3 fatty acids, coloring agents, antioxidants and biopolymers for use in various everyday life products. Patented technology also enables to produce hydrocarbons using microalgae for everyday life products, thus bypassing traditional fish-based and petroleum-based methods. Applications are already in production for human nutrition, animal feed, 

green chemistry, cosmetics and green energy.

NA! - Nature Addicts (nominated in the trademark category) – A company that produces 100 % natural food snacks, with no preservatives and only the sugar derived from fruit. The snacks are bite-sized and come in a re-sealable zip lock pouch.  As low-fat, low sugar treats in an attractive white packaging, Na! is very successful in France, five years after its inception. For a country that prides itself on no-snacking… the tide appears to be 

changing… as long as it’s healthy…

LSCE – Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l’environnement (nominated in the research category) – Nine researchers and professors affiliated with the LSCE participated in the IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, co-recipient with Al Gore of the 2007 Nobel Peace for having alerted the world to problems of climate change. This laboratory works in collaboration with major research institutions such as the French national center for scientific research (CNRS – Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques), the French alternative energies and atomic commission (CEA- Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique) and French academic institutions. The lab’s research agenda covers climate and environmental change, both natural and human-induced, as well as the connections with carbon and carbon dioxide cycles.

LACTIPS (nominated in the patent category) – a start-up company based in Lyon with patented technology for the production of plastic granules using casein, a protein found in cow’s milk.  LACTIPS’ patented technology thus produces biodegradable, water-soluble, compostable  and sweet plastic, ultimately designed as edible packaging, such as for example tea bags.  However, one is left a bit chilled, without information on whether the process through which the casein is harvested, is cruelty-free...

Greenpriz (nominated in the design category) – a company that markets an energy management and optimization solution in both real and delayed time. The company produces connected devices designed to monitor and analyze the use of electricity in large service-oriented buildings, such as schools and other public institutions or businesses. The devices are easily installed, without wiring, and connected to free and proprietary software that analyzes current uses and offers solutions to reduce costs. Results are quantified into approximately 43% savings on average.

ESITC Caen – Ecole supérieure des ingénieurs des travaux de construction (nominated in the research category) – The materials development laboratory at l’ESITC, France’s Elite School for construction engineers, patented a concrete pavement tile using seashells. The advantages of these pavement tiles are twofold. First, they are designed to resolve the issue of recycling 250 million tons of sea shells discarded by the food industry once the pulp is removed. And secondly, the seashell pavement tiles are designed to absorb water, thus reducing the risks of flooding on low traffic surfaces such as parking lots and sidewalks.

Castalie  (nominated in the design category) – a company that markets high flow rate, tap water filtration and carbonation machines for hotels, restaurants, cafés and other business venues. The idea is to replace bottled water (both carbonated and still), which is both costly for consumers and costly for the environment. Bottled water travels on average 900 kms in France and there are 6 billion liters of bottled water consumed per year, 80% of which comes in plastic bottles, only half of which ever gets recycled. The Castelie high flow rate tap water machines are designed to filter, adjust the temperature and the size of the carbonation bubbles!

Canibal (nominated in the trademark category) –The term “canibal” corresponds to the contraction of two French words “canette” (meaning soda can) and “mise en balle” (the bailing compacting process used in recycling).  Accordingly, Canibal is a start-up company that offers a connected trash collecting and recycling solution at the intersection of bin, trash compactor and gaming machine. The Canibal machine sorts, identifies, compacts and quantifies three sorts of recyclable trash (soda cans, plastic bottles and both plastic and paper cups). And, because the machines work interactively like a game, they are also designed to educate users. Each ton of recycled trash means 3 tons less of carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere.

References

COP21 - Paris, France

http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en/

Al Gore and IPCC – 2007 Noble Peace Prize

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/

CEA – Commissariat à l’énergie atomique

http://portail.cea.fr/

CNRS – Centre National de Recherche Scientifiques

www.cnrs.fr

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Cimate Change) Statement on the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/nobel/Nobel_statement_final.pdf

Fermentalg

http://www.fermentalg.com/en/ 

Nature Addicts

http://www.na-natureaddicts.com/en/fruit-sticks-products

LSCE – Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l’environnement

http://www.lsce.ipsl.fr/en/

LACTIPS

http://www.20minutes.fr/lyon/1446903-20140921-start-up-lyonnaise-utilise-lait-vache-fabriquer-plastique  

Greenpriz

http://www.greenpriz.com/  

ESITC – Ecole supérieure d’ingégnieurs des Travaux de la Construction Caen

http://www.esitc-caen.fr/

Castalie 

http://www.castalie.com/

Canibal

http://www.canibal.fr/en/

Winners of the 2015 INPI Innovation Trophies awarded on Dec. 7, 2015

http://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2015/12/unfccc-cop21-inpi-2015-environmental.html  

SXSW™ 2015 Awards – Non-invasive skin cancer detection device

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering (Sharma, 2014) won the 2015 SXSW Interactive Innovations Award, in the “Sci-fi No Longer” category, with a non-invasive skin cancer detection device. This is a pen looking optical probe that uses light spectroscopy in three different modes to interrogate skin tissue. It is non-invasive as it requires no biopsy for testing and diagnosis of skin lesions.

The three spectroscopic technologies of this device, termed MMS -multimodal spectroscopy, are  Raman spectroscopy (RS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIFS). Together these technologies, and their different modes of emitting light, are designed to provide complementary sorts of micro-environmental and biochemical information about skin tissue, for a far improved and faster diagnosis, compared to traditional macro-visual biopsy-based detection.  For example, an interrogation of skin tissue using the multimodal spectroscopy (MMS) probe takes about 4.5 seconds (compared to several days for biopsy results).

US2012057145 (A1) titled Systems and methods for diagnosis of epithelial lesions is the patent application corresponding to this device and its algorithms.

In general, this invention addresses problems of skin cancer diagnosis and the current and most common methods of diagnosis involving tissue biopsy. Beyond the discomfort, cosmetics, expenses and turnaround time for biopsy results, this most common method of diagnosis invokes inherently qualitative methods of macro-visual clinical examination, that is, physician experience in visually identifying which lesions are biopsied.  In turn, critical reliance on physician experience enters the equation, because there are documented differences in the accuracy with which lesions are detected among general practitioners and dermatologists [US2012057145], compounded by issues of access to specialized dermatology care, whether due to costs, geographic location or scarcity, and the burden of unnecessary biopsy. Finally, the accuracy of this inventive diagnostic method is also intended to resolve issues of safety margins for the perimeter of excisions when surgery is required.

Skin lesion micro-environments and bio-chemical properties are interrogated via spectroscopy, that is: 1. emitting a light source into a skin tissue using an optic fiber, 2. collecting the light re-emitted from the skin tissue with a second optic fiber, and 3. generating spectra for the light re-emitted from the skin tissue in terms of diagnostically relevant parameters such as intrinsic fluorescence and absorption, reduced scattering coefficients and Raman scattering, using a spectrophotometer. Then, the spectral information is matched with known properties using a specifically generated look-up table algorithm. It is known for example that the fluorescence of certain endogenous fluorophores such as collagen changes in the presence disease, and that the scattering and absorption properties of light will be affected by morphological changes of the tissue. The analysis of the light emitted back from the skin tissue thus yields micro-information about the properties of the skin tissue, such as collagen structure, nuclear morphology, blood fraction, oxygen saturation and a tissue scattering coefficient. all which swiftly informs diagnosis.

The development of this invention device and its method - that is, of the hardware and software, as well as the associated research were funded by the Centers for Disease Control.

The abstract of this multimodal spectroscopy invention, recited in US2012057145 (A1) titled Systems and methods for diagnosis of epithelial lesions, is included below, as well as a an image of the front view of the probe surface in contact with skin, showing Raman spectroscopy delivery (red) and collection (blue) fibers, and the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy delivery (yellow)  and collection (green)  fibers (Sharma, 2014).  

"Systems comprising an optical fiber switch connected to a light source and an optical fiber probe, the optical fiber probe comprising a first optical fiber connected to the optical fiber switch and a second optical fiber connected to a spectrophotometer. Methods for determining one or more tissue parameters comprising: emitting light from a first optical fiber into a tissue; collecting the light reemitted from the tissue with a second optical fiber; generating a spectra of the light reemitted from the tissue with a spectrophotometer; and utilizing a look-up table based algorithm to determine one or more tissue parameters, wherein the lookup-table based algorithm comprises the steps of: generating a look-up table by measuring the functional form of a reflectance measured by the spectrophotometer using one or more calibration standards with known optical properties; and implementing an iterative fitting routine based on the lookup-table." Abstract US2012057145 (A1)

Work appears underway to attempt to correct the effects of skin pigmentation on spectroscopic methods of skin cancer detection (e.g.; Soyemi et. al., 2005; Bersha 2010), including the issue of the depth of skin tissue interrogation (Tseng et. al. (2008). If skin cancer is more prevalent in fair skin individuals, it is nonetheless more fatal in darker skin individuals due to late diagnosis and misinformation about epidemiological data (The Skin Cancer Foudnation, 2009). 

In any event, this award-winning, non-invasive diagnostic technology is indeed... no longer sci-fi... 

References
Bersha, K. S. (2010) Spectral imaging and analysis of human skin. file://psf/Home/Downloads/Spectral%20imaging%20and%20analysing%20human%20skin,%20Kusse%20Sukuta%20BERSHA%20(1).pdf
Meyers, C. (2014) 3 in 1 Optical skin Cancer Probe.
http://www.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/3-1-optical-skin-cancer-probe
Sharma, S., Marple, E., Reichenberg, J. and James W. Tunnell (2014) Design and characterization of a novel multimodal fiber-optic probe and spectroscopy system for skin cancer applications.
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/rsi/85/8/10.1063/1.4890199
Soyemi, O., Landry, MR., Yang, Y., Idwasi, P., and B. Soller (2005) Skin color correction for tissue spectroscopy: demonstration of a novel approach with tissue mimicking phantoms. Feb. Applied Spectroscopy, 59(2), pp. 237-44

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15720765 

SXSW™ 2015 Interactive Media Awards 

http://sxsw.com/interactive/awards/interactive-awards
Tseng, H.S., Grant, A. and A.J. Durkin (2008) In vivo determination of skin near0infrared optical properties using diffuse optical spectroscopy. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 13(1).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626348/
UT – University of Texas (2014) New device improves Skin Cancer Detection http://www.utexas.edu/news/2014/08/05/tunnell-cancer-detection-device/