Jul 6 2009
A handheld medical diagnostic system developed by MycroLab, which has the potential to save millions of lives, has won INNOVIC's International Next Big Thing Award.
MycroLab's Chief Science Officer Micah Atkin conceived the idea as a way to deliver a low cost testing system to enable anyone to perform laboratory quality tests quickly and easily. The first use for the MycroLab handheld system will be to test for tuberculosis, a disease which kills over 2 million people per year and is the leading cause of infectious disease deaths.
It is readily curable through accurate diagnosis and low-cost drug therapy, yet most badly infected countries cannot afford the highly specialised and very expensive equipment and personnel needed for testing.
Joss Evans, CEO of INNOVIC, said: “MycroLab's Handheld medical diagnostic system is without doubt a very clever innovation.”
“It has the potential to change the lives of millions by providing low-cost, first world quality healthcare successfully in third world environments. It can also be deployed in clinics, surgeries and emergency rooms and eventually in homes”.
The award attracted hundreds of applicants including entrants from 18 overseas countries - from Iceland to Brazil.
“All of the 25 finalists were impressive but the handheld medical diagnostic system was a clear choice because of its combination of originality, unique benefits, global need and the potential to become the next big thing,” she said.