Student inventor wins award with laser-guided biopsy device

A device that allows doctors to safely take tissue samples from tumours has won a University of Melbourne student the Far Eastern Review Young Inventors Award.

Dr Anthony Samir, a Master of Medicine (Radiology) student at the University of Melbourne, designed a laser guidance device to allow doctors to accurately and safely take biopsies of tumours deep inside the body. Dr Samir and a team developed his designs using a camera tripod, a laser and a digital spirit level. They tested the design using a slab of gelatin and some stuffed olives.

The inspiration came when his supervisor, Dr Mark Brooks at Melbourne's Austin and Repatriation Hospital Medical Centre, identified the lack of an instrument that could accurately and safely guide a doctor's needle through the maze of blood vessels and vital organs in the human body to a tumour so that a sample could be taken for testing.

After nearly two years of after-hours work, Dr Samir and his team designed, built and successfully tested their device to help doctors guide a biopsy needle through the body with pinpoint accuracy, reducing the risk of dangerous misses and potentially fatal misdiagnosis.

The device won Dr Samir the 2002 Gold Award in the Far Eastern Economic Review's Young Inventors Awards. Nearly 200 submissions were received for the award from all over Asia, including India, Singapore and Australia.

Item provided courtesy of Melbourne University