James Dyson has announced this year’s James Dyson Award (JDA) winners, celebrating engineering innovation, ingenuity, and problem-solving impact. The three winners receive £30,000 ($40,400) to support the development of their creations, but the exposure to investors and the acknowledgment they got is above the financial prize.
1. Pain-free home glaucoma test (HOPES)
The patient puts on a special glove with the sensor placed at the fingertip and presses it against the center of the eyelid. The device then tests the eye to evaluate the intraocular pressure by capturing dynamic pressure information at sub-millisecond precision. The captured signals are sent to patented (closed source) machine learning algorithms and the results are presented on the user’s smartwatch. It’s a low-cost, no-pain method that can be applied from the convenience of the patient’s home.
2. Handheld scanner of recyclable plastics
This is a simple device aimed at providing a simple and quick method to discern plastics that can be recycled and those that can be discarded to the landfill. Such a device would make recycling more efficient and also more fun for people. The working principle of the scanner relies on discrete infrared spectroscopy, which helps the device identify the type of the material quickly and with high accuracy.
3. Device to suspend blood from knife wounds (REACT)
This new medical device is a rapid inflatable tamponade system that is inserted into a stab wound to help control the bleeping. Blood loss is the main cause of death for people who have been stabbed, and it only takes 5 minutes for someone injured by a knife to lose their life. REACT measures the pressure on the wound and “reacts” accordingly, using an actuator to adjust the inflation pressure to match it. It is designed to be MRI-safe and is ready to be used in pre-emergency care cases.
Image Credits: The James Dyson Foundation
