Edmund Optics announces 2014 Norman Edmund Inspiration Award winner

After announcing the winners of its 2014 Educational Awards, Edmund Optics named the 2014 winner of the Norman Edmund Inspiration Award during the VISION show in Stuttgart, Germany.

This year’s winner, Mr. Shahid Haider, from the University of Waterloo in Canada, developed a medical imaging device that eases diabetes monitoring in children. The non-contact, handheld imaging device simultaneously captures multiple polarization states of the eye to infer a patient's blood glucose concentration.

Individuals with Type-1 diabetes typically have to prick their finger to get an estimate of blood glucose levels and for many children this process is not only inconvenient but painful, explained the Edmund Optics press release. With Haider’s system, the pain is removed from the process, offering the potential to improve the quality of life for those afflicted with diabetes, including reducing the risk of eye, kidney, and heart damage.

Haider’s system utilizes polarized light, which was been proven to be able to infer blood glucose level in research with a high degree of accuracy since the early 1990s, but what is most impressive about the system is the development of a simultaneous method of polarization state image capture, according to Edmund Optics. Through the use of filter assemblies, corrective optics, and manipulating optics, simultaneous capture is possible. Coupled with a high resolution detector, the images can be captured on a single detector allowing for a compact design to fit the hands of a child. With this non-contact method for inference, there is little chance to cause discomfort to the user, according to the release.

"Mr. Haider's use of optics in this device is not only innovative but commendable in his desire to improve the lives of individuals, especially children, suffering from a potentially debilitating illness," commented Kirsten Bjork-Jones, Director of Global Marketing Communications. "At Edmund Optics we are always proud to support optical advancements and to push optical research to new heights."

As a result of winning the award, Haider will receive $5,000 in product donation to further his research.

View more information on the Edmund Optics awards.

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