Harvard University's Neil Davey has received a special TED invitation for his latest medical device invention, the UniDX.
Harvard University’s Neil Davey has received a special TED invitation for his latest medical device invention, the UniDX.
SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Neil Davey, and Indian American student at Harvard University, has developed a device that can diagnose malaria in a more cost effective and time efficient way.
Davey and a fellow student, Miraj Shah, have developed a small hand-held device to detect malaria named UniDX, which brings a more effective solution to identifying malaria at an early stage. According to the World Health Organization, almost 50 percent of the world’s population is at risk of malaria. In 2015, nearly 212 million malaria cases were reported; and about 429,000 people died due to the infectious disease.
Davey’s device extracts DNA from a drop of blood and then converts it to the micro-fluidic drops. When the device detects a malaria-affected DNA, it amplifies it and turns it fluoresce.
A third year student at Harvard studying applied mathematics and economics, Davey received a silver medal at Harvard’s undergraduate section of the National Inventors Hall of Fame’s Collegiate Inventors Competition in 2016. His research project, titled, “Early Cancer Diagnosis by the Detection of Circulation Tumor Cells using Drop-based Micro-fluidics,” identified method to detect cancer DNA in the blood. Already a co-founder of two startups, Davey is interested in medical devices that include point-of-care diagnostics.
In recognition of his latest invention, Davey received an invitation from TED to speak at TEDx in Paris on May 20. Davey will reportedly travel to India after the Paris event to share his technique with the government of India. WHEELS Global Foundation announced to provide him with $15,000 to further develop the device.
