There’s a saying that goes “Who rules the world? Girls!” and one 14-year old teenager from San Diego, California is proving just that. Leanne Fan recently won the grand prize of this year’s nation premier middle school science competition known as the 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
Fan created what she’s called the Finsen Headphones, which are a pair of low-cost headphones that have the ability to detect and treat mid-ear infections in kids, using machine learning and blue light therapy. As a result, this could possibly prevent up to 60% of hearing loss in kids.
When Fan became one of the nine finalists in the competition, she was provided with a mentor, who happened to be a research specialist in 3M’s material laboratory, Dr. Ross Behling. He worked with her on the project, one-on-one, to bring her idea from simply being a concept into an actual prototype during the summer months.
Afterwards, during two days in October, the finalists presented their amazing inventions at the 3M headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, where they made their final bid for their innovations in the competition, which you can watch for yourself in the video below.
Fan took her inspiration for her invention from Danish physician and Nobel Prize winner, Niels Finsen, whom she named the headphones after. He is best known for pioneering modern phototherapy, a technology that uses ultraviolet light to cure skin diseases.
Fan explained, “Phototherapy has been overshadowed for decades due to the popularity and ease of use of antibiotics. Phototherapy is also commonly used for eczema and acne and is a non-medicinal way of killing bacteria and treating diseases. It is very versatile and has endless possibilities, and inspired me to start my project.”
Considering the fact that there are around 700 million cases of mid-ear infections throughout the world yearly, with almost 21,000 deaths as a result, Fan’s invention provided an incredible and necessary resource for many children around the world, especially those that come from underprivileged areas and communities. More often than not, these disadvantaged children lack medical access and healthcare, with means that they don’t get diagnosed or often lack the treatment that they need to cure their ear infections. Fan’s invention not only works to lessen the need for antibiotics, it’s also a low-cost option that works to detect and treat any mid-ear infection.
Fan, who happens to be a high school freshmen, was awarded the esteemed title of “America’s Toy Young Scientist,” which also came with a whopping $25,000 in cash as a prize, plus a destination trip. Fan shared that part of her winnings will go towards patenting the process she used for her headphones invention.
Another contestant who was recognized in this public voting contest was Harini Venkatesh, who received the Improving Lives Award. This award honors the project that has the best potential to make a ‘positive impact on the world.’ The project, which Harini named The Comptometrist, is considered as an economical solution that lessens the time required to determine myopic power in someone’s eyes. The reason why it’s so astonishing is that aside from removing overcrowding of patients in clinics, it can also accurately report a patient’s measures of myopic power in seconds, while also eliminating any errors during the actual eye examination procedure.
As for the second and third place winners of the contest, they were given $1,000 in prize money as well as a special destination trip. As mentioned earlier, the second place winner was Harini Venkatesh, who lives in Brentwood, New Hampshire. Meanwhile, the third place winner was also a 9th grader, Shanza Sami from Iowa City, who created a five-stage air pollution filtration device.
Take a look at Fan’s presentation in the video below, as well as the other winners in the Young Scientist Lab competition.
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