A device that detects cancer in 6 minutes

Cancer strikes without mercy; doesn't matter who you are and what you did - everything happens with devastating speed. The most times, it is a war with one winner: death. Each year, eight million people die of cancer in the world. More than those killed by HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Annually 12 million people are stroked by this disease. In the U.S., cancer kills 1,500 people a day and is the second most prevalent disease after heart disease. In Romania, the latest statistics monitors 420,000 patients, and are diagnosed annually between 95,000 and 96,000 other people, of which more than half in an incurable phase. The number of patients increases, however, by 8-10% every year.

However, the problem has a much closer solution than we imagine. The Romanian engineer, researcher and businessman Tudor Mircea (53), owner of MB Technology, will release in 2011 the first device that will detect the predisposition for cancer in the very early stages, when treatment is more effective and easier to apply . The device identifies in a blood sample, in four to six minutes, the specific bio-markers of cancer, six months before the disease begins. The MB Technology team works with the Romanian researcher Raluca van Staden, the inventor of a revolutionary sensor for cancer detection, and the device is registered as a common patent.

In a first stage, the device may provide clues to susceptibility for four types of cancer: gastrointestinal, breast, prostate and ovarian cancer. The prototype will be validate by the end of 2010, then the device will enter clinical testing, and in mid 2011 will come into production. MB Technology is working on three versions: the simpler, for mass production (which will cost less than EUR 1,000), a medium variant, for medical offices (EUR 5000-6000) and a laboratory version, with maximum capacity of processing and entering into the detection area (EUR 20,000 to 25,000). Thus, cancer test could be done by anyone, even at home - and that could save millions of lives. Early detection of cancer is an important step in clinical diagnosis because it reduces the number of patients. There is medication for this early stage of cancer that can cure from 80% to 100% of the patients.

The device includes three components: the sensor itself (which can be used for about a hundred tests), covered by a round semi-elastic plastic hood; the input preamplifier input; the data processing unit. One drop of blood is placed on the sensor and the analysis sequence triggers automatically (it takes four to six minutes). Showing results can be achieved in three ways. The basic version offers only quantitative results (YES or NO), the medium variant displays he concentration and the type of bio-marker, while the laboratory version allows the user access to plasmograma. About 85% of production will be exported, mainly to USA, Germany and Israel.

Images from here.

A Gold Invention

The Romanian Corneliu Birtok-Băneasa was awarded the Gold Medal at the current edition of International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, the young inventor from Deva presenting a Dynamic Device for Air Transfer that provide a higher efficiency of internal combustion engines. The invention can be used in the automotive industry and provide better engine cooling while reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

This year's graduate of Faculty of Engineering in Hunedoara, Corneliu was able to experience his invention on 20 different cars with different engine types. The cars were monitored for three years, while being conducted measurements in the Engine Laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara. "The device creates an easy supercharging effect which increases proportionally with speed of the vehicle and increase volumetric efficiency of internal combustion engine. The combustion of the fuel mixture is complete, the pollutant emissions and fuel consumption are lower", said the device inventor awarded in Geneva, cited by Agerpres.

His invention was awarded a Gold Medal at the Inventika International Exhibition in 2009, the Special Prize of the National Association of Inventors from Poland at the same event, and the Silver Medal of Eureka International Salon, Brussels 2009. The young inventor was noted also for another interesting invention: The "Super-vacuuming inverted filter", a device for cars to help reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%. With this invention Corneliu Birtok-Băneasa won gold, silver and bronze medals at various exhibitions of inventions.

Photos: Mesagerul Hunedorean, Impact News.

Best Woman Inventor in 2010

The Romanian Raluca-Ioana van Staden won this year the Golden Trophy of the World Intellectual Property for the Best Woman Inventor at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva.

She invented a sensor that determines the existence of cancer in humans at the molecular level. Astonishing is that the sensor detects cancer in less than six minutes and the estimated cost would be less than one euro. Raluca-Ioana van Staden said that lack of funding has allowed the approach of only four types of cancer, because bio-markers are very expensive and all the tests to be made require a fairly large quantity of bio-markers. The device produced on large-scale would be very easy to use, as easy as a glucometer. "We've already done experiments on various types of cancer, as ovarian, breast, gastrointestinal and prostate cancer, as well with general markers of cancer. We make a determination before the disease is triggered in the body", she said in an interview. The device can be reused, there is no danger of contamination from one person to another, and last more than six months.

Raluca-Ioana van Staden (b. Ştefan) was born on July 16, 1969, in the city of Câmpulung, Argeş County. She obtained the baccalaureate in his hometown, then she followed the college. She has a doctorate in chemistry and a masterate in music composition. Raluca-Ioana is married with the scientist Jacobus Frederick van Staden, both working in the sole laboratory for analytical technology of processes in Romania, PATLAB, located in the Institute of Electro-Chemistry and Condensed Matter in Timişoara.

Photo: HotNews.

Dumitru Văsescu

Dumitru Văsescu (1859 - 1909) was a Romanian engineer, professor and inventor.

Born in Iaşi in 1859, Dumitru Văsescu followed school and high school courses in his hometown. Animated by the desire to study engineering, he went to Paris, where he studied at the "École Centrale". In Paris young Văsescu installed a small workshop on Michelet Street, where he tried to build a machine capable of traveling on land or by rail, by its own means. After great efforts, managed to achieve in 1880 a steam car, which became after the tests one of the curiosities of Paris.

Steam car built by Dumitru Văsescu was composed of a multi-tubular boiler heated with coal, with connecting pipes, pressure valves and pressure gauges so disposed, that they can be handled easily. Very characteristic for this car were the rear wheels made of metal alloy with steel spokes and solid rubber tires. Front wheels were smaller and were made of metal, with tires. Dumitru Văsescu's car was fitted with two independent brake systems. Water tank was located under the driver's seat and steering wheel was on the right side of the car.

After graduating in Paris, Dumitru Văsescu returned in Romania in 1906, bringing with him his steam car, which circulated in Bucharest. The car was exhibited at the School of Bridges and Roads, where D. Văsescu teaches as professor. Dumitru Văsescu died on October 29, 1909, in Bucharest.

Tache Brumărescu

Dumitru (Tache) Brumărescu (1872, Vălenii de Munte - 1925 or 1937, Bucharest), designed and built the first aircraft vertically taking off in the world which flew on May 27, 1911.

During his lifetime, Tache Brumărescu had around 150 inventions, and participated in Romania's General Exhibitions in 1904 and 1906. One of those inventions was an unusual airplane, named helicopter-airplane, actually the world's first airplane with vertical takeoff, patented in 1909 (Patent no. 02218). The airplane was a mono-motor biplane, which had three propellers: one tractive, one propulsive, and a horizontal one for sustentation. His airplane model was exhibited at the Paris Air Show in 1910, near the Henri Coandă's jet powered aircraft.

A year later he managed to buy an Gnome-Rhone 50 HP engine and learned to fly an aircraft. The first and only flight made by Columba (the name of his airplane) took place on 27 May 1911 at Bucharest, on the Cotroceni field. The aircraft rose to a height of 6 m and flew a distance of approximately 80 meters. During the flight he noticed the airplane was loosing its balance and decided to land, but the sudden maneuver resulted in a crash. The propeller broke, the engine was blocked, and he was injured at one leg. The accident marked the end of his aviation experiments.

Other notable inventions of Brumărescu were: a rescue system for submarines (pattented in France in 1911), the automatically coupling system for railway wagons, a skid-car, and the reed cutter.

Other Romanian notable achievements

1701 - Antim Ivireanul printed "Liturghierul greco-arab", the first book in the world printed with mobile letters, and also the first book printed with arab characters.
1825 - The first non-euclidean geometry was published by Janos Bolyai.
1836 - Ion I. Irimie invented, during his college studies, the first matches with Phosphorus (known later as "Swedish matches"), and in 1840 he founded a factory to produce them.
1886 - George Assaky invented an original neurosurgery technique, the remote suture of nerfs.
1887 - The first reactive trolley.
1895 - Dragomir Hurmuzescu had built the first high-voltage dynamo.

Dumitru Daponte and the 3D cinema

Dumitru Daponte (1894-1956) was a Romanian engineer, who invented in 1924 the 3D cinema.

After World War I began the boom of film industry. It was the silent film era, black and white, interrupted every 10 minutes to change the film coil. The dialogues were designed separately, on a black background and some film scenes were interrupted to provide the necessary explanation for the action understanding. However, the theaters were full and it was obvious that the new industry had a golden future.

One of the problems that Dumitru Daponte tried to solve is related to playback images in relief (the classic projection has only width and height, not depth, making the screen to be viewed as a sequence of shots). Techniques used in this way were different: the use of glasses with colored lenses, the projection of images on a curved screen etc.

Before Daponte, another Romanian had made a similar attempt: N. Iliescu Brînceni developed a kind of binoculars, which each spectator had to hold to eyes to see on a screen two distinct sets of images superposed to obtain the sensation of relief.

Dumitru Daponte began to work on his invention in 1916, doing research and experimentation in Italy and England, countries where the film enjoyed a great interest. He then made a device for obtaining a stereoscopic effect, based on the idea that the relief conditions must be created since the time of registration of the film. Daponte built a camera with two objectives (the ones by then had one), at approximately 6 cm distance from each other, trying to get the relief effect by projecting simultaneously each pair of captured images. The engineer based his invention by the fact that man sees with two eyes and the perception of relief is due to this double simultaneous reception of the image. His apparatus also contained a device allowing the adjustment of the distance between the two objectives. The two films thus obtained were then entered into a special recording device, such as the two images to be implemented on a single film. His invention was patented in France (Patent no. 592963) and England (Patent no. 222173).

Daponte's invention, introduced in 1924, enjoyed great interest and represented a step forward in addressing this crucial issue for the future of film industry.

Eugen Pavel

Dr. Eugen Pavel is a Romanian scientist and the inventor of the Hyper CD-ROM, a 3D optical data storage medium with a claimed initial capacity of 10 TB and with a theoretical capacity of 1 PB on a single disc. It is considered by some to be the next revolution in computer storage.

Dr. Pavel graduated with a physics degree from the University of Bucharest in 1976. He obtained his doctorate in Physics from the Romanian Institute of Atomic Physics in 1992. Eugen Pavel has published more than 40 books and articles, and he is the holder of 62 patents and patent applications.

The Hyper CD-ROM is a tridimensional multilayer optical memory, based on the phenomenon of controlled extinction of the fluorescence. The Hyper CD-ROM allows the recording of information inside the “shelves” of a glass disk using laser beams. Such a glass disk has a storing capacity of over 10,000 Gigabytes (GB) of memory - an amazing size in comparison with those developed by the highest level computer firms and benchmarks - that allows storing of approximately 10 million books of standard format. It is in fact, an “optic tridimensional multilevel memory” so it can store data in over 10,000 different levels inside a glass disk 10 mm high and 120 mm in diameter. The most attractive aspect is that the support for storage (i.e. fluorescent photosensitive glass) is a very stable in time medium (information can be read during all the life of the glass - estimated to at least 5,000 years). Great IT companies as IBM, HP Compaq or Philips are very interested in this revolutionary technology.

Eugen Pavel won: The 'WIPO Award for the Best Inventor', granted by World Intellectual Property Organization; 'Prize of the World Periodical Press Organization' and 'Gold Medal' at Brussels Eureka: 48th World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and New Technology; 'Gold Medal' at 32nd International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products of Geneva; 'Prize of the Romanian Academy of Sciences for Physics'; 'Grand Prize of the Kent Premium Lights Annual Awards for Innovation' granted by British American Tobacco; Prize 'Prof. Ing. Dimitrie Leonida' granted by Romanian Technical Museum.