Last night on Make Me A Millionaire Inventor, (which in a lot of ways resembles Shark Tank), Dr. Yang Liu, a University of Akron professor, and his business partner Dr. Frank Papay demonstrated the potential impact that their Smart Goggles could have for detecting cancer, particularly skin cancer.
The biomedical device allows a doctor to see illuminated cancer cells on and below the skin’s surface once a topical agent is applied. This allows one to see a cancerous growth in 3D, which then allows a surgeon to remove a tumor in it’s entirety without the risk of leaving any cancer behind, and actually minimizes the amount that is removed because of the increased accuracy.
They have a prototype in place, patent pending, and they requested a 1.5 million dollar investment to further develop and streamline the device now that they are ready to work with humans instead of small animals.
The collaboration between Liu and Papay is interesting – they both have unique skill sets. Papay, a plastic surgeon, was part of the team that completed the first ever successful face transplant.
The Smart Goggles are a really compelling idea, and for that reason, host and engineer Deanne Bell brought both doctors to Blue Fish Concepts to discuss focusing and further developing the prototype design-wise.
The show then featured a field test for Smart Goggles with the help of plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Gastman at the Cleveland Clinic to use the device with a cadaver arm. He also did a second field test with a live patient.
The show ended with a new prototype from Blue Fish in place and an official pitch to investors. They finalized a deal with the terms that they would spend $400,000 worth of startup fees in exchange for $1.5 million from the investors into the product and primarily business development for 8 percent equity.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Here’s a short clip of the field test, and then a clip of Liu explaining his motivation with this endeavor.
Make Me A Millionaire Inventor airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern on CNBC.
