“I didn’t fit into any of the parameters that most people would think of as an inventor.”
Michelle Khine
Biomedical engineer Michelle Khine knew that parts of the world with limited healthcare often had drugs to treat disease but not the capability to diagnose it early. So she adapted her favorite childhood toy—Shrinky Dinks—into a low-cost device for medical diagnostic tests.
Khine first created patterns on Shrinky Dinks sheets with a laser printer. When she baked the Shrinky Dinks, the ink left ridges that she used as a mold, creating channels to hold small amounts of bodily fluids, like blood or saliva, for testing. Khine’s inexpensive miniature devices make diagnosing treatable diseases more accessible and affordable.
Source for quote above: Michelle Khine and Kimberly A. Macuare, “The NAI Fellow Profile: An Interview with Dr. Michelle Khine,” Technology & Innovation 19, no. 4 (June 10, 2018): 765–71, accessed July 29, 2020, https://doi.org/10.21300/19.3.2018.765.
