AKRON, Ohio - Technology developed at The University of Akron is part of a medical device that was included in TIME Magazine's The Best Inventions of 2024 list.
The publication compiles the list of 200 top inventions each year. Inventions are selected in categories such as consumer electronics, beauty, apps and software, home health, design, food and drink, artificial intelligence, accessibility and more.
The magazine's 2024 list includes a medical device known as Amplio, one of 20 inventions recognized in the medical care category. Amplio is the world's first wearable 3D full-color surgical microscope, according to a university news release. The surgical microscope offers capabilities such as surgical magnification, fluorescence imaging, night vision, surgical navigation, computer vision, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
Technology developed at the University of Akron improves the device's surgical lenses, known as loupes, that surgeons use during procedures. These improved lenses offer surgical visualization with microscope functionality and optimized, real-time imaging, according to the release.
Yang Liu, an assistant professor in the university's Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2013 to 2018, developed the technology. Liu and his team also created the device prototypes, according to the release.
"We are pleased to see Amplio recognized as one of the year's top inventions," University of Akron Research Foundation President Suzanne B. Bausch said in the release. "This device will be a game-changing piece of equipment for surgeons. The University of Akron's technology plays an integral role in the device."
Unify Medical is the name of the start-up company bringing the Amplio device to market. The company has an exclusive license for the technology from the university through the University of Akron Research Foundation. The university was issued a U.S. patent in December 2020 for the device's imaging and display system, according to the release. Two other U.S. patent applications and several foreign patent applications for University of Akron-related technology used in Amplio are also pending.
"This technology will transform surgical care, optimizing capabilities of surgeons and enhancing patient outcomes," Kelly Bialek, acting director of technology transfer, intellectual property management and federal reporting in the university's Office of Technology Transfer, said in the release. "We have worked closely with Unify Medical on the platform technology for several years now, and it is great to see recognition for a technology that is, and will be, transformative."