Yale undergrads invent a skin-imaging device called 3Derm System

Three Yale undergrads by the names of Elizabeth Asai, Elliot Swart and Nickolas Demas have created the next dorm-room creation called the “3Derm System.” This is a cool device which allows doctors and patients to take three-dimensional images of skin abnormalities and upload them to an Internet database. Once doctors have access to the database they can get access to the images. Also, patients can help their doctor check the progression of an abnormality, by continuing to upload images over time. 3Derm System uses a camera that takes high-definition, three-dimensional images. After those images are captured, wearing special glasses, a dermatologist can get a sense of the texture of a lesion during a diagnosis. Sounds neat, right?

These students have garnered an impressive resume. First, winning the Collegiate Inventors Competition in Washington, D.C., taking home $12,500 in prize money, and 100 G’s (Ebonics: 100k) in June in a national contest sponsored by the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology in Boston. Yes, these guys are the real deal.

Lets be honest, this is what you’d expect from some smart engineering students from Yale. The fact they were able to get this idea as far as they have is very commendable, but the real interest for me is their next move. I’m not trying to get political here, but this idea goes perfectly with President Obama’s plan of turning to the Internet in improving the way we keep medical records. If the 3Derm System gets in the right hands it can definitely become one of the stepping-stones into the future of how the medical profession is ran more efficiently.