THREE designers from Scotland who created a solution to the problem of painful eye examinations have been jointly crowned European Inventor of the Year.
Douglas Anderson, Robert Henderson and Roger Lucas were named at an awards ceremony in Slovenia for work which the judges said had made a significant difference to ordinary lives.
Europe's Industry Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, presenting the awa
rds, said their work had certainly changed his own life, thanks to laser-scanning technology which allows powerful but totally pain-free examination of the retina.
Industrial designer Mr Anderson set to work after his five-year-old son Leif went blind in one eye because laborious and invasive traditional eye-scans meant a detached retina was detected too late. Doctors told Mr Anderson how difficult it was to give small children in particular a complicated and unpleasant eye check-up.
So he took the problem back to his engineering firm, Crombie Anderson, vowing to find a thorough, painless way of checking eye problems.
Last night he received the award in Ljubljana for the best research invention by a small business.
Belgian inventor Erik de Clercq won a lifetime achievement award for developing the drug cocktail for Aids which the judges said was now the "gold standard" treatment for the illness.
And a team of German engineers working for Audi took the industrial inventor award for revolutionising the use of aluminium to make cars lighter.
The annual awards were being presented for the third time jointly by the European Patent Office and the European Commission.
Commissioner Verheugen, who has suffered from bad eyesight for years, singled out the laser eye treatment breakthrough pioneered by the Scottish team as his personal favourite among the three European winners.
"Pain-free retinal scanning is wonderful. I have to do eye-checks twice a year and it is extremely painful – so this is the invention I like the most", he said.
He added: "All winners of the European inventor of the year 2008 award developed truly groundbreaking inventions. They are evidence of Europe's strength and competitiveness. Promoting innovation remains a top priority for creating jobs and growth."
Alison Brimelow, president of the European Patent Office and former chief executive of the UK Patent Office (now UK Intellectual Property Office), was also in Slovenia for the award ceremony.
She said: "The award-winners have excelled in their creative achievements. Their success demonstrates the importance of patent protection in the invention process. If we want to tackle climate change or develop new ways of treating diseases, we need a quality-oriented patent system which stimulates and sustains innovation."
HOW IT WORKSMr ANDERSON, of Clackmannanshire, optical engineer Robert Henderson, of Edinburgh and Roger Lucas, of Kirkcaldy, patented their invention and dubbed it "Optomap", a laser retinal scanner which helps doctors examine the back of the eye more easily.
The non-invasive test takes just a quarter of a second, using low-powered laser beams to create digital images of more than 80 per cent of the retina, compared with a scan of only 5 per cent possible under conventional check-ups.
The Optomap also does away with the need for dilation drops in the eye – and, crucially for Mr Anderson, removes the distress endured by young children undergoing the original, less effective, and lengthier examination.
The scanner is marketed through Optos, the renowned Scottish eyecare technology company set up by Mr Anderson in 1992 and based in Dunfermline, Fife.
The company has expanded rapidly and now has offices in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, and was launched on the Stock Exchange in February 2006.
The full article contains 611 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
