A physicist from Paimpol was shortlisted for the European Inventor Prize

Michael Tanter and partner Matthias Fink have been working in the field of medical imaging and ultrasound therapy for over thirty years. In particular, they and their team developed an ultra-fast ultrasound system – 10,000 frames per second versus 50 overall – Which improves cancer prognosisBreast and liver in particular. An invention that reduces the need for biopsies.

For this work the peritoneal physicist, originally from Paimpol (Côtes-d’Armor) was selected from among 15 finalists for the European Inventor Prize, Which is scheduled to be the final on June 17. He can also get a second prize thanks to the audience vote, possible on this site.

50% less biopsies

In his work, Mickaël Tanter, Director of Research at INSERM, rely on body, widely used by doctors to detect diseases. The palpation that the physicist seeks to replace: “What we wanted to do with Matthias Fink was to find a way to map tissue stiffness in a more scientific way than just a simple doctor contact.‘, he explains. So they are accustomed to Shear waves to set up their project. “You can see it when you tap a little on the surface of your abdomen, and to see it inside the body, we had to invent the ultrasound machine very quickly.‘, defines the Breton language.

This is the step that cuts the number of biopsies in halfEspecially for breast cancer. “You do a standard ultrasound and at some point the device will go into super speed mode and at the same time it will feel inside the body. We have a more relevant diagnosis‘, he adds.

Companies Created for Research

The Breton physicist did not choose his work at random, he dreamed of becoming a doctor. “It’s a way to combine my two passions’, he smiles. Today, his laboratory, made up entirely of physicists, is working Tools for doctors أدوات, in the field of cancer diagnosis, but also in neurosciences, cardiology, and cardiovascular disease. “Using ultrasound, we will try to diagnose, detect or treat diseases remotely with surgery without opening the patient‘, he explains.

Mickaël Tanter . also developed Several companies to conduct their research. “We absolutely wanted the research done in the lab to be useful in everyday life and have a real impact on patients’ lives.. “