Annie Katz, a ninth-grade student at The Leffell School, recently won the Improving Lives Award in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge in partnership with Discovery Education. Inspired by her own experience with a hamstring injury, Annie invented an at-home ultrasound capable of determining if a hamstring has a tear and, if so, which part of the muscle is impacted.
Annie was one of 10 finalists in the competition, out of a very large pool of applicants across the United States. As a finalist, she was paired with a 3M mentor, a chemical engineer PhD, with whom she worked all summer to refine her idea and bring her project to a complete prototype stage. She soldered together all the components and streamlined a 128 commercial transducer ultrasound into a more compact model, reducing the cost to under $50. She also wrote an AI program that produces 20% better results for Grade 1 tear recognition than the human medical eye. Her at-home ultrasound was powered by an advanced microprocessor that was run on a C program that she wrote.
Teachers at The Leffell School have encouraged Annie’s interest in science and engineering since she was in the Lower School, when her science teacher sent her home with circuitry kits in the second grade. Not only is her ultrasound hardware based on circuits, but this knowledge was crucial for her 3M in person assessments.
Going forward, Annie will continue to work with her 3M mentor, and she is being informed on the patent process. As part of her 3M mentorship, they brought on a doctor of physical therapy who wants to implement Annie’s prototype in his office and for his patients. He has encouraged her to continue to expand it to other body parts including tennis elbow/golfer’s elbow and the rotator cuff.
Annie greatly recommends the competition. 3M and Discovery Education are exceptionally supportive, and provide outstanding resources, connections, and prizes for all of the finalists. In addition, Annie enjoyed bonding with new friends from around the U.S. who share similar interests.
