“ I wanted to find a solution for this,” the eighth-grader states.
As technology continues to advance, we’re seeing innovation come about at faster rate than ever before. But as that technology becomes more accessible, we’re also seeing it originate outside of labs from surprising, yet inspiring sources.
For four years, now-13-year-old Anushka Naiknaware has been researching applications for nanoparticles, and that work has most recently netted her an award at the Google Science Fair, thanks to a real-world application that could change the way we treat chronic wounds.
Chronic wounds, by definition, are those that don’t heal on a normal or typical timeline. Often, this is due to a lack of moisture or a disruption in the healing process from removing the bandage, often to check the healing process. What Anushka has done is print a circuit that, when conducting electricity, could record moisture levels that would prevent a doctor from having to manually inspect a wound, allowing it more time to heal undisturbed.
This could be a huge innovation for those suffering from chronic wounds, namely the elderly, whose injuries tend to take longer to heal than young people’s.
In the below video, made for her entry in the Google Science Fair, Anushka talks about her development and the inspiration behind it:
"I realized that this was a very big problem because more people die of injuries per year than they do of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. After I discovered that, I wanted to find a solution for this," she says in the clip.
It’s remarkable that her desire to make change was met by her ability to do so. It’s not clear what the timeline of implementation would be for her innovation, but it’s a safe bet this won’t be the last contribution this rising star makes to the world of science.
Witnessing her remarkable talents and goals at age 13, we’re excited to see what she achieves with even more resources and education a little further down the road.