Yes, so she is old enough to drive but doesn’t and she is so smart she invented something that will actually change lives!! A spirometer is used to measure the air capacity in lungs. This machine costs hospitals thousands of dollars, and the charge to the patient is equally expensive…until now. Let me introduce you to teenager Maya Varma. Maya Varma, created an electronic spirometer for only $35!! This amazing young lady is disrupting the medical field, and she barely knows how to drive!
“California student Maya Varma has won the top prize for innovation at one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious high school science competitions, taking home $150,000 for inventing a new device to diagnose chronic lung diseases.
“I’m so excited. I didn’t expect to receive an award, and it was such a surprise,” Varma said Wednesday in Washington, host city for the competition. “I’m so happy I can share my research with the world and hopefully make a difference.”
The 17-year-old built her device out of $35 worth of basic electronics, but it is as accurate as hospital-grade versions that cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. She hopes it will save lives in developing countries where such a device — called a spirometer — might otherwise be inaccessible.
