読んでってネ、開発秘話。
フレーデン博士と語ろう!
質問受付箱は、こちら。

 ジェイコブ・フレーデン博士は電気科学者であり、工学者であり、発明家です。シアトル大学、カリフォルニア州立大学、エール大学など、米国の多くの大学や会社で講義を行い、電気工学の修士号、バイオメディカル電気工学の博士号を持っています。
ロシアのSverdlovsk(現在のEkaterinburg)という、モスクワから東に約1,000マイル(1,600km)の工業都市で生まれ育ち、1977年に米国に移住しました。ロシアでは、映画監督やTV特派員の仕事をしたり、電子楽器のデザインや超感覚的知覚実験を行ったりしていました。
 現在はサン・ディエゴに住み、発明家、科学者、ビジネスマン、作家、そして芸術家として、多彩な活動を続けています。

 さて、博士は、センサー、医療機器、民生電子機器、セキュリティの分野で、実に30以上もの国際特許を取得しています。
 博士が発明した多くの装置の中で、皆さんがよくご存知のものに、人が部屋を離れると照明を消す自動照明スイッチ、家庭用の血圧モニター、瞬間耳式体温計、病院で使われる体温モニターなどがあります。
 博士は、さまざまな研究開発活動の中で、Thermoscanという世界最高の赤外線耳体温計メーカーを設立しました。Thermoscanは現在、Braun社の一部門となっています。その後、今回皆さまにご紹介する、ペット用電子耳体温計のメーカーであるAdvanced Monitors Corporation社を設立したのです。

 フレーデン博士の著書として有名な「最新センサー・ハンドブック(Handbook of Modern Sensors)」は、世界中の多くの大学で教科書として使われ、既に数版を重ね、ベストセラーとなってています。
 博士は、一流専門誌やシンポジウムの議事録に、70以上の科学論文や文章を発表しています。また、もう一つの著書「発明者の冒険(Adventures of an Inventor)」は、1996年の初版以来、現在でも出版され続けています。

   Dr. Jacob Fraden is an electronic scientist, engineer, and inventor. He holds over 30 international patents in the areas of sensing, medical instrumentation, consumer electronics and security. Among other products, he invented several well known devices: an automatic light switch that turns off lights when people leave the room, a home blood pressure monitor, an instant ear thermometer and a clinical temperature monitor. Prior to Advanced Monitors Corporation, he founded Thermoscan, Inc., the world's largest producer of infrared ear thermometers. Thermoscan, Inc. presently is owned by Gillette Corporation.
   He is the author of the best-selling Handbook of Modern Sensors which already had several editions and is used as a textbook at many universities worldwide. J. Fraden has published more than 70 scientific papers and book chapters in leading professional magazines and symposia proceedings. His another book Adventures of an Inventor is still in print after it was first published in 1996. He has lectured at many American universities and companies. He holds a M.S. degree in electrical engineering and Ph.D. in biomedical electronic engineering.
   Dr. Fraden was born and educated in the industrial city of Sverdlovsk, Russia (presently Ekaterinburg), one thousand miles east of Moscow. He has lived in the United States since 1977.

   Many years ago, I invented an ear thermometer for the humans. One day, my 1 year old daughter (now she is 22) was sick and my wife had a hard time measuring her temperature. So I stated thinking and figured out that measuring temperature from the ear was much easier and more accurate. I started Thermoscan and now the ear thermometers are used everywhere. When working at Thermoscan, I heard that many people tried to use the human ear thermometers on dogs and cats and often with disappointing results. Dogs and cats are just like children. They can be healthy and they can be sick. And like children, they can't tell us that they don't feel good.
   In 1997, I left Thermoscan and started developing the Vet-Temp and Pet-Temp. I saw it not only as a business opportunity but also as a way for better treating the animals. When I was 14 years old in Russia, I had several unusual pets - a bear, a fox, a snake and a hedgehog. Once when the bear was sick, I tried to take his rectal temperature. I still have a scar on my leg. Now, in my family we have a dog and a chinchilla. Naturally, I use the Pet-Temp whenever I suspect the animals don't feel well. It gives me a peace of mind and I know exactly when to take them to a veterinarian.
   Designing a thermometer for pets was quite difficult. Some dogs have very deep ear canals, kittens have ears even smaller than the human babies and no cat can stay still for more than 1 second. So, the animal thermometer had to be very fast, insensitive to movements and have a long and slim probe. All these have been accomplished in the Vet-Temp and Pet-Temp. These thermometers work on all animals and even on humans from babies to adults.

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