JenLab CEO Karsten König Wins Most Innovative CEO Germany

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Sep 23, 2015, 03:00 ET

LONDON, September 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Scientist and entrepreneur Karsten König has picked up the Business Worldwide Magazine's (BWM) Award for Most Innovative CEO Germany.

JenLab CEO Karsten König developed the world's first prototype of femtosecond laser technology - a unique medical tool which is used for diagnosing skin cancer without the need for surgery. The optical biopsies that this advanced equipment can provide results in high-resolution images of single cancer cells. So well tuned is the laser that it can even detect deeply-buried cell compartments and beam their image onto a screen within seconds. The images are clearer than those produced by ultrasound techniques or a powerful microscope.

In addition to skin cancer detection, the laser - which can focus on collagen and elastin in the human skin - has also been used to trial and test anti-ageing drugs.

As a result, multinational companies with household names now employ JenLab technology. These include L'Oreal, Shiseido, Procter & Gamble and Chanel.

But it is not only in the commercial sector that fermtosecond technology excels. Hospitals such as the Princess Alexandra in Brisbane, Australia; the Hammersmith in London; Charite in Berlin and numerous others throughout California, Russia, Italy, Austria, France, and Germany are also fans of the innovative laser equipment.

The method has even employed for detecting tumour borders during brain surgery. Current research involves reporting on the skin of astronauts as they enter space.

As a full-time Professor of Engineering at Germany's Saarland University where he teaches, as well as JenLab CEO, Karsten König isn't afraid of a challenge. Indeed prior to the fall of Berlin Wall he left Jena in East Germany and escaped to Ulm in West Germany via Siberia, China and Tibet. He is also the first East German national to have climbed the 8,033 metre high Shisha pangma in the Himalayas.

Referring to the Most Innovative CEO Germany award he said: "I'm delighted and proud to receive this accolade," he said. "I regard it as excellent recognition of our ongoing work at JenLab to transfer HighTech femtosecond laser technology into novel medical diagnostic tools and biotech nanoprocessing devices.

"Myself and my team are continually fascinated by the wide range of exciting applications in could be put to, and we are discovering more every day it seems."

The JenLab team are currently working on an ultra compact version of the laser. This will reduce the cost of the equipment and make it much more accessible for other organisations and individuals to purchase.

Meanwhile the company are encouraging further research in their field by sponsoring both the annual JenLab Young Investigator Award in San Francisco, as well as the Skin Imaging Award.

To read more about JenLab, Karsten König and the criteria for the Most Innovative CEO Germany see http://www.jenlab.de/

While an article on the company can be found on BWM website at http://www.bwmonline.com/2015/05/leading-the-way-in-innovation-and-research/

Note to editors

JenLab provides femtosecond laser technology for medicine, biotechnology and cell biology. Applications of the technology are used for label-free skin imaging / in vivo histology for early cancer diagnosis and determination of the skin aging. It can also detect intratissue cosmetics and pharmaceutics such as sunscreen nanoparticles (in situ drug monitoring) and provides tomograph guided surgery as well as space medicine. Multiphoton Tomographs have also been used to track stem cells, neurons and cancer cells in small animals.

W: http://www.bwmonline.com

SOURCE Business Worldwide Magazine