Biography and publications | Mathias Fink - Technological innovation Liliane Bettencourt

Biography

Born in Grenoble in 1945, Mathias Fink trained in mathematics in Paris, then obtained a post-graduate diploma (DEA) in solid-state physics at the University of Orsay, followed by a^{post-graduate}thesis in this discipline and a doctorate in medical imaging. He then took part in the development of the first real-time electronically focused medical ultrasound scanner. Professor at the Université Louis-Pasteur in Strasbourg, at the University of Irvine (USA), at the Université Denis-Diderot and member of the Institut Universitaire de France, he is currently professor at the ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris), where he heads the Ondes et Acoustique laboratory he founded in 1990.

He is the inventor of time-reversal mirrors, which have a wide range of applications (therapy, medical imaging, telecommunications, seismology, home automation, underwater acoustics).

He is also the inventor of Transient Elastography and the concept of Supersonic Shear Imaging, which have numerous applications in medical imaging. Four start-ups employing over 140 people have been created from his laboratory and research.

Main honors

Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honor (1998)
SNECMA Grand Prize for Creativity (1994)
Prix Foucault from the Société Française de Physique (1995)
CNRS silver medal, SPM sector (1995)
Gaz de France Grand Prize from the French Academy of Sciences (2002)
Member of the Académie des technologies (2002)
French medal from the Société Française d'Acoustique (2003)
Member of the French Academy of Sciences (2003)
Rayleigh-Helmholtz Award from the Acoustical Society of America (2005)
Officier dans l'ordre de la Légion d'honneur (2007)
Grand prix Louis Néel de la Société Française de Physique (2008)

Biography

Born in 1945 in Grenoble, Mathias Fink received the MS degree in mathematics from Paris University, and the PhD degree in solid state physics. Then he moved to medical imaging and received the Doctorat ès Sciences degree from Paris University in the area of ultrasonic focusing for real-time medical imaging. He was a professor at Strasbourg University, at Irvine University (USA) and at Paris University (Denis-Diderot). Mathias Fink is now a professor of physics at the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI) where he founded in 1990 the Laboratory Ondes et Acoustique.

He pioneered the development of time-reversal mirrors and he developed many applications of this concept from ultrasound therapy, medical imaging, non-destructive testing, underwater acoustics, seismic imaging, tactile objects, to electromagnetic telecommunications.

He also pioneered innovative medical imaging methods: transient elastography, supersonic shear imaging and multi-wave imaging that are now implemented by several companies. Four companies with more than 140 employees have been created from his research (Echosens, Sensitive Object, Supersonic Imagine and Time Reversal Communications).