Delaney Dixon’s vision, spawned from the depths of battling Lyme Disease, is now a reality.

To prevent others from going through the ordeal she did, Dixon and a team of engineering students at Binghamton University have brought her medical invention, the Tick Stik, to life.

The device is an extendable and flexible wand with an HD camera on the end that transmits an image to a phone screen. It also has attachable tools for removing ticks from your body if you find them. It is designed for use by hikers, hunters, fishermen, athletes, outdoor workers and hobbyists.

“It feels great that it will be able to help people avoid getting Lyme Disease and feel safe that they can check themselves,” said Dixon.

Dixon and the Binghamton University team unveiled the Tick Stik at Binghamton University’s Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering on Friday in front of an audience that included elected officials and representatives from the national Lyme Disease Association Inc.

“The enthusiasm, dedication and intellect exhibited by this group to solve a problem and help thousands of people avoid developing Lyme or another tick-borne disease, or lead to an early diagnosis, lends hope for many who spend significant amounts of time in the outdoors for recreation or work,” says Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association. “Tick-borne diseases may one day become a scourge of the past.”

The Windsor 6th grader has fully recovered from her battle with Lyme Disease, which began in June of 2019. While her ordeal against the tick-borne malady is over, its legacy is beginning.

“I was at dinner one night almost done with my medicine and thought, ‘I don’t want this to happen to any other people,’” said Dixon.

That’s when she drew a rough sketch on a piece of paper that has become one of the world’s newest medical devices.

“It’s really exciting to know that that little drawing turned into an invention,” said Dixon.

“I think our first prototype was a camera on a Swiffer duster, one of those extendable ones,” said Chris Dixon, Delaney’s father.

With a finished product, the Dixons are working with local manufacturers to build the first 1,000-plus Tick Stiks. They are also finishing development of a Tick Stik mobile app that would launch the camera and have tick identification resources allowing users to know what kind of tick they have on their body.

“I still have to do a lot of the marketing research to help grow the business. I’m researching types of ticks and illnesses, my marketing plan and how people sell things,” said Dixon.

You can learn more about the Tick Stik at tickstik.com.