The European Patent Office honored Takeuchi with the European Inventor Award for her Li/SVO battery technology for implantable cardiac defibrillators.
On June 13, 2013, in a ceremony held in Amsterdam, the European Patent Office (EPO) presented Esther Sans Takeuchi with the prestigious European Inventor Award in the Non-European Countries category. This annual award recognizes individual inventors and inventive teams whose work has made an exceptional contribution to innovation, technological progress, and economic growth.
Takeuchi was honored specifically for her pioneering development of the lithium/silver vanadium oxide battery, a technology that had, by 2013, already become the standard power source in the vast majority of implantable cardioverter defibrillators used worldwide. The award recognized not only the scientific ingenuity of her chemistry but also its enormous humanitarian impact, as the miniaturized, reliable batteries she engineered allowed defibrillators to be implanted safely in patients across the globe, extending countless lives.
As a non-European inventor being honored by Europe's leading patent institution, Takeuchi's recognition underscored the truly international significance of her work. It also highlighted the relatively rare achievement of a woman engineer receiving top billing at a major European technology award ceremony, reflecting both her scientific stature and the broader effort within engineering institutions to recognize the contributions of women inventors on a global stage.