TECH OFFERS

A microfluidic chip-based mechanism has been developed as a Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) device to replace Lateral Flow Assays (LFA) for fast and convenient blood analysis. The microchip system utilises the principle of immunoassays but with high accuracy and compatibility to different signalling tags, providing a quantitative readout. Conventional immunoassays involve multistep procedure and long process time. While LFAs are fast and convenient, they are qualitative. The device demonstrated a one-step assay that can achieve equal or higher sensitivities than standard methods within significantly shorter total processing time. In a microfluidic device, the sample flows in precisely defined microchannels, which allow better control of fluid behaviour and higher consistency in testing results compared to LFA in which the sample flows by wicking through the porous paper-based material. This technology resides in the assembly of components and materials to immobilise antibodies or antigens onto the chip which can be easily scaled for commercial production. The technology owner is seeking collaborations with manufacturers of IVD devices or Medtech companies to out-license the technology and expand the range of antibodies targets for the microchip.

The technology consists in a new type of neural networks, providing explainable, verifiable, compact and private AI solutions. Explainability: the technology provides precise global explanations and the exact rules learned by the AI model, even with large datasets. We transform clients' raw data and/or models into meaningful results through high-quality visual analytics, empowering them to enhance the model based on these explanations. Formal Verification: the technology allows the client to formally verify certain properties of the model, such as its robustness to adversarial attacks, its fairness according to certain features, etc.

Digitalisation is a global trend with digital twin technology increasingly adopted in various industrial segments including smart factories and plants, digital facility management and operation & maintenance, building and construction, etc. Rapid generation of digital twin of physically existing is desired. Conventionally, digital twin is mainly generated using design software which requires professional modellers to spend substantial design time pending on the complexity of the physical twin (to be constructed) and the manpower available. Building information modelling (BIM) is increasingly used as a representation for the digital twin. For existing environments, scan to BIM technology and authoring software products are used for the process of reconstructing of BIM models from LiDAR scanned point clouds. This manual process is typically time consuming, tedious and error prone. Often, meshed models are used for visualization purpose of the digital twin.

A Digital Twin is a digital representation of a physical object or system, often used in various industries for simulation, analysis, and monitoring. In the built environment, which encompasses everything from buildings and infrastructure to urban planning, Digital Twins have a wide range of potential applications that can significantly enhance efficiency, sustainability, and overall quality of life. Digital twins have emerged as a transformative concept in the built environment, revolutionizing how buildings, infrastructure, and cities are designed, constructed, and managed. This innovative technology leverages the power of digital simulations and real-time data to create virtual replicas of physical assets, offering numerous benefits across various sectors within the built environment. The technology owner is seeking co-development partnerships with building owners, facity management companies, smart city or urban planners to adopt their digital twin technology in achieving their sustainability objectives.

For many years, gas detection applications in industries have predominantly relied on single point detectors, which are applicable in many industries covering a wide market sector.   Starting from the year 2010 and onwards, open path line detectors have gained significant recognition and popularity due to their cost-effectiveness and ability to cover larger areas, thereby enhancing safety measures.  More device options are now on the market.   However, all of these devices have the inherent problems of false alarms due to environmental interference, such as rain and snow. A waveform matching technology – multi order laser emitting spectrum (MOLES) was invented. This cutting-edge technology ensures specific gas detection, it only detects when specific gas is detected, and eliminates all false alarms caused by environmental interference.   By gathering industrial inputs and feedbacks, improvements and user-desired features are incorporated into this invention, to enhance its overall performance, reliability and solving many user problems on site, such as no display, alignment problems, and calibration.  This breakthrough innovation will provide a more efficient and reliable gas detection solution for industries, safeguarding their operations and personnel.

Lithium ion (Li-ion) battery is now the dominant energy storage system in portable electronics and electric vehicles (EV). The rapid expanding EV is driving the demand for next generation high-energy batteries. Compared to conventional Li-ion batteries with graphite anode, which has a theoretical capacity of 372 mAh/g, lithium-metal batteries can deliver ten times of specific capacity (3860 mAh/g). Theoretically, anode-free batteries can double the energy density in volume compared to Li-ion batteries at the cell level. However, current anode-free batteries suffer from faster capacity decay due to poor lithium plating on Cu foil. To overcome this challenge, the technology owner has developed a liquid electrolyte comprising lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate (LiDFOB) and a carbonate solvent, enabling reversible lithium plating of anode-free lithium metal batteries. This electrolyte ensures good thermal stability with smooth Li plating of counter electrode on the anodic side even at elevated temperatures. It facilitates a capacity retention of above 80% after 100 cycles for an anode-free battery or 80% after 400 cycles for a battery with a Li metal anode. The technology owner seeks collaboration with industrial partners such as battery developers and manufacturers for further co-development and test-bedding of electrolyte and subsequent licensing of this technology for commercialisation.

This technology is suitable for companies looking for a probiotics delivery system with increased probiotics viability. Spray-dried probiotic powder derived from this technology can be used as dietary supplements or functional food additives for human and animal consumption. Conventional probiotics often lose viability during shelf storage and upon ingestion, especially during their transit through the gastric region. Our industrially scalable encapsulation technology can improve probiotics’ shelf life and maintain viability during their passage through the human upper gastrointestinal tract. The encapsulated probiotic product achieves qualities of gastroprotection and targeted release in the intestinal region, overall boosting the beneficial effects of probiotics on gut health. Probiotics represent a US$ 58 billion market with immense growth potential, as global consumers are increasingly invested in digestive health and means to enhance the gut microbiome. Our patented technology of encapsulating probiotics involves a modified spray-drying process and is a high-throughput, food-grade, and inexpensive technique applicable to pharmaceutical, food and animal feed sectors.

Grasping technology, often associated with robotics and automation, addresses the challenge of manipulating and handling objects in various environments. The primary problem solved by grasping technology is the ability to securely and accurately pick up, hold, move, and release objects with different shapes, sizes, and materials. This technology is especially crucial in situations where human intervention may be difficult, dangerous, or inefficient. Before the deployment of new models and algorithms in the real world, it would be great to test the algorithm in a realistic simulation environment first. 

Autonomous driving technologies hold promise of substantial manpower savings, but the technology is still not mature enough to remove the driver from the vehicle. This also hinders the deployment of autonomous systems for many business applications as the ROI (Return on Investment) is not justifiable. There are also multiple scenarios, such as firefighting or waste processing, that require the agility offered by a human operator but have worksites that can be harmful. The technology presented here offers a high-fidelity teleoperation solution platform which can control many kinds of vehicles and machinery with high quality video feed at low latency. This technology is particularly useful for autonomous vehicle or machinery related companies that want to release their fleet to the market and have the option to remove the requirement for a safety driver onboard. It is also useful for companies providing heavy machinery, or end users of heavy machinery who seek to remove operators from harmful worksites.