Discover new technologies by our partners

Lower back pain is a common ailment in the community. Such ailment is associated with our seating lifestyle. Customising orthopaedic seats is one of the main approaches to address this problem. Additive 3D printing is a potential low-cost and faster alternative approach to make customised orthopaedic seats. However, there is no known prominent commercial entity that provides 3D printed orthopaedic seats. A customizable mathematical model can facilitate the 3D printed seat.

This encapsulation technology seeks to enhance and prolong the intended effects of leave-on products to maximize the benefits of the active ingredients and reduce the frequency of applications. No chemical modification of active ingredients required, non-irritating to skin and non-corrosive to surface, the offered technology is obtained through a one-pot simplified encapsulation process and can be used in water-based and various other formulations such as spray, gel, paste or cream.  

This technology offer is an advanced analytics and sensor platform for workspace management. This proprietary platform allows unparalleled insights into the workplace environment, including comprehensive and real-time workspace utilisation data and environmental data. With these insights, plans can be put in place to enhance workspace efficiency and space allocation, thus improving the workspace user experience.

As an increase in people’s awareness of health, traditional Chinese medicine becomes more and more popular. Among many of the Chinese medicines, Tiepi Shihu (i.e. one of the types of Dendrobium) and Cordyceps sinensis are two of the most expensive products. Dendrobium is one of the largest genera in the plant family Orchidaceae, and more than 1,100 species of Dendrobium have been identified. Among them, Tiepi Shihu is traditionally recognised as the best Shihu for tonic purposes, such as nourishing the stomach, protecting the throat and eyes. The uncharacteristic appearance and high price of Tiepi Shihu could lead to the occurrence of adulterants, confusion of species and counterfeits. Therefore, authentication and quality analysis of Tiepi Shihu is crucial for ensuring safety and efficacy. One of the conventional authentication methods greatly depends on the experience of botanical experts and subjective judgement; and the other is based on DNA bio-coding, which is very expensive and time-consuming. These existing methodologies are extremely intricate, difficult and time-consuming, and therefore they are not suitable for routine quality control. This patented technology aims to target some unique polysaccharide markers which can be successfully applied to the authentication of Tiepi Shihu and Cordyceps products. We have identified that only Tiepi Shihu or Cordyceps sample shows its unique peak in the high molecular size range by using high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC). Apart from authentication, this method can assess the herb’s quality by distinguishing the quantity of the polysaccharide.  

The cause of caries (tooth decay) is a formation of biofilm lying on the teeth and subsequently becoming mature. The acid created by specific bacteria (S. mutans) dissolves the hard tissues of the teeth (enamel), which can result in pain and difficulty with eating or even tooth loss and infection.  Severe dental caries can impair quality of life but is preventable by maintaining good oral hygiene such as using fluoride toothpaste with brush and dental floss or toothpick to clean between the teeth. However, small children, older adults or people with severe disabilities may find it hard to apply.  Besides, Fluorosis may be resulted if there is overexposure to fluoride. People with Fluorosis will develop white opaques on their tooth surface, which affect the appearance. In addition, some mouthwash products contain chemicals like alcohol and chlorhexidine to help kill bacteria. The use of these chemicals has some potential drawbacks like altered taste sensation and staining of teeth. Our new compounds, dihydro-resveratrol or its derivatives can be used for preventing the formation of biofilm and inhibit the growth of bacteria which are cost-effective and very safe to use as they are herbal extracts, which have fewer harmful effects in comparison with those chemical‐based products.

In every 3 seconds, there is one person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) as reported by the World Health Organisation. As the ageing population is expanding, dementia has become a tremendous socioeconomic issue. Nowadays, there are over 33 million of people having AD that is accounted for 0.4% of the world population. Unfortunately, there is no cure for AD, only early diagnosis and treatment can ameliorate the symptoms and delay its progression. Several biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been recognized and established for AD diagnosis with high diagnostic accuracy over 85%. However, the collection of CSF is invasive and causes discomfort and side effect on patients. On the other hand, the collection of urine and saliva is relatively simple and non-invasive. Our technology provides a solution for early Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis by using magnetic nanoprobe for sensitive detection of the target biomarker in different body fluids including blood serum, saliva and urine. In addition, our detection assay has a wide dynamic range that allows the quantification of biomarkers in a minute amount (a few microliters) of samples. It is proven practically useful for different body fluids. It is a non-invasive, rapid and cost-effective alternative for accurate diagnosis of AD.

Stem cell therapy is one of the most promising potential treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. It involves cultivating stem cells for differentiation into new and healthy cells, which can then be transplanted to the human body to replace damaged or dead cells. The conventional methods for cultivating stem cells typically require the use of animals and biochemical growth factors that may also encourage the growth of cancer cells. These methods are costly and the cells produced are often cancerous. The technology is a method for growing stem cells without the need for animals or biochemical factors. The device, called inorganic sculptured extracellular nanomatrices (iSECnMs), uses nanoscopic structures on its surfaces to stimulate growth and differentiation of stem cells by physical stimulation as well as inhibit other directors of differentiation. Thus, it substantially reduces the risk of inflammation or cancer cell formation. The material is biocompatible and low-cost, so the device is well-suited for mass production. The technology could generate healthy and functional cells for use in regenerative therapy, as well as treatment for neurodegenerative, chronic and joint diseases.

The impact of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on society is one of our biggest global challenges as it adversely affects the quality of life of patients. This irreversible disease also poses tremendous physical, emotional, and financial burdens to their family, the community medical system, and the entire social economy.  The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a few prescription drugs (i.e. Aricept® (donepezil), Exelon® (rivastigmine), Razadyne® (galantamine) and Namenda® (memantine)) for the treatment of AD. These prescription drugs can help reduce or delay some symptoms, but not cure AD.  The possible side effects of these drugs range from mild symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, headache, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, to severe symptoms that include slow heartbeat, heart block, gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers. As stated in the 2012 Consumer Reports, the monthly medication cost of these prescription drugs is around US$200 to US$400 per AD patient.  In light of this, we have invented a patented formulation by modifying the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulation, Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT, 黃連解毒湯).  Our research findings prove that the modified HLJDT (HLJDT-M) can reduce the accumulation of protein plaques and fibrous nodules (i.e. amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) and tau aggregates) in the brain that leads to rapid death of neurons and deterioration of brain function. HLJDT-M has given more significant therapeutic and pharmacological effects in treating AD with low cost and extremely low side effects.

Many of us love the warmth and brightness of the sun; however, sun exposure often causes damage to our skin. When our skin is exposed to sunlight, which is the primary source of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, our skin gets darkened, damaged or causes various aesthetic problems, such as wrinkles, blemishes, scarring, freckles and chloasmata. These are due to the oxidative stress (i.e. generation of free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS)) in the epidermal and dermal layers. Occasionally, the UV-induced damages may even lead to the development of melanoma (i.e. a type of skin cancer). The invention is a specific class of natural compounds in a well-known Chinese medicine. The product gives skin whitening effect and improves skin condition. It is safe to use and is now available on the market.