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This invention is a portable electromyography (EMG) sensor for muscle activity detection.  Unlike conventional EMG devices, which are bulky and confined to clinic settings, the sensor is built to be compact and wearable. It enables real-time, reliable biofeedback regardless of user’s location, bridging the accessibility gap in EMG analysis outside the traditional medical environments. This portability is achieved by integrating reusable micro-structured electrodes and highly integrated sensing system onto a soft and flexible substrate. The design ensures accurate EMG detection while offering a comfortable experience for extended use. The technology consists of three main components: Use of nanofabrication to build the electrodes followed by electric signal detection, replacing conventional gel electrodes. A processing unit for amplification to digital signals. Software to visualize EMG signals. The EMG sensor performance and analysis capabilities allows for collection of signals at high frequency to monitor muscle fatigue conditions. The technology owner is seeking for collaborations in the sports and fitness industry in providing accurate muscle activity signals, enhancing tracking of individual’s physical health actively and for athletes to make optimal adjustments to their training and tailor their approach towards fitness goals. However, its applications extend beyond fitness, with potential uses in elderly health care, virtual reality, gaming, and human-robot interaction. This technology taps into the growing demand for advanced, portable health monitoring systems, offering a solution that bridges the gap between medical-grade equipment and consumer fitness products. The sensor is also currently being trial to aid in rehabilitation in the hospitals. The portable EMG sensor comprises micro-structured electrodes, a highly integrated sensing system, and an app for visualization and personalized guidance. The sensor is small and lightweight without compromising detection accuracy, making it highly convenient for everyday use. Portability: The sensor adopts a highly integrated design with physical dimensions: 45mm x 25mm x 8mm, and weighs only 15 grams. The device is rechargeable and last 2-3 hours after charging. High detection accuracy: It boasts durability and high detection accuracy with a signal-to-noise ratio reaching over 100 dB. The signal readings are smooth and robust under intense body movement. Multi-channel detection: 32 channel EMG sensing system which is able to detect High-Density EMG signal for clinical neuromuscular condition assessment with high accuracy at a sampling frequency of 1000Hz. Innovation: The sensor replaces conventional wet electrodes with dry, micro-structured ones, which showcases outstanding flexibility, biocompatibility, and high detection accuracy. Personalization: The sensor comes with a self-developed app that provides data visualization, personal guidance, and progress tracking. Versatility: Potential applications extend to sports, healthcare, VR, gaming, and robotics. Athletic Training: The high monitoring accuracy and real-time feedback of this sensor make it an excellent tool for athletes aiming to optimize their performance. It allows for the precise tracking of muscle activity, helping to refine technique, prevent injury, and enhance muscle recovery. Physical Therapy: With its comfortable wearability and closed-loop guide, the sensor can contribute significantly to physical therapy. It can help therapists in assessing patient progress more accurately and develop personalized rehabilitation programs. Elderly Care: Given its affordability, lightweight, and small size, the sensor could be readily adopted in elderly care. It could aid in monitoring the muscular health of seniors, alerting caregivers to potential issues, and ensuring appropriate intervention is timely. Virtual Interaction in the Metaverse: With its high accuracy in monitoring muscle condition and the capability to provide real-time feedback, this wearable muscle electrical signal monitoring sensor could revolutionize the way we interact within virtual environments or metaverses. By accurately tracking and translating muscle movements into virtual actions, it could enable more immersive, realistic, and nuanced interactions within the digital realm. Human-Robot Interaction: The sensor's closed-loop guide feature and monitoring precision could also transform human-robot interaction. It could be used to enhance teleoperation systems, where a human operator's muscle movements are translated into robot actions. According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the global wearable healthcare devices market is projected to reach USD 30.1 billion by 2026 from USD 16.2 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 13.2% during the forecast period. Compared to existing technologies, this sensor significantly advances the field of wearable electrophysiological devices. Its high monitoring accuracy surpasses that of many current devices, including future integration of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and other wearable functions. Despite its advanced features, the sensor remains affordable. The cost-effectiveness is a significant improvement, as the cost is often a barrier to user adoption in the wearable technology market. The technology highlights the following aspects:  In-house development of microstructured electrodes to replace the commercial gel electrodes in the market. Being ultra-thin, highly flexible, and reusable, the microstructured electrodes exhibit superior detection accuracy during long-term electrophysiological monitoring. The sensors are designed on soft and flexible substrates compared to commercial rigid ones. The small and light sensor allows for portable usage and convenience in various settings. The sensor boasts seamless integration with various platforms, devices, or software, allowing for easy data analysis, personalized guidance, and compatibility with a range of applications. Electromyography (EMG), Muscle Activity Detection, Healthcare, Fitness, Sports Materials, Nano Materials, Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Healthcare, Telehealth, Medical Software & Imaging

Nanoscale 3D printed optical elements are the next-generation security features in physical products to combat the globally evolving problem of counterfeiting. Due to the design of complex structures with ultra-high resolution, nanoscale 3D printed optical elements are extremely difficult to copy by other means, while producing special optical effects for authentication. This technology involves the design and fabrication of nanoscale 3D structures by two-photon polymerization lithography. These structures have ultra-high resolution of up to 100,000 dots per inch (dpi) and are used to control the various properties (amplitude, phase, colour, orbital angular momentum) of visible light to achieve special optical effects. For example, a wide range of colours are directly produced by varying the geometry of the nanostructures, and do not require any additional processing steps.  The optical effects serve as security features that can be verified by naked eye, lasers, and optical microscope setups. This technology can be used as product authentication labels in high-value goods such as medicine, jewellery, and watches to prevent counterfeiting. Nanoscale 3D printing enables the fabrication of complex optical elements with ultra-high resolution. The key advantages of the technology are given below - Resolution of up to 100,000 dpi compared to conventional technologies which work at ~ 1000 dpi. Optically stable elements. Environment friendly and non toxic. The fabricated nanostructures are made of polymers and compared to technologies in this domain like quantum dots, are potentially more stable and with a lower risk of toxicity. This technology promises new and improved capabilities for security applications. nanomaterials, optics, anti counterfeiting Materials, Nano Materials, Electronics, Lasers, Optics & Photonics, Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing, Moulding, Sintering, Casting & Nanoimprinting

Neural probes are used for capturing electrical activities and for exploring functional connectivity in the brain. For neural probes to be effective and be able to capture the activities happening at the scale of neural cells in vivo, they need to be small, made of bio-compatible material, and ideally, be flexible. This ensures that they do not trigger an inflammatory response or have a risk of breakage.  The technology presented here covers the requirements stated above for an ideal neural probe. The probes are flexible and allow superior precise targeting even with movement. The technology employed also avoids breaking and micromotion during the in-vivo trials. The probe’s design is also customizable for different requirements and can support combination of single/dual side, linear/tetrode, recording/stimulating/mixed and single/multi shank configurations for differing use cases. The probes can support up to 32 channels and provide multiple connectivity options for integration.  The probe has 8 to 32 nano-scale electrodes coated in biocompatible high-polymer materials. Its customizable channels can capture neural activities precisely and effectively in the electrochemical pool where neurons combine and communicate. Because of its nano-scale size, it can access the inner brain, such as the laboratory mouse’s hippocampus and motor cortex.   The  company also has expertise in making durable biomaterial circuit boards. The neural probe is built upon a flexible printed circuit board (fPCB), so the user does not have to worry about neural probe breaking inside the brain tissue. The following are some key technical features of the probe:  Probe physical size:  Length : 12mm + 5mm (Shank)  Width : 5.5mm to 20.5mm (Depends on number of channels)    Shank size:   Width : 153um  Thickness : 60um  Length : 5mm  Multiple shanks  Electrode size:  Diameter : 20 um   Distance between electrode: 50um  Type: Linear, Tetrode  Layer: Single side, Double, side  Channels & adaptors:  Channels : 8 to 32   Adaptors : Dip, Pin and Omnetics   The technology is suitable for applications in the field of medicine, bioengineering and neuroscience. The flexible probe can be used as a part of a more robust and precise measurement setup for monitoring and/or stimulating neural activity. The neural probe can safely be used in any current application requiring neural recording in in vivo or in vitro environment.  The technology offers a flexible neural probe which is customizable for use in different scenarios and experiments requiring neural monitoring and excitation. The main advantages of the technology can be summarized as:  Flexible – The neural probe is made of a polymer film and not the traditional brittle silicon material. This is accomplished using advanced fPCB engineering. This also allows safe neural recording for in vivo and in vitro experiments.  Configurable – The solution, in its current form, provides an easy way to connect the neural probe into any existing neural recording interface. The company provides various types of connectors and an option to customize these based on end- user’s request.   Economics – Aside from the different connectivity options, multiple existing configurations are available which help end user avoid the use of devices like a tetrode twister. This reduces the initial expenses for labs and companies trying out new configurations.  Adaptable – The probe can be used in diverse scenarios spanning deep brain stimulation to hippocampal neural recording.   Customizable – The probe design supports configurations involving multiple shanks and channels.  Biocompatibility – The probe is biocompatible and suitable for in vivo experiments.   Accuracy – The probe can detect neural spikes more accurately, collect cell clusters and track them reliably. The design also ensures that the neurons in contact around the probe’s micro scale shank can survive and act normally.  Medicine, Human Health, Diagnostics, Medical Technology, Biomendical, Neurology, Brain Research Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Healthcare, Diagnostics, Medical Devices

Corrosion of metal structures is often addressed as one of the main prevailing problems in aerospace, petrochemical, marine, automobile and aeronautical industries. Most of the currently existing technologies for corrosion detection lack sensitivity and focus on direct viewing, which restricts defect detection in difficult to access areas such small channels, technical cavities, pipelines, tunnels, oil wells and others. A flexible ultraspectral imaging-based probe, capable of providing more than hundreds of spectral bands would be the best choice in case of sensitive and early stages detection of defects and corrosion in human inaccessible area. This invention discloses a portable specialised imaging probe that uses fast (snapshot) and non-destructive imaging technology for early detection of stresses, contamination, and corrosion.   The ultraspectral probe presented here consists of bundles of lighting and imaging fibres in a small diameter flexible configuration. The main features of the probe are - Integrated wideband lighting source. Flexible with a diameter of less than 5mm. Optical NDT capability in multiple spectral bands. Early corrosion detection capability. Real-time remote monitoring capability Applicable to any metal inspection. Paired with a reference library specific to the material under inspection, the probe can potentially automate the corrosion inspection process.  The probe essentially offers ultraspectral imaging capability in difficult to access area. There are multiple use cases that can benefit from this – Corrosion monitoring in technical cavities and slots of aircrafts, automobiles and gas pipelines. Bond pad corrosion detection in semiconductor industry. Characterisation and detection in areas such as biomedical imaging, metrology, agriculture etc. The flexible integrated ultraspectral probe allows inspection in previously inaccessible areas for visual NDT inspections. The inherent digitization of the data in multiple spectral bands further adds to the possibility of using the probe for early detection of corrosion and for automating the inspection task. The probe also simplifies inspection in small cavities and pipes and facilitates efficient and early remedial actions.   Corrosion, Non Destructive Imaging, Non Destructive Testing, Probe, Ultraspectral, Technical Cavity Inspection Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Lasers, Optics & Photonics

By leveraging Artificial Intelligence, this invention can detect human skeletons in a video and quickly analyse that information for posture and movement. This allows the solution to identify abnormal behaviour and other situations more precisely and effectively. In the context of a long video, this invention can capture the context information and focus on specific portions to detect multiple anomalous scenarios in real-time. This includes scenarios such as abuse, drowning, safety incidents, traffic accidents, fighting and criminal behaviour. The technology allows kinematic pose estimation without the use of physical markers making it ideal for use cases involving public safety and security. The technology utilizes artificial intelligence for accomplishing this. This contrasts with traditional methods involving a sliding window for object pose and orientation detection or the use of physical markers on the object or person of interest for a skeleton detection. The technology also offers the option of detecting anomalous behaviour in long surveillance videos.  Baseline behaviour, facilitated by the skeleton and pose detection capability, is first established by analysing the whole sequence in the video. In the next pass, this baseline is used to detect anomalous behaviour The invention can be applied in children's centres, swimming pools, public transport and exhibition centres for public safety and security. Use of CCTV camera for surveillance and security is on an uptrend as more and more government and commercial establishments adopt their use. The growth, particularly in the APAC region, is attributed to the growing use of AI powered physical systems. The technology presented here allows AI based posture and pose detection and can be used to develop systems for diverse scenarios. It can be used in swimming pools to immediately alert the lifeguard in the event of someone drowning. It can also be used to provide 24/7 surveillance of schools and homes immediately alerting the supervisor in case of an abnormal situation. For traffic monitoring, the system can also be used to analyse pedestrian posture, movement, speed, and abnormal conditions to improve road safety. The technology offers multiple unique benefits. Some of these are listed below: Detection of human skeleton and pose without physical markers. The solution detects key points of human movement to determine the posture, and this could be used to analyse the action being performed instead of just presence and absence. Ability to use thermal images to provide a balance between safety and privacy. The solution works well with standard RGB cameras as well as thermal cameras. This allows the use of the technology in situations where privacy might be a concern. Unique network topology to establish behaviour baseline and identify abnormal behaviour in long surveillance videos. The solution can analyse long video sequences to automatically determine a baseline behaviour and context. This allows it to detect anomalous behaviour in the video essentially mimicking a human vision like behaviour of glancing at a scene and focusing only on the items of interest. Infocomm, Video/Image Analysis & Computer Vision, Video/Image Processing, Artificial Intelligence

The technology presented here is a software stack (Agile Framework) for autonomous system development and deployment. This agile framework serves as a software container/launchpad for various autonomous technology related software modules. This includes localization and mapping, navigation and control, planning, perception, sensor fusion, HMI and others. The agile framework also provides a suite of digital-twin simulation and modelling tools for developers to test and validate algorithms prior to deployment on real hardware. It is dockerized for quick and seamless deployment. Developers can quickly build up an autonomous system using this stack, like assembling a set of LEGOS. Simulation models can be used to carry out different experiments while the actual deployment can be done using docker. Agile Framework: A software “container” that serves as a launchpad for various autonomous system/ technology software modules, including but not limited to robot/ sensor driver interface, robot platform control module, localization and mapping, navigation and path planning, perception, mission planning, etc.   Extensible and reconfigurable: The stack uses *.yaml file for configuration changes.  Process management (spawn and kill) and monitoring in one view  Resource management: memory usage, CPU loading, etc.   Dockerized  The software stack can be used for different use cases including - Autonomous system/robot development. Autonomous system software deployment.  Engineering education: Robotics, autonomous system, drone, etc.    Though there is a high demand for autonomous systems from different sectors, developers often face challenges in transitioning the innovative use cases to an autonomous system product. These challenges include but are not limited to - long product development cycle, high R&D cost, resource-intensive testing and deployment process, and decoupled user-developer development process. The agile framework presented here offers following advantages – Reduced entry point requirement by applying a LEGO like approach to autonomous system development. Easier testing and deployment with a GUI interface and yaml based configuration. Reduced R&D cost and development time.   Autonomous Systems, Autonomous Rovot, Software Stack, Docker Manufacturing, Assembly, Automation & Robotics, Infocomm, Robotics & Automation, Logistics, Inventory Management

A challenge faced by many chemical processing plants is the high process temperature and high energy consumption. For example, in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) production process, one of the commonly used approaches of concentrating the medicine is by evaporation. This process operates at 100°C and aims to remove 2/3 of the total amount of water from the feed solution. The main issues are: High operating temperature causing irreversible damage to the active ingredients. Taking up 75% of the overall energy consumed. 2-3 days to process one batch of the extracted liquid. Labour-intensive and hard to scale up. Furthermore, as the production is operated in batch mode, the boiler needs to be turned off and on (heating and cooling) frequently. To overcome these challenges, the membrane – pervaporation system has been developed. The operating principles have been tested at laboratory scale using actual TCM products. The operating temperature can be lowered so that the risk of damage to the active ingredients is reduced. It was computed that an energy saving of 39% can be achieved. The team that designed and developed the system is well-versed with membrane technology and is ready to transfer the know-how and knowledge. They are seeking partners to collaborate and further develop this proof-of-concept for commercial deployment, targeting applications where thermal damage to high value active ingredients are of concern.      The integrated membrane – pervaporation system provides an attractive alternative for the purification and concentration of water-based extracts. The system makes use of proven technologies that are widely deployed in the industry to help reduce implementation risk and cost. It uses widely available commercial hollow fibre ultrafiltration membranes (operating at a low pressure of a few bar) from the water treatment industry to directly process the filtrate and then further concentrate the permeate using pervaporation technique which uses widely available polymeric hollow fibre membranes. With such a system, a lower operating temperature can be used on the feed solution thereby reducing energy footprint and also reducing the risk to thermal damage on the active ingredients in the permeate. The system produces water vapour from the condenser that is downstream to the pervaporate, which can be condensed into distilled water for other applications. The system’s operating parameters can be customised to meet the specific requirements needed to preserve the active ingredients’ functional properties and at the same time balance the overall processing time and energy consumption. Potential applications include: Purification and concentration of liquid extract (e.g. TCM) Purification and concentration of liquid food and beverage products Recycling of alcohol solvent in semiconductor industry Separation, purification and concentration of liquid chemical products in chemical industry Separation, purification and concentration of intermediate and final products in pharmaceutical industry Water treatment and seawater desalination Operating at a lower temperature to minimise the damage to active ingredients The system has the potential to significantly reduce the energy consumption by 39% Increase purity of the end products It can be automated for continuous production Pervaporation, TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Concentration, Active Ingredient, Evaporation, Boiling, Membrane filtration, Filtration Manufacturing, Chemical Processes, Foods, Ingredients, Sustainability, Low Carbon Economy

Routine monitoring of water quality is paramount in aquaculture operations such as Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) to ensure high productivity and high produce quality. Currently, the monitoring of microbial content in water is mostly based on visualisation of water turbidity and observation of fish behaviour. Some RAS operations use the bacterial culture-based approach for surveillance of microbial quality of water. However, this approach is laborious, requires microbiological testing expertise, and test results are obtainable only after a long incubation period.  Bioluminescent ATP assay is another method that can be used to monitor microbial content. However, it requires lysis of bacteria to release the ATP contained inside the bacteria, and enzymatic reaction of luciferase on ATP to produce the luminescence. While it provides results within a short time, the cost of luciferase, lysis reagents and luminometer could be prohibitive for routine and extensive testing of water samples.   The technology owner has developed a non-enzymatic test reagent which gives a rapid colour change in the presence of Gram-negative bacteria. The technology owner is keen to collaborate with manufacturers of analytical instruments and diagnostic test kits, as well as partners from the aquaculture, biomedical and water quality control industries, to further develop and commercialise this technology. Features of this novel test reagent include: Fast reaction, any colour change is visible within 15-20 seconds Specific detection of Gram-negative bacteria, e.g. Vibrio spp., which contribute to many of the bacterial diseases in aquaculture Does not require samples to be treated with lysis buffer prior to adding the test reagent Can be prepared easily by simple mixing of a formulated solution with a powder Environmentally benign and not corrosive This test reagent is efficient in detecting aquatic bacteria in aquaculture farms. It is a convenient, instrument-free, and economical alternative to detect presence of Gram-negative bacteria, enabling more farmers to monitor the microbial content more regularly and frequently to avoid the disease outbreaks.  It may also be applied in other sectors which require routine monitoring of bacteria, such as environmental water testing laboratories, biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Rapid colour change and can be visualised without the use of any electronic devices Quick and simple preparation and testing method without involving special equipment or personnel with advanced microbiological testing expertise  Ingredients of the test reagent are commercially available at low cost Environmentally benign and do not require special treatment for disposal  Unlike ATP reagents that require storage at low temperatures, this test reagent is stable at 25-30°C for at least 8 months Rapid, Colorimetric, Detection, Non-Enzymatic, Aquatic, Bacteria Life Sciences, Agriculture & Aquaculture, Chemicals, Analysis, Environment, Clean Air & Water, Sensor, Network, Monitoring & Quality Control Systems, Sustainability, Food Security

Thin film composite (TFC) membranes are the main membrane types for reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes. RO membranes can be used for desalination, utility water treatment, wastewater treatment and reuse as well as process water treatment. NF membranes can allow monovalent ions, such as sodium chloride, to pass through the membrane, while rejecting divalent and multivalent ions, such as sodium sulfate. It has applications in the diary, food, dye, biotech, pharmaceutical and industrial processes for concentrating targeted streams. Boosting membrane permeability without a decrease in their rejection to target ions has been the objective of many membrane producers. Many methods have been proposed in literature to achieve the target, such as incorporating nanoparticles or surfactants. However, the synthesis of uniform nanoparticles in large scale is a problem and the long-term stability of nanoparticles in the polyamide layer is of concern. The process of adding surfactants is also not controllable, leading to a potential concern for quality control in the final membrane product. This invention relates to a simple method to increase the water permeability of thin film composite membranes for nanofiltration and reverse osmosis by 2 to 5 times. The chemicals involved are readily commercially available and the method is simple without the need to change the existing production line. In this technology, the researchers have identified additives that are thermodynamically stable and can be synthesised with a narrow size distribution. Compared to surfactants, the additives have controllable size, which can help fabricate nanofiltration membrane with precise rejection to target ions. These features can facilitate future large scale production of the improved TFC membrane. This invention can be applied to all types of TFC membranes, including NF and RO membranes, which can be used for desalination, utility water treatment, wastewater treatment, etc.  According to MarketsandMarkets, the global membranes market is projected to reach USD10.1 billion by 2027. NF membranes are expected to grow the fastest with multiple end users. The water and wastewater treatment segment is the main driver for the RO membrane market. The global RO membrane market size is expected to reach about USD5 billion by 2026.  Water permeability can be increased by 2-5 times with minimal trade-off of salt rejection of the membrane Does not require changes to the existing production line Works on support with different chemistries (e.g. PES, PSF) Works on both flat sheet and hollow fiber supports   Nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, Thin film composite (TFC) membranes, nanofiltration (NF) membranes Materials, Composites, Environment, Clean Air & Water, Filter Membrane & Absorption Material