UM-NONIVASI CARE LICENSING EXCHANGE AND CRADLE GRANT AWARD CEREMONY

UNIVERSITI MALAYA. 9 June 2022 - Universiti Malaya (UM) via the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Office (Research & Innovation) has announced the partnership between the Universiti Malaya and Nonivasi Care Sdn. Bhd. (Nonivasi Care). Today, Cradle Fund Sdn. Bhd., an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia witnessed this successful partnership between UM and Nonivasi Care and took the opportunity to announce the grant award to Nonivasi Care Sdn. Bhd.

The partnership between UM and Nonivasi Care is strengthened by establishing a Licensing Agreement between the two parties. Universiti Malaya has licensed an invention of a medical device that uses to monitor the low back pain rehabilitation to Nonivasi Care Sdn. Bhd. This technology was invented by Prof. Ir. Dr. Fatimah Ibrahim and her team to diagnose lower back pain. The device acquires muscle signals from erector spinae muscles in the lumbar region along with the motion data of the user during the analysis. The data are sent wirelessly to a smartphone application for a detailed analysis of the user's lower back muscle condition. For patients under rehabilitation programs, their progress data will be sent to their respective doctor through the cloud server.

According to Professor Ir. Dr. Shaliza Ibrahim, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), by working with Nonivasi Care, the technology taker, and Cradle Fund Sdn. Bhd. (Cradle), the ecosystem builder, this partnership can help to nurture technology-based startups and promote innovation.

This project would not have been the success as it is today without the invaluable support of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MYIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The guidance and support of the mentors under the Enabling Innovation Environment (EIE) Remote Mentoring program have been instrumental in helping the inventors bring this project to fruition.

During the event, Ms. Juliana Jan, Senior Vice President, Grant, Cradle who was on hand to announce the award of RM500,000 under Cradle’s CIP Ignite funding, shared, “Cradle has always been supporting efforts in the commercialization of university IPs. Nonivasi Care is one such initiative of the collaboration between a private company and a university. We hope that the funding will enable the team to do the required enhancement of the EMG device’s circuit design and the development of the software and mobile application; which will eventually assist them in penetrating the market.”

The licensing agreement between UM and Nonivasi Care will pave the way for better collaboration between industry and academia in bringing the technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. This will allow for more efficient use of resources and knowledge, as well as the faster implementation of the technology. The partnership will also help to ensure that the technology is used in a responsible manner and have a profound impact on the future of our world.