9 get research grants of up to $250,000 each

A NEW heart valve that may be able to speed up an operation and reduce the risks to the patient is being worked on by a cardiac surgeon at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The project is one of nine which have been given grants of up to $250,000 each under the Proof-of- Concept scheme, by the National Research Foundation (NRF), a government agency which promotes innovation and entrepreneurship here.

The foundation has a total kitty of $75 million to fund researchers from universities and polytechnics here who come up with innovative ideas which could eventually be marketed commercially.

The nine who received grants were picked out of 136 submissions by a panel which included heads of prominent firms in the biomedical and technology sectors.

Of the first batch of recipients, only one was from a polytechnic - Dr Zuruzi Abu Samah of Nanyang Polytechnic who is working on using current flexible pressure sensor technology to develop a prototype that is cheaper and more efficient. Pressure sensor technology has many applications, particularly in the health-care industry.

Dr Michael Khor, the foundation's director of projects, said the grant covers funding for one year, after which the researchers will be expected to come up with a product prototype.

NRF chief operating officer Francis Yeoh said: 'The broader initiative is to create an environment that provides resources for ideas which can be followed on from R&D in labs to commercialisation.'

But he said the success of the projects will depend on the appeal of the prototypes the researchers come up with to venture capitalists at the end of the first year. 'Ultimately, the commercial viability of these projects will have to be subjected to the disciplines of the market.'

The NRF will take in submissions again next March and later in the year.

This year's projects range from a system which promises to transfer data faster and more efficiently between wireless networks, to a portal which allows mobile phone and PC users to view images and videos in 3-D format.

NUS' Associate Professor Theodoros Kofidis, who is working on the new heart implantation device, said that if his project works, it will cut medical costs by about $4,000 by greatly reducing the time needed for the operation. Current operations to give patients a new heart valve usually last about three hours and can cost more than $8,000.

The device also poses less surgical risk as it does not require the incision of stitches, said Prof Kofidis.

Another recipient, Dr Freddy Boey of the Nanyang Technological University's School of Materials Science & Engineering, is exploring a way to create an improved mesh design for use in hernia operations. Current mesh designs can cause patients significant pain and discomfort.