TECH OFFERS

Wireless monitoring solutions are gaining traction worldwide due to their added benefits of continuous monitoring capability 24/7. An innovative technology has been devised that has a way of converting variations in the reflected wavelength from fiber grating based sensors into intensity variations that can be easily processed through the electronic circuits and transmitted wirelessly. Conventional fiber grating based sensors measure the wavelength shift of the reflected light to determine the mechanical strain experienced by the medium in which the grating is embedded.  This is conventionally done through a Fabre Perot interferometer which is referred to as the Interrogator but is a costly solution. The innovative circuitry eliminates the need of the costly, and typically more bulky interferometer, replacing them with cost effective and compact fiber components configured in such a way that converts mechanical strain into intensity changes. Fiber Bragg Grating based fiber optic sensors connected to a LoRaWAN (923MHz) based wireless network. 1550nm Centre wavelength sensors connected to a configured wireless node to capture data and send to a designated server. Low powered, battery operated device with fully configurable sensor inputs. Suitable for players in the condition monitoring/structural health monitoring/ FEA validation fields. The system is designed for structural health monitoring applications which is agnostic in terms of specific industry. The system can be deployed in any industry that requires some form of monitoring of their asset, e.g. Aerospace/Oil and Gas, Civil Infrastructure, Rail, Mining etc. Conventional wireless technologies do not cater for fiber optic sensors, where fiber option solutions may have significant advantages in specific use cases. This system provides all of the benefits of a wireless system but based on fiber optic sensors. Conventional fiber optic systems are expensive in comparison to conventional electrical systems and are also not readily suitable for on-site deployment. This system reduces the cost of the optical components with the simplified architecture, as well as provides a system that is suitable to be deployed directly in the field. Fiber Bragg Grating, FBG, Wireless, Structural Health Monitoring, Condition monitoring, Sensor Electronics, Printed Electronics, Lasers, Optics & Photonics, Infocomm, Big Data, Data Analytics, Data Mining & Data Visualisation, Green Building, Sensor, Network, Building Control & Optimisation, Wireless Technology

With a focus on built environment, the digital twin technology developed by a Singapore SME offers a suite of tools to model, analyse and continually optimise entire groups of buildings, portfolios, communities, cities and resource networks across their lifecycle, providing a truly scalable solution to decarbonise the built environment. Bridging the gap between the real world and simulation, the digital twin enables the energy efficient design and continuous operational optimisation of not just single but entire groups of buildings. The digital twin solution investigates operational problems using AI and machine learning, engaging the community feedback in real time. It improves operational decisions by understanding where to focus attention on and facilitate decision making by the building operators. The technology owner is seeking partnerships with large building portfolio owner, product developer, IoT solutions provider who can deploy the digital twin solution for their clients. The digital twin tools integrate physics-based simulation with 3D models, real-time operational data, machine learning and AI, to provide a digital twin solution for the built environment that is unique to any other in today’s market. The digital twin technology provides: Physics Enabled Simulation Climate Ready Master-planning Design & Retrofit to Zero-Carbon Standards Community Energy & Renewable Integration Operational & Community Dashboards Data Analysis from Physical & Virtual Sensors Real-Time Optimisation & Fault Detection The digital twin technology can be used in any built environment (e.g. universities, local authorities, commercial real estate, healthcare, manufacturing, cities). The solution can be used for singular buildings or scale up to a city, across any geographical scale, the tools link all aspects of every building’s lifecycle from design and construction right through to operation. The solution connects everyone from owners and occupants, to planners and community leaders, in a single collaborative environment. Digital twins are one of the fastest growing technology segments in the market. Fortune Business estimates the market to be USD 6.7bn with a CAGR of 40%. The growth potential coupled to the growing applications makes digital twins an enormous potential for this decade.  Fully scalable from a single building to an entire city, The digital twin technology goes beyond building information modelling to create a live digital twin which responds and behaves like its real world counterpart. Delivering the data-driven information needed to uncover significant energy, carbon, capital and operational savings, while taking account of resource use, transport, social and economic factors. Digital Twins, Decarbonization, Net-Zero Buildings, Zero Carbon, Sustainability Energy, Sensor, Network, Power Conversion, Power Quality & Energy Management, Green Building, Sensor, Network, Building Control & Optimisation, Environment, Clean Air & Water, Sensor, Network, Monitoring & Quality Control Systems, Sustainability, Low Carbon Economy

Recycling of lithium-ion battery material is becoming an increasing necessity and to execute that task in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective method is as important. The novel method of recycling spent battery material using a redox flow battery approach requires the solid spent battery material to react with liquid electrolyte in the tank. The proposed technology by a Singapore-based research team relates to an electrolyte tank filtration system designed to allow solid particles to freely mix and react with electrolyte in the tank of the flow battery system, while being filtered and prevented from entering the pump and cell stack. The holder is designed to be simply placed into and removed from the electrolyte tank, and subsequently, for the easy removal of the solid from the holder itself. This innovation will allow the continuous running of the flow battery system while changing the filter periodically. The research team anticipates that companies planning to utilise redox flow battery recycling method would require the use of such a filter system to reduce the downtime of the entire system. The team is seeking to collaborate with an industrial partner for further research and development of the filtration system and subsequent licensing of the technology for commercialisation. The electrolyte tank filtration system allows free mixing of electrolyte with solid reactants, while preventing the solid particles from entering the pump and cell with the electrolyte Flexibility in addition and removal of multiple filter holders Ease of removing filter paper and solid product from filter holder Able to run flow battery continuously without having to stop for filter removal, leading to no downtime of the system While this technology is designed specifically for the recycling of solid spent battery materials using the redox flow battery system, it can be adapted to be deployed in any flow battery applications that requires filtration of solids reactants from a liquid electrolyte. Based on a non-exhaustive secondary research by the team, there is no “state-of-the-art’ filtration system designed for redox flow battery used for battery material recycling. Filtration systems in the market are not specifically made for the purpose of recycling battery material in a flow battery and therefore do not come with the features and the advantages that come with the proposed technology. Present technology can only allow for such filtration batch by batch, causing stoppages and idle time for the entire flow cell system. Lithium battery, Material recycling, Flow battery, Filter design, Flow frame, Tank design Energy, Battery & SuperCapacitor, Waste Management & Recycling, Industrial Waste Management

Partial discharges (PDs) are early indicators of the deteriorating health condition of high-voltage electrical assets in power distribution networks. PDs are caused by localised dielectric breakdowns within assets such as generators, transformers, and switchgears. Left undetected, the health of the assets can deteriorate and lead to irreversible damage, posing safety hazards such as fire and explosion. Therefore, there is a need to detect and monitor PD events to ensure asset health and safety to extend the life time.  This technology offer is a compact PD sensor equipped with a fast detector which can be mounted on assets to detect and monitor PD events 24/7. The system integrates a wireless platform, allowing remote retrieval of information about the times of PD occurrences and source identifications (IDs). This information can be used to trace and identify PD emitting sources. By using the proposed technology to detect and monitor PD events, early signs of asset degradation can be identified. This allows necessary preventive measures to be taken to avoid unexpected failures and damages, saving costs associated with repair or replacement. Additionally, the technology enhances safety by minimizing the risk of fire and explosion caused by PD-related damages. Overall, the proposed technology helps ensure the health and safety of high-voltage electrical assets, while reducing costs and downtime associated with unexpected failures and damages. The main features of the technology offer are: A highly innovative solution that consists of a patented near-field PD sensor integrated with a high-speed detector. Can be powered by either a battery or an external power source, providing maximum convenience and versatility. Designed to work seamlessly with a wireless platform, enabling measurement data to be stored either on premises or in the cloud. Remote monitoring and data analytics capabilities allow users to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues in real-time, minimizing downtime and maximizing asset health and performance. The system's patented near-field PD sensor, high-speed detector/processing unit, and versatile power options make it the ideal choice for users seeking the highest levels of performance, reliability, and flexibility. The system can be further customised to monitor the health and performance of high-voltage electrical assets such as generators, transformers, and switchgears. Minimum size of sensor is 150mm * 150m * 8mm Size of the processing unit is 150mm * 90mm * 45mm Maximum power required by the system is 2W; it can be powered by a battery or adapter which can provide 5V voltage through USB type-C interface This technology offer is versatile and can be deployed in a wide range of different applications, such as, in high-voltage power transmission and distribution industries, especially for owners of high-voltage electrical machines and equipment providing critical services. The technology benefits: Semiconductor fabrication plants to ensure high-voltage electrical assets remain in peak condition, minimizing downtime and financial losses. Data centres to ensure reliable and efficient power supplies to operate effectively and deliver uninterrupted services to clients Public transportation systems such as, trains and subways, to ensure their safe and efficient operation. Hospital environments to provide reliable and efficient electrical assets that are critical for patient care and treatment Existing PD measurement systems in the market are deployed for periodic PD measurements, which is not real-time and may miss out early signs of insulation degradation of high-voltage equipment. These systems are sophisticated and good for comprehensive diagnostic and analysis, but they are too costly for large-scale deployment to provide 24/7 PD monitoring of multiple assets simultaneously. This technology offer is a low-cost, non-intrusive method which is scalable for deployment in a large-scale environment. The wireless platform allows remote monitoring of multiple assets at multiple sites from a dashboard. The data will be automatically collected and stored in the cloud for long-term analysis. Hence, this technology serves as a first-level PD detection and monitoring to identify a specific asset with degraded insulation issue and a more sophisticated PD measurement system can then be deployed for diagnostic purposes. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing to high-voltage equipment manufacturers, and power system maintenance service providers. partial discharge, remote monitoring, high-voltage, near-field sensor Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Energy, Sensor, Network, Power Conversion, Power Quality & Energy Management

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

This innovative device combines visual and tactile stimulation with motor imagery-based electroencephalography (EEG) recognition to facilitate comprehensive hand rehabilitation. The glove uses EEG electrodes to capture brain signals associated with visual and tactile stimulation. Advanced algorithms analyse these patterns to determine the user's intentions and translate them into appropriate motor commands. Additionally, the glove utilizes motor imagery-based EEG recognition, where users imagine performing specific hand movements. The wearable glove is designed with flexibility and versatility in mind. It employs pneumatic actuators strategically placed to exert pressure on specific hand muscles and joints. This allows the glove to provide customizable assistance and resistance during rehabilitation exercises.  The target market for this glove includes individuals who have experienced hand impairments due to various conditions such as stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury or neuromuscular disorders. It is suitable for both acute and chronic stages of hand rehabilitation. Patients, caregivers, and rehabilitation centres can benefit from this technology by incorporating it into their rehabilitation programs thus enhancing the recovery process and improving functional outcomes.  The core components of the technology in this invention are multi-mode soft gloves for visual and tactile stimulation along with imagery-based EEG recognition algorithms to promote neuroplasticity. The glove provides a customizable and interactive rehabilitation experience by offering immediate feedback and adaptive assistance tailored to the individual’s needs. The multi-mode glove employs pneumatic actuators capable of providing customised assistance and resistance. This technology can be deployed in the healthcare and medical industry, specifically in the field of neurorehabilitation. The applications of this technology are diverse and can be extended to various areas within the industry. Some potential applications include Rehabilitation Centres and Hospitals, Home Rehabilitation, and Assistive Devices. Based on this technology, several products can be designed, including Multimodal Brain-Controlled Soft Glove, Mobile and Computer Applications, and Assistive Hand Orthoses. Overall, the technology behind the brain-controlled soft glove offers a range of opportunities for product development and marketing in the healthcare and medical industry with the potential to positively impact individuals with hand impairments.  The global market for hand function rehabilitation was more than one billion USD in 2020. There is a strong demand in this market for technologies that can provide effective and efficient recovery outcomes. The brain-controlled soft glove offers a comprehensive approach by combining visual and tactile stimulation, EEG recognition, and adaptable assistance. The ability to personalize rehabilitation programs based on the needs of an individual and the capability to track progress remotely adds to the attractiveness of the technology in this market. The integration of visual and tactile stimulation, along with EEG recognition and pneumatic actuators, creates a multimodal approach to hand rehabilitation. This combination allows for a more comprehensive and holistic therapy, engaging multiple senses and neural pathways simultaneously. Compared to conventional approaches that often focus on a single modality, this technology offers a more robust and effective rehabilitation experience. The glove's flexible design and pneumatic actuators allow for customized and personalized rehabilitation programs. Therapists can adjust the pressure, timing, and assistance level based on individual needs, targeting specific muscle groups, and adapting to varying stages of recovery. This customization enhances the efficacy and relevance of the rehabilitation exercises, maximizing functional outcomes. The technology enables remote monitoring and data analysis, facilitating virtual support and feedback from healthcare professionals. Therapists can track patients' progress, provide personalized guidance, and make data-driven adjustments to the rehabilitation program without the need for frequent in-person visits. This feature enhances accessibility, convenience, and continuity of care.  Healthcare, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals & Therapeutics