KOTA BHARU, 9 June 2013 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is seeking partners to develop two health products innovated through research at the Kelantan Health Campus.

“We hope there are people who are interested to develop the research products so that they can be commercialised to benefit the community. The products can be shared as materials and services in empowering Malaysians, as well as in training medical practitioners on how to use them,” said USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman.

He said that USM will develop the existing products including setting up a body balance therapy laboratory that uses the Bal ex Zuraida-Shah Rotatory Chair innovated by Dr. Zuraida Banun, her research team, and researchers from Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP).

The Bal ex Zuraida-Shah Rotatory Chair won a gold medal for the Biotechnology, Health and Fitness category in the 24th International Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2013) which was held from 9-11 May 2013 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Bal ex Zuraida-Shah Rotatory Chair is the first equipment of its kind in Malaysia that can locate the part in a patient’s body that makes him or her losing balance and is made using 80% of materials from recycled materials. Bal ex can be used to test patients and for therapy in patients suffering from body imbalance.

As high as 20% of Malaysians are said to have body-balancing problems that require therapy for recovery and for identification of related diseases.

Previously, those who feel dizzy or have symptoms of body imbalance managed the symptoms with medications.

In the same press conference, the Vice-Chancellor also introduced the nano-composite product, a material used for tooth-filling made from rice husk which is currently produced in the laboratory.

It was the first research product produced by Professor Dr. Ismail Ab Rahman from the School of Dental Sciences with his team of researchers – Dental Nanocomposite from Rice Husk – which had also won a gold medal in the materials category at ITEX 2013.

This tooth-filling material innovation produced from rice husk is much safer compared to the materials that are currently used containing excess acid. Rice husk also contains silica, just like those produced from ordinary cement filling. The use of cement is said to be very easily broken as compared to the rice husk composite.

“This product is said to be far cheaper than the existing ones in the market which are imported from overseas but will need at least three years for it to be marketed because the product must first undergo animal and human clinical trials at a relatively high cost and is also time consuming,” Omar said.

In order to speed up the process and to further develop research products that are produced in the university, it is advisable for interested parties to contact us and help the university by forging joint ventures which in the long run, benefit Malaysians as a whole, said Omar. - Text: Mohamad Abdullah/Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe