Annual Report 2000–01

第二屆國際血漿及血清核酸研究會議 The Second International Symposium on Circulating Nucleic Acids in Plasma and Serum 科 技 轉 移 今年是中大科技轉移豐收的一年，經校方批核的 特許使用協議比去年增加了一倍。年內又有五 間以中大科硏為基礎的分拆公司相繼成立，經營 中醫中藥、生物科技及資訊科技等業務。 校方又採用新的方法分配特許使用的收益：該等 收益除撥予有關敎硏人員之外，他們所屬的學術 部門也可分一杯羹。 大學更積極與本地工業界合作，促進科技的運 用，加強香港的科硏及產品開發力量。以下為部 分例子： 1 .非入侵性差前檢查 化學病理學系盧煌明敎授發明了從母體血漿偵測 胎兒核糖核酸的方法，可及早發現胎兒是否有異 常徵狀。此技術經進一步發展更可應用於測試 及監察多種疾病，例如妊娠子癇及早產等，醫生 得以盡量減少使用羊膜穿剌術等較危險及具入侵 性的檢驗方法。校方已授權一間由本地資深醫護 人員成立的醫藥科技公司，進一步開發是項技 術。 2 . 無線遠控電錶系統 電子工程學系陳錦泰敎授獲工業支援基金贊助， 成功硏製新一代無線遠控電錶系統。此系統利用 無線傳送技術，能夠在高樓大廈之內傳送多種電 子儀錶的數據。公用事業機構如電力公司、煤氣 公司及水務署等，可利用此系統即時知悉有關 用戶的用量情況，從而提高供應網絡的效率。 校方已授權一間本地公司繼續開發此項無線監控 技術，使之適用於全球。 3 .可改善空氣素質的光合催化劑 化學系余濟美敎授成功硏製一種光合催化劑，可 用以改善香港空氣素質。該催化劑主要由二氧 Technology T r ans f er 2000-1 was a fruitful year for technology transfer. The number of technology licences granted by the University was doubled that of 1999-2000. Furthermore , five spin-off companies in the fields of traditional Chinese medicine, biotechnology, and information technology were established in the period based on technologies developed by CUHK staff members. The University also launched a new policy for the distribution of income from technolog y transfer. Net licence income is now distributed not only to the individual inventors but also to the relevant academic departments. Collaboration with local industries was actively pursued to raise the level of technology deployment and to strengthen research and development efforts in Hong Kong. Examples include: 1. Non-Invasive Prenatal Monitoring Prof. Dennis Lo of the Department of Chemical Pathology developed a method to detect foetal RNA in maternal plasma, enabling the early detection of foeta l abnormality simply by analysing a blood sample from the mother. This technology has the potential to be applied to the diagnosis and monitoring of a wide variety of diseases, including preeclampsia and preterm labour, substantially reducing the need to adopt conventional invasive and potentially dangerous methods such as amniocentesis. The invention was licensed to a local start-up formed by a group of veterans in health-related businesses in Hong Kong. 2. Wireless Remote Metering System Prof. K.T. Chan of the Department of Electronic Engineering developed a new generation of remote wireless metering system with financial support from the Industr y Support Fund. The prototype system has the ability to collect variou s kinds of meter data through wireless transmission within high-rise buildings. It will enable utility companies to have instant access to utility consumption data and to manage their power, gas, and water distribution networks efficiently. This technology was licensed to a local start-up which aims at providing ready-to-use remote metering solutions to clients all over the world. 42 硏究 RESEARCH