JOHOR BAHRU, 14 February 2017 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has received research grants worth RM100,000 from the National Heart Institute (IJN) to conduct research entitled the “Microfluidics for Continuous Transdermal Insulin Delivery ‘.
The project led by Research Fellow of the Faculty of Biomedical and Medical Engineering (FBME), Prof. Dr Ida Idayu Muhammad related to drug delivery systems for insulin-dependent patients has been identified by the IJN as high impact.
To realize the research collaboration, UTM Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid Omar and IJN Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhari Yacub signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) at FBME, near here today.
At the ceremony, Dr Mohd Azhari handed over equipment worth RM200,000 to Prof. Wahid to be used by researchers at FBME, mainly relating to cardiovascular research.
Also attending the ceremony were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Prof. Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, Senior Director of Engineering Institute of Humanitarian FBME, Prof. Dr Abdul Hafiz Omar, Director of the IJN – UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Centre, Prof. Dr. Eko Supriyanto and Deputy Director of the IJN-UTM Center for Cardiovascular Engineering, Dr Ahmad Zahran Md Khudzairi.
Prof. Wahid said research conducted by UTM and IJN is in line with the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) aspirations which required direct impact of research results to the public.
“A grant of RM100,000 was contributed by the National Heart Institute Foundation and through this research, allowing UTM researchers to have direct access to the required data from the IJN,” he said.
While Dr. Mohd Azhari said, there are two stages of the study that will be done through research, namely research on animals before studies on humans are carried out.
“This cooperation is to the benefit of both parties that incorporate a combination of feedback in terms of IJN materials and energy experts in the field of bio-engineering and mechanical engineering from UTM,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Ida Idayu said most diabetics patients suffer from diseases related to the heart, while the management of pharmacological drugs on them were complicated, and a joint investigation was made to address the problem.
“Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the world with more than 20 percent of deaths in Malaysia caused by diseases of the circulatory system where CVD is a subset.
“Early detection is one of the best ways to prevent more severe consequences of CVD.
The Executive Screening Program (ESP), which is devoted to cardiovascular health is one of the best ways for early detection that IJN has run since 1995,” she said.
She also said that the UTM Cardiovascular Centre is planning to cooperate with IJN to offer the ESP programme at UTM Johor Bahru, especially for people in the area around northern Johor Bahru.
The program will be carried out thoroughly to test the functions of the body such as the heart, liver, kidneys and lungs and the findings will be examined by a cardiologist from IJN.
“Recognizing the importance to assist UTM in teaching and research activities, particularly in the field of biomedical engineering, IJN agreed to donate some medical devices.
“There are a total of 44 devices ranging from hemodialysis machines, patient monitoring systems, defibrillators and ventilators donated by IJN which will be used by students in FBME,” he said.