Microchips may offer new treatment options to epilepsy patients and the visually impaired. Integrating biomedical and information and communication technologies, these sophisticated medical devices were licensed by National Chiao Tung University’s Biomedical Electronics Translational Research Center. But in the beginning, few enterprises were interested in them because of expected slow returns on investment. The only exception was Jiang Hsin-chin, president of A-Neuron Electronics Corp., a bold businessman eager to innovate.
A-Neuron Electronics, a company drawing on the strengths of Taiwan’s biomedical and ICT industries, was established in a low-profile manner last year. Little-known to the public, the medical device producer has acquired technologies for treating epilepsy and blindness developed over more than 10 years by NCTU in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City. It is working toward human trials of these devices, hoping to become a leading light in the global biomedical field.
“We’re not being low-profile on purpose. It’s just because this sector is so unfamiliar to people,” said Jiang, president of A-Neuron and founder of Amazing Microelectronic Corp. To understand A-Neuron, one first has to learn about the BETRC.
The center was founded more than 10 years ago by Wu Chung-yu, formerly NCTU’s president and currently chair professor at the university. It has been working with Liu Wen-tai, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles known as the father of the electronic eye. Wu is a doyen of IC research in Taiwan, serving as the key figure in the development of NCTU’s 307 Lab, which has produced heavyweights in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.
Biomedical Research Hub
The BETRC is currently conducting six research projects on artificial retinas, electronic hearing aids that resemble ears, epilepsy treatments, Parkinson’s disease treatments, solutions for spinal nerve issues as well as brain-computer interfaces. Involving more than 100 doctors, professors and graduate school students from a total of six hospitals and eight universities, the center is Taiwan’s largest biomedical device research facility.
Last year, NCTU tried to license two technologies developed by the BETRC for making artificial retinas and treating epilepsy, but most firms showed little interest due to the lengthy time it would take to see returns on investment. Only Amazing Microelectronic dared to take up the challenge. It paid for the two technologies and set up A-Neuron Electronics—“A” stands for amazing—to further develop them. An eight-man team transferred from Amazing Microelectronic to run the new company.
Jiang was a member of 307 Lab under Wu while pursuing his doctoral degree at NCTU. Neural network research was all the rage in academic circles at that time, so Jiang wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the subject. Most of the researchers at Amazing Microelectronic, which developed techniques for protecting integrated circuit products against electrostatic discharge and commercialized them under the guidance of the government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute, were also once members of 307 Lab.
A-Neuron Electronics’ artificial retina is an improvement on the solution developed by Liu, which uses two threads to transmit power from eyewear worn by the user to a chip implanted in the eyeball. NCTU’s transferred technology does away with the two threads. Instead, it adds a tiny solar panel to the chip that generates power by absorbing infrared light. This design reduces the difficulty of implanting the chip as well as the risk of infection and inflammation to the eyeball. It also offers patients a wider and clearer field of vision.
Lower Competition, Lower Risk
The microchip solution for epilepsy attempts to detect unusual brainwave patterns generated before a seizure so that it can prevent convulsive attacks from occurring. Neurologist Hsin Yu-long from Chung Shan Medical University in central Taiwan’s Taichung City, who participated in the epilepsy treatment project, explained that taking medication is the traditional way to fight the neurological disorder, but up to 30 percent of patients show little response to available drugs, making them prone to injuries from seizures. The A-Neuron approach is capable of reducing such incidents by generating an epilepsy-inhibiting pulse within 0.8 seconds of detecting unusual brainwaves. With a success rate of 92 percent, the technology is at the cutting-edge of global medical efforts to tackle the ailment.
According to Jiang, many doubted his company could avoid years of deficits before achieving commercialization of such a complicated solution. However, he was confident that the lack of competition in this space would reduce risks to return on investment. “Presently, we’re in the lead position on this technology. If other companies want to catch up, they’ll have to run deficits for at least three years. By then, we’ll have taken another big stride forward.”
Jiang said that it is much more difficult to make products that employ both biomedical and ICT technologies than producing purely electronic devices. When discussing how to develop a profitable business, he stated that entrepreneurs in medical device development and integrated circuit design follow the same path to success. When Amazing Microelectronic began to develop electrostatic discharge protection designs, no one else in Taiwan demonstrated an interest in the area. However, motivated by the demand for such designs and financial support from ITRI, the company advanced step by step through accumulating expertise and cultivating talent. “Today, A-Neuron Electronics is also sparing no effort in developing and retaining talent in biomedical electronics. Although it will take a long time to see results, there’s a good chance of achieving success,” he said.
For now the company owns technologies for treating epilepsy and blindness, with the former expected to develop at a faster pace. Less sophisticated than the artificial retina, the epilepsy solution has already undergone animal trials and is scheduled to enter a one-year phase of clinical trials on 50 to 60 human patients in two years. Animal testing for the artificial retina is a complicated task, with the company estimating that it will take at least five years to see any results in this area. (E)
[By Lin Hung-wen / tr. by Oscar Chung]