Name: 
MAK Wing Cheung Martin
Title ( post ): 
Associate Professor
Department: 
Biomedical Engineering
email: 
wing.cheung.mak [at] cuhk.edu.hk
phone: 
3943 0809
website: 
http://www.bme.cuhk.edu.hk/new/martinp.php
Avatar: 
Class: 
faculty_member
Chinese Name: 
麥永昌
glossary_index: 
M

Professor Raymond Tong scoops two awards at “the Oscars” of Asia Pacific’s eldercare industry

Date: 
2021-12-13
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Professor Raymond Tong, Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and inventor of the exoskeleton robotic hand for stroke rehabilitation “Hand of Hope”, has been honoured with the “Global Ageing Influencers 2021” award at the 9th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards Ceremony held by the Ageing Asia in Singapore, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in rehabilitation innovations, programmes and services that advance the standard of living for older adults on a global scale.
 
Professor Tong is the only winner of the “Global Ageing Influencers 2021” from Hong Kong. The other 9 awardees are from Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia and mainland China. On the same occasion, the “HOPE 4 Care” programme led by Professor Tong’s biomedical engineering research team and the Faculty of Medicine, CUHK, took home the “Best Rehabilitation Programme” award.
 
“I am most thankful and humbled to be recognised as one of the ‘Global Ageing Influencers 2021’ with some of the world’s most prominent professionals and scholars in the field of ageing,’ said Professor Tong. “Talented minds and the innovative solutions that emerged from interdisciplinary and cross-boundary collaborations are required to tackle the global challenge of ageing population. Through ‘HOPE 4 Care’, which runs on a partnership between CUHK research teams and dozens of community centres in Hong Kong, we demonstrated how novel rehabilitation equipment and technology can be beneficial in supporting and accelerating the recovery of stroke patients. This programme is particularly impactful amid the global pandemic since patients can receive guided training at home. The effort by each of my team members and partnering organisations has affected the life of many patients in the best possible way and I sincerely appreciate their work.”.
 
The “Hand of Hope” mechanical robotic hand rehabilitation system, developed in 2012, can detect and amplify signals that the brain is sending to patients’ hand muscles and pass the information to the robotic hand. This enables patients to learn again the correct way of using the brain to control their hand functions. The “Hand of Hope” was the first Hong Kong-based innovation to receive the Grand Prix Award at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. Making use of the latest 3D silicone printing technology, a new version of the soft robotic hand was later developed, providing stroke patients with a tailor-made, less bulky but comfortable and affordable device for the rehabilitation process.
 
The “Hand of Hope” forms part of CUHK’s “Hope 4 Care” programme, which is a joint initiative from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the CUHK Faculty of Medicine focused on combining software and robotic technologies with clinical expertise to enhance rehabilitation outcomes for stroke patients. The programme is generously funded with support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club.  
 
About the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards
 
Launched in 2013, the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards, the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific, was created by Ageing Asia to provide an annual recognition to individuals and organisations in Asia Pacific regions that demonstrate eldercare innovation to change the way seniors age. Previous awardees of the “Global Ageing Influencers” include Dr LAM Ching-choi, non-official member of the Executive Council of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Hong Kong.

35 community centers and units associated with 23 different organisations have joined the “HOPE 4 Care” programme.

Professor Raymond Tong.

The “HOPE 4 Care” programme delivers four innovations invented by Professor Tong’s team for stroke rehabilitation: the “Hand of Hope” (upper left), the exoskeleton ankle robot (upper right), the interactive functional electrical stimulation cycling system (lower right) , and the AR Rehab Training System (lower left).The AR Rehab Training System for stroke rehabilitation utilises state-of-the-art augmented reality and depth sensors for 3D body tracking, with customised software specially designed for a virtual interactive rehabilitation environment. Therapists can design, through the system, training plans for individuals and monitor their body movements to provide real-time posture guidance. Professor Tong’s team created an “AR home” version with the support of the Innovation and Technology Commission, allowing patients to have guided training at home during the pandemic.

 

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亞太區護老業界頒獎禮頒授兩項殊榮予中大教授

Ageing Asia第9屆「亞太區護老創意獎」頒獎禮向香港中文大學生物醫學工程學系系主任湯啟宇頒發「2021年全球護老創新最具影響力者」、他和其團隊與中大醫學院共同策劃「中大賽馬會凝聚希望計劃」亦奪得「最優秀復康服務計劃」獎。

Date: 
Monday, December 13, 2021
Media: 
香港商報
Media LInk: 
http://www.hkcd.com/hkcdweb/content/2021/12/12/content_1311457.html

中大研新型金納米顆粒有效治銀屑病　不含類固醇或生物製劑

銀屑病為一種非傳染性的慢性皮膚疾病，其特徵為皮膚出現紅斑、鱗狀丘疹和斑塊，目前仍無法被根治，對患者造成極大困擾；中大研發了一款新型金納米顆粒，其不含類固醇或生物製劑，於小鼠疾病模型實驗顯示能抑制引發表皮過度增生和炎症的基因，有望為治療銀屑病提供簡單、安全和有效的新方法。有關研究成果已發表於《納米通訊》（Nano Letters）。

Date: 
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Media: 
HKET Daily
Media LInk: 
https://is.gd/t9kuPN

中大研究團隊研發金納米顆粒治銀屑病　價錢如藥膏不含類固醇

銀屑病為免疫系統引發的慢性皮膚，影響患者外觀，亦會痕癢不適。惟現時治療銀屑病的藥膏含類固醇，亦有副作用，若選用生物製劑治療則價格高昂。

Date: 
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Media: 
HK01
Media LInk: 
https://is.gd/MgJxnG

銀屑病影響患者生活　中大研金納米粒子治療成效顯著

銀屑病（俗稱牛皮癬）是一種非傳染性的慢性皮膚疾病，其特徵為皮膚出現紅斑、鱗狀丘疹和斑塊，全球達2%至3%人口、即超過1.25億人飽受該病困擾，惟目前仍無法根治，現有治療方法包括類固醇或是生物製劑皆有不同缺點。香港中文大學的工程學院生物醫學工程學系研究團隊，近期研發一款新型金納米顆粒，經老鼠測試證實，其自身便能抑制引發表皮過度增生和炎症的基因，有效治療銀屑病。

Date: 
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Media: 
On.CC
Media LInk: 
https://is.gd/55HadB

CUHK researchers develop novel gold nanoparticle as alternative treatment for psoriasis

Date: 
2021-12-08
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Professor Jonathan Chung Hang CHOI, Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and his team have developed a new gold nanoparticle as a self-therapeutic treatment for psoriasis. Devoid of steroids or biologics, this gold nanoparticle can downregulate the genes that are linked to epidermis hyperproliferation and inflammation and is an effective treatment for psoriasis. Based on data from mouse disease models, it treats psoriasis as effectively as a standard topical steroid and vitamin D analog-based therapy but without causing hair loss, skin wrinkling, or other side effects, therefore offering a simple, safe and effective alternative for treating psoriasis. The research findings have been recently published in Nano Letters. 
 
Psoriasis is a chronic, non-communicable inflammatory disease, characterised by red patches, and thick and silvery scales in the skin. Over 125 million people worldwide (approximately 2-3% of the population) suffer from psoriasis. Currently, there is no specific cure, and available treatment modalities have different side effects. For example, systemic administration of immunosuppressants may induce liver and kidney toxicity, topical application of steroids and vitamin D analogs may cause skin irritation, and ultraviolet light phototherapy may lead to skin cancer. Emerging biologics are costly and associated with an enhanced risk of infection. Psoriasis imposes a psychological and financial burden on patients, significantly reducing their quality of life. 
 
Bypassing the bottleneck for drug delivery to skin cells
 
Researchers in the field have developed nanoparticles to load drugs, such as steroid or biologics for improving their delivery to the skin and reducing their toxicity, yet these drugs may not enter skin cells and accumulate in the skin for a sustained efficacy. Professor Choi and his team have designed a new class of nanoparticle, smaller than 15 nm in overall diameter, that bears a 3 nm gold core and an outer shell of polyethylene glycol strands modified with octadecyl chains. The polyethylene glycol shell prevents the gold cores from sweat-induced aggregation that disfavors their permeation to the epidermis, and the octadecyl chains promote the entry of the gold cores to the epidermal keratinocytes. After mixing the new nanoparticles with saline, the soaking gauze with nanoparticle solution was applied onto the psoriatic skin of mice for topical delivery. These nanoparticles successfully cross the thickened scales in the stratum corneum and then enter epidermal keratinocytes. Such a nano-material structure bypasses the bottleneck for drug delivery to skin cells.
 
Direct application of gold nanoparticles for treating psoriasis and inhibiting psoriasis-related genes
 
It has been revealed by many studies that the interleukin-17 signaling pathway is critical to the induction of psoriasis. The findings of Professor Choi’s team showed that the application of this new gold nanoparticle during the induction of psoriasis can prevent this disease and suppress genes in relation to the interleukin-17 signaling pathway. Applying this new gold nanoparticle after psoriasis is established can lead to obvious improvement in skin condition and reduced scales, with an efficacy similar to standard steroid and vitamin D analog-based therapy, but without inducing common side effects such as hair loss and skin wrinkling. For the first time, this study reveals the self-therapeutic value of gold nanoparticles in treating psoriasis, obviating the need for loading steroids or biologics. In addition, this new nanoparticle does not accumulate in major organs, nor does it cause long-term toxicity in skin and body.
 
Professor Choi said, “We hope to continue our collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine at the University and perform clinical studies to validate the safety and efficacy of this new gold nanoparticle in humans in the future, so as to offer a new, safe and effective treatment for psoriasis patients. Moreover, our data indicates that this nanoparticle can downregulate multiple genes that are related to skin inflammation. We will explore its therapeutic potential for other skin diseases, such as the more prevalent eczema.”
 
Other team members from CUHK include Ms. Alisa Ruifang HAN, PhD student of the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Paul Cheung Lung CHOI, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor of the Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology of the Faculty of Medicine, and other researchers from the University. This project received support from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, the CUHK Vice-Chancellor Discretionary Fund, Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, and the Croucher Innovation Award by the Croucher Foundation.
 
The full text of the research paper can be found at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02899.

(2nd left) Professor Jonathan Chung Hang CHOI, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, (2nd right) Dr. Agnes Wai Sze CHAN, Assistant Professor, Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, (1st left) Ms. Alisa Ruifang HAN, PhD student, Department of Biomedical Engineering, CUHK, and (2nd right) psoriasis patient Mr. Ho.

(right) Professor Jonathan Chung Hang CHOI, Associate Professor, and (left) Ms. Alisa Ruifang HAN, PhD student, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering display the new nanoparticles mixing with saline.

Professor Choi says that the team hopes to continue the collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine and perform clinical studies to validate the safety and efficacy of this new gold nanoparticle in humans in the future, so as to offer a new, safe and effective treatment for psoriasis patients.

 

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CUHK Faculty of Engineering celebrating the past and transforming the future

Date: 
2021-12-08
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2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). The Faculty was privileged to have Mr. Alfred Sit, Secretary for Innovation and Technology and Professor Alan Chan, Provost of CUHK, as guests of honour at the 30th Anniversary Celebration Banquet last Sunday (5 December). Over 200 alumni, faculty members and friends joined in celebrating the anniversary at the event.
 
In his opening address, Professor Martin D.F. Wong, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering said, “Our anniversary celebration is a great opportunity to honour those who have made an impact through engineering and technology, to celebrate our past and to imagine what we can accomplish together in the future. We are deeply indebted to our late Professor Sir Charles K. Kao, Nobel Laureate in Physics, former Vice-Chancellor of CUHK and the Father of Fiber Optics. Under his leadership, the Faculty was founded in 1991. The Faculty is now 30 years old and has grown into a world-class research and education unit with 6 departments, 131 tenure-system faculty members, and 3,800 students.”
 
With the concerted effort of its professors and alumni, the Faculty has made remarkable achievements in research and education in the past and will continue to contribute to the advancement of engineering across society locally, nationally and globally. Just in time for the Faculty’s anniversary celebrations, its Computer Science was recently ranked 10th globally and 1st in Hong Kong in the recently published 2022 Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report, which evaluates nearly 1,750 top universities across 90 countries.
 
In September this year, CUHK and the national-level Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory collaborated to set up the CUHK Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institute to promote research breakthroughs in AI applications in engineering, science and medicine. The Faculty was awarded three major grants from the HKSAR Government under the InnoHK initiative to establish three research centres in the Hong Kong Science Park. They are the Hong Kong Centre for Logistics Robotics led by Professor Yunhui Liu, the Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Center co-led by Professor Samuel Au and Professor Philip Chiu (Medicine), and the Centre for Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence led by Professor Helen Meng. These InnoHK centres promote translational R&D in their respective application domains which will in turn help advance the innovation and technology of Hong Kong.
 
The Faculty is a cradle for start-ups. Notably, it has founded Wisers Information Ltd (1998), which was among the first local university spin-offs, and recently two local unicorns, SenseTime and SmartMore. Moreover, the Faculty co-directs CUHK’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EPIN) minor programme to cultivate entrepreneur talents and multi-disciplinary education.
 
Going further in education, the Faulty recently took the lead and launched the first BEng programmes in Hong Kong in Financial Technology (FinTech) in 2017 and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2019. In addition, the Faculty established the CUHK Engineering FinTech Applied Research (CEFAR) Academy to create a new pipeline of talent in the Hong Kong’s rapidly emerging FinTech industry. CEFAR partners with government, industry, NGOs, professional bodies as well as other universities and research institutes to provide research experience and internship opportunities for students.
 
CUHK’s engineering students continue to win numerous competitions and awards such as the championship in the 2019 ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest (Robocon) in Mongolia, marking the first such victory for Hong Kong students. CUHK also took home the championship of the Robocon 2021 Hong Kong Contest.
 
With its solid foundation and excellent achievements, the Faculty of Engineering at CUHK is embracing future challenges and opportunities. As Professor Martin D.F. Wong, said, “The Faculty of Engineering will continue to play important roles in today’s 4th industrial revolution and digital economy, injecting impetus into Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area and impacting the region’s talent nurturing and research development in engineering.”
 
About the Faculty of Engineering, CUHK
 
Founded in 1963, CUHK is a forward-looking comprehensive research university. The Faculty of Engineering, established in 1991, offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes through its six departments: Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering, Mechanical and Automation Engineering, and Systems Engineering and Engineering Management. The Faculty of Engineering has world-class professors coming from prestigious universities possessing extensive teaching experience and outstanding research track records. It is also equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to support teaching and research activities. The Faculty’s mission is to train future leaders in engineering, to pursue knowledge at the frontier of modern technology, and to apply advanced technology to meet societal and human needs. For more information about CUHK Faculty of Engineering, please refer to: www.erg.cuhk.edu.hk.

(From left) Prof. Alan CHAN, Provost, CUHK, Prof. Martin D.F. WONG, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, CUHK, Mrs. Gwen KAO, Mr. Alfred SIT, Secretary for Innovation and Technology

Prof. Martin D.F. WONG, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, CUHK takes a group photo with guests.

Prof. Martin D.F. WONG, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, CUHK delivers a welcoming address.

Prof. Alan CHAN, Provost, CUHK delivers an address.

Mr. Alfred SIT, Secretary for Innovation and Technology delivers an address.

 

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中大InnoHK創新技術中心實驗室　將兩手術儀器合為一　省時更精準

醫療機械人創新技術中心實驗室的定位是通過研發用於診斷和治療的腔內多尺度機械人平台、磁引導腔內機械人平台及影像引導式機械人介入治療，實現新型手術機械人技術的轉化研究和產品化。中心的混合手術室配備了磁力共振掃描及機械人輔助 C臂又射線成像系統（Artis Zeego）儀器，可在手術機械人介入治療研發期間提供實時的術中醫學成像

Date: 
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Media: 
HK01
Media LInk: 
https://is.gd/Ep6zq4

中大InnoHK讓AI跟人類學駕駛決策　高效學習讓無人車100%安全駕駛

博智感知交互研究中心鼓勵及協助初創企業公司，讓科研成果更能切合再工業化的實際需求。博智團隊憑藉於電腦視覺、多語言語音及語言技術、自然語言處理及人工智能產品設計及自動化生產多個範疇累積的豐富研究經驗和成就。

Date: 
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Media: 
HK01
Media LInk: 
https://is.gd/sKsh9s

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