3.46 million patents were filed in 2022 worldwide. All of us have ideas in the shower, but to take an innovation all the way to the patent stage takes imagination, grit and a tremendous sense of entrepreneurship.
Singapore has established itself as a regional leader in IP protection, with many individuals and businesses registering their innovations here with the knowledge that their use will be safeguarded.
Here are three patents recently filed in Singapore that got us excited.
#1: Replacing sand with recycled saw dust
Singapore and the rest of the world are on a constant growth path, but experts have warned that continued construction using sand is doing damage to regional ecosystems. Researchers at the National University of Singapore developed a sustainable construction material to replace sand. The material mixes biochar from saw dust with cement, creating a stronger and more watertight material than mortar, while recycling wood waste and reducing the carbon emissions of the building sector.
#2: Detecting car speeding
Road speeding is a deadly issue in the Southeast Asian region where road systems might not always provide legal speed limits, even on highways. A team at Grab came up with a method of detecting overspeeding in a vehicle, using a microprocessor installed in the car that can be in communication with historical data. This could determine the probability of the vehicle overspeeding based on various information taken from databases such as GPS, weather conditions, driver features, etc.
#3: Using microwave energy to treat diabetes
We’ve all heard the warning that sitting is the new smoking, with our sedentary lifestyles potentially leading to Type 2 diabetes which cannot be treated, only managed. However, recent research found that applying thermal energy to remove soft tissue in the small intestine could trigger its regrowth in a way that changes the way the body responds to sugar, which can reverse resistance to insulin and restore metabolic health.
A team of researchers based in the UK came up with an invention that could treat biological tissue with microwave energy via radiation — this electrosurgical apparatus can deliver energy to tissue in the gastrointestinal tract in a targeted and controlled manner, removing or resurfacing intestinal walls effectively. Patented in Singapore, this method could be a game changing solution that helps treat diabetes.