Mahidol Partners KMUTT To Develop Smart Medical Materials
Mahidol University and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) signed an academic and research MOU to develop smart materials for medical applications, on December 11, 2018 at the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University
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Professor Dr. Prasit Wattanapana Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Mahidol University states this agreement demonstrates the cooperation between two organizations that will support the research and develop Thai medical innovations sustainably, on the basis of scientific research. This will be beneficial to the overall image of the Thai medical community on a global level and to the health of people in the country in future.
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Signing this MOU is just a beginning of collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi to distribute their knowledge and innovations to the public. Also this research and development expansion of academic cooperation will benefit the nation’s public health, providing good life quality for the people, as part of the success in public health 4.0 according to the national strategy. It can help achieve the established objectives successfully, leading to on-going progress for sustainable society.
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anak Khantachawana, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KMUTT says, “This is a collaborative effort in research that has a clear goal between the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine, both of which are strong. We see the same problem and know it is very difficult to produce our own medical instruments. However, if we do not set up our goal today, there will not be any competition. Besides, the target of this research is Thai people who are still dependent on government’s support on medical service. I am confident this collaboration will encourage us to use our expertise in the field of smart materials in designing better catheters.
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Now it starts by developing Retriever stent for many patients with neurological disorders as we want to develop the equipment and compete with other countries. This will create credibility with cheaper cost that can be covered by the government for the patients. If successful, more inventions will be succeeded as this technology can be applied to many types of catheters e.g. ASD Occluder, Interatrial shunt, Endobronchial stent etc. These types of mentioned equipment cannot be produced in Thailand now and are expensive. This research therefore is considered necessary to the country and can be succeeded with the collaboration between both medical and engineering teams which is a true challenge of Thailand.
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Collaboration in research, development, knowledge and innovation, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of smart materials for medical purposes will bring about benefits for Thai society and the economy. This agrees with the perspective of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej that shows his caring for the health of his people. He once said, “If people are note healthy, they will not be able to develop the country because people are an important resource in moving Thailand forward.” The researcher teams from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi and Mahidol University expects this collaboration will help create a visible outcome to the society, enhance the quality of life of Thai citizens and the economic growth in Thailand leading to the development of the future, and benefit to the maximum to us all.
