Recipient of Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships in 1998/99
尤德爵士紀念基金研究生獎學金1998/99年得獎者
It is almost unheard of any technological product to bear the “Made in Hong Kong” branding. The recipient of Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships in 1998/1999, the CEO of Belun Technology, Dr. Lydia Leung, challenges this notion by investing a fortune to start manufacturing biotechnology products locally, determined to build a proud tech brand known from Hong Kong.
Driven by her great interest in science, she discovered her passion in the field of electronic engineering after being exposed to laboratory work. Before working in healthcare technology, Dr Lydia Leung studied her Bachelor and Master degree in Electronic Engineering, and finally her PhD from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. After graduating from her Master degree, she originally set out to work on wireless systems as a system designer in a startup company, but she was ultimately convinced to further pursue a PhD by her love of research. After her extensive studies, Dr. Leung joined the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (“ASTRI”) and worked there for 11 years, during which she specialized in converting research work into commercialized products. However, she found a major hurdle in pursuing her passion while at ASTRI that it was extremely difficult to create successful technological products that can penetrate the market.
During the time, Dr. Leung was invited by two of her former colleagues to be the consultant of Belun Technology, a biotechnology startup company. She officially joined the company after she realized the potential of the company. It is not a simple feat for any biotech company to succeed – at the time when the company was founded, there were already several market leaders dominating the market of wearable devices. Therefore, they decided to restructure the company and develop medical devices. Studies showed that poor sleeping quality is one of the risk factors leading to many chronic diseases. Therefore, they decided to develop a product to detect sleep apnea, which is associated with hypertension, heart failure, stroke and obesity, etc. Their flagship product, the Belun Ring, allows patients to conduct the sleeping test at home, which can measure oxygen saturation, pulse rate, Apnea Hypopnea Index (bAHI), sleep stages, autonomic nervous system responses and motion. The data will be transferred from the rings to the back-end database, while diagnoses are made through Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) models. Unlike conventional sleeping tests conducted in hospitals, in which the oximeter is neither uncomfortable nor stable, the ring is simple and easy to wear, so that patients can conduct the test in a familiar environment. Most notably, according to studies conducted in the US, the ring can perform preliminary screening and analysis for sleep apnea and other conditions such as arrhythmia and stress on its own with the help of artificial intelligence, reducing the usage of 70% of the queuing time for sleep beds, allowing healthcare services to direct more resources to treat patients in need. In just a few years since the establishment, The Belun Ring has obtained the approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”), becoming the world’s first medical-grade wearable device. The ring is recognized by the medical community and the application is across medical institutions in Southeast Asia and the US.
In the coming years, Dr. Leung aspires for the Belun Ring to expand its coverage as a common household device to help more people monitor their health status and provide health tips and alerts. To achieve this, Belun Technology is considering releasing the consumer version of the Belun Ring with medical-grade accuracy, so the ring will not be restricted to applications in medical sectors. Furthermore, the company is currently developing a chest pack detector, called the Belun Core, to investigate the utility of screening for abnormal blood pressure changes in combination with the Belun Ring. As a startup company, Belun Technology has already obtained Series A funding and is about to wrap up the Series B funding round. They will launch their IPO in the foreseeable future to obtain enough capital for future development.
Apart from receiving the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship for Postgraduate Research Students, Dr. Leung has also received the Scholarship for her undergraduate studies. Nominated by the Engineering College, she had to demonstrate what she wanted to achieve through pursuing her Master degree during the interview. The scholarship serves as an endorsement and encouragement, assuring her that being an engineer is the right path to pursue.
Dr. Leung was an active member in the Sir Edward Youde Scholars Association, formerly serving as the Vice Chairman. In the many years she has spent among Youders, her most unforgettable experience was organising English courses for immigrant students in the Social Service Team. She was involved in planning the event, preparing learning materials, as well as performing hands-on teaching. This was her first time organizing community activities where she found great satisfaction and meaning from her volunteer work. It has been 20 years since she has received the Scholarship, and she is still eager to contribute back to Hong Kong, no matter for the association or the community.
隨著工業式微，「香港製造」的產品買少見少。尤德爵士紀念基金研究生獎學金1998/99年得獎者，科研公司倍靈科技有限公司行政總裁梁立慧博士為了推高客人的信心，毅然投資近百萬元於本港設廠，堅持自家的醫療器材必需「香港製造」，重新建立屬於香港的品牌。
梁博士自小對科學有著的極大興趣，在中六時她參加了到香港城市大學一個興趣小組中，發現自己對電子工程的喜好，梁博士因而選修了香港科技大學的電子工程學士學位，並進修至碩士。在短暫的投入職場後，她發現自己對研究更感興趣，所以她回到科技大學修讀博士學位。她在博士畢業後投身香港應用科技研究院，她的職責包括使科技產業化，擴大產業應用。11年後，她有感去工業化使業界難以應用研究院的技術，不少項目胎死腹中，使她希望在其他渠道推動香港的創科發展。
碰巧，當時兩名舊同事創辦了倍靈科技，梁博士受邀成為該公司顧問，在看到公司的潛力後她正式加入倍靈科技。當初，公司希望發展可穿戴設備的市場，但當時市場上可穿戴設備的市場已經發展成熟，產品難以與一些跨國品牌競爭。因此，他們決定重組公司，決心發展醫用級設備。最終，他們發現很多的慢性病都由睡眠而引起，他們因而選定發展可以檢測與高血壓、心臟衰竭、等有關的睡眠窒息症產品。現時，「倍靈指環」是他們的旗艦產品，患者可以在家中戴上他們指環量度血氧飽和度、脈搏率、睡眠窒息指數等數據，數據從指環傳輸到後端的數據庫，再透過人工智能模型作出診斷。相比起到醫院進行睡眠測試，需要把血氧監測儀夾於手指頭，指環穿戴更舒適方便，而且患者更容易在熟識的環境入睡，使測試變得容易。據他們在美國的研究發現，指環可為疑似睡眠窒息的病人進行初步篩查，成功減低睡眠測試7成的需求，使醫療系統能更集中資源服務有需要的病人。在公司成立的短短幾年間，指環更獲得美國食物及藥物管理局的認證，成為全球首款達到醫療等級的可穿戴設備，使產品獲得醫學界人士的認可，現時指環的已被東南亞及美國等醫療機構應用。
在未來的日子，梁博士希望指環能成為用家日常的體檢儀器，為他們監察身體的狀況，及早採取預防措施。為此，公司即將推出家用版指環，使指環的應用不再侷限於醫療機構，公司產品的接觸層面更加廣闊。另一方面，他們正在研發一塊貼在胸腔的感應器，期望將兩者結合來偵測血壓變化。而在融資上，作為一個生物科技初創公司，他們必須在前期投入巨額的資金作產品研發。當他們在產品成功研發，他們在兩年前獲得A輪融資，並即將完成B輪融資。他們會在可見的將來進行上市，籌集資金以繼續發展後端的系統。
除了獲得尤德爵士紀念基金研究生獎學金外，梁博士亦在本科期間獲得尤德爵士紀念基金的獎學金。她當年受到學院的推薦申請獎學金，她需要展述自己希望透過修讀碩士實現甚麼成就。她坦言，獎學金使她堅定了工程師的這條路。
梁博士曾活躍於尤德學者協會，並擔任本會副主席。在本會多年的歲月，最令她難忘的是她在社會服務小組的貢獻。當時她舉辦一些針對新來港學生的英文課程，由籌辦活動、準備教材、到中心教授英語，她都參與其中。這是梁博士人生第一次舉辦社會服務，使梁博士有著很大的滿足感。獲獎至今20多年，不論在本會內，還是在業界之中，梁博士一直懷著一顆回饋香港的心，為社會的發展出一份力。