Tech start-up Longe Medikal to boost medical system growth

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- The medical technology developed by Longe Medikal Sdn Bhd is on a par with those of companies from developed countries and will help to strengthen Malaysia’s medical system.

Among the technologies developed by the local start-up is the “pre-planning surgery” application which is used on patients based on image-guided therapy, or better known as minimally invasive surgery.

According to its chief executive officer Muhammad Izzat Ahmad Sabri, the company’s surgical pre-planning technology has been operational since 2016 and is currently being used at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Teaching Hospital, National Heart Institute and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Hospital.

"The technology related to pre-planning surgery is able to help medical experts to adjust medical simulators, especially in neurovascular (which involves the brain) and cardiovascular (the heart) fields as well fields such as orthopaedics (related to bone specialisation) and cancer," he told Bernama.

He said the company also provides a software solution based on the picture archiving and communication system, or PACS, for use by the Health Ministry.

"The system is able to store medical-grade data for use by the Health Ministry," he said, adding that Longe Medikal has been licensed as a public service systems provider in the country by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Muhammad Izzat said Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) has helped the company to get the Commercialisation of Research and Development Fund to develop medical technology.

"Government agencies and MTDC, via various programmes including conferences and those involving  international delegations, also helped us to secure new and high-quality drivers," he said.

He said MTDC’s support enables start-ups in the country to make inroads in their efforts to develop medical technology-based businesses.

"The field of medical technology is not easy; there are many constraints faced by the company in terms of the type of development and legislation.

“Additionally, MTDC’s efforts are able to attract more technopreneurs to jointly develop medical-related technology," he said.

Via MTDC, he said, Longe Medikal also has the advantage of being among a community of companies in the Centre of Nine Pillars (Co9P) supported by its nine pillars, namely autonomous robot, simulation, system integration, Internet of things, cybersecurity, cloud computing, additive manufacturing, big data and augmented reality.

Co9P is a community-based centre that uses the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) to enhance the technological growth of small and medium-sized organisations as well as provide Maker Lab services for industries, funding support, community networking, training and certification.

Muhammad Izzat also said there are plans to list the company on Bursa Malaysia to further expand its business.

-- BERNAMA