TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The medical laboratories at the Industrial Technology Research Institute are helping to improve healthcare in Taiwan, CNA reported on Monday.
In 2020, with support from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the institute established the Taiwan Integrated Biomedical Industrial Center to speed the development of medical products. The initiative attracted pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to set up a medical laboratory and develop new lung disease treatments.
More than 90,000 individuals in Taiwan are undergoing dialysis, giving the country the highest per capita dialysis rate globally and placing a heavy burden on the national health insurance system. Last year, the institute partnered with AstraZeneca and the Taiwan Society of Nephrology to establish another medical laboratory focused on kidney disease.
The institute said the laboratory targets high-risk groups for kidney screening and promotes medication and health education to slow the progression of the disease. The initiative has also attracted 17 companies, including medical device and diagnostic reagent suppliers, to help improve the accuracy of screenings.
Additionally, the institute established a smart elderly care center. The facility integrates AI and communication technologies to provide care solutions for seniors with disabilities or dementia.
The center's equipment can track seniors’ gait and posture, detecting the degree of muscle and skeletal degeneration. The institute also developed an infrared smart detection system that immediately alerts caregivers to abnormalities in a senior’s physical condition.
Last year, Taiwan had over 970,000 elderly people living alone. The center also provides a companion robot named Pecola, which collects and shares seniors’ basic health information, such as mood, sleep patterns, diet, and activity levels, with their family members.
On Monday, members of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, along with Kuo Chao-chung (郭肇中), director-general of the industrial technology department under the economic ministry, visited the institute’s campus in Hsinchu. The officials expressed their appreciation for the organization’s efforts in medical applications, water resource management, and advanced semiconductor packaging and measurement technologies.
