— KMU Office for Industry-Academic Collaboration—

In the first round of the 2025 National Science and Technology Council’s “From IP to IPO” (FITI) Program, Dr. Yu-Chen Chen of Kaohsiung Medical University led her international team, iFlow Lab, to stand out with their innovative medical device, the EasyVoid Handheld Uroflowmetry Device. The team was honored with one of only three Outstanding Startup Awards and received NT$1 million in startup funding from corporate sponsors. The award was presented by Mr. Stan Shih, founder of Acer Inc., who recognized the team’s potential for innovation and commercialization.

A Cross-Border Breakthrough in Smart Urological Health Devices

The award-winning EasyVoid Handheld Uroflowmetry Device is the world’s first of its kind, jointly developed by Dr. Yu-Chen Chen of Kaohsiung Medical University and engineering experts Prof. Manu Prakash and Dr. Che-Jui Chang from Stanford University. The device uniquely applies the Coandă effect and a dual-helical rotor design. Through advanced algorithms, it accurately transforms rotor speed into urinary flow rate data.

Patients can simply urinate naturally during regular bathroom use, with no complicated procedures required. The device automatically records flow rate, urination duration, and total volume, and transmits the data via Bluetooth to a smartphone app and cloud platform. This allows physicians to remotely access standardized flow graphs, improving monitoring efficiency while preserving patient privacy. Easy to carry and operate, EasyVoid is expected to become a new standard tool for aging populations and primary healthcare, offering a revolutionary solution in urinary health management.

From Clinical Pain Points to Innovation: A Success Story of the KMU Biodesign Program

The creation of EasyVoid stems from Kaohsiung Medical University’s recent efforts in advancing medical innovation through the Biodesign Program. In 2022, supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Sprout Project, Dr. Yen-Hsiung Wang, Associate Vice President of KMU’s Office of Industry-Academia Collaboration, led a delegation—including Dr. Chen—to Stanford University to participate in the SPARK GLOBAL Meeting, strengthening the link between clinical practice and innovation.

Upon returning to Taiwan, Dr. Chen was selected as KMU’s first Biodesign seed educator to undertake a six-month training at Stanford University. During the program, she identified key limitations in conventional uroflowmetry devices and conceptualized EasyVoid in collaboration with Stanford’s engineering team.

With the support of KMU’s Office of Industry-Academia Collaboration and Stanford’s Office of Technology Licensing, the two institutions signed a joint intellectual property agreement and launched global patent strategies (U.S., Taiwan, and PCT), paving the way for successful commercialization.

From Idea to Implementation: SPARK Program Drives Clinical Innovation Forward

Under the guidance of Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council’s SPARK Program and KMU’s Office of Industry-Academia Collaboration, the iFlow Lab team carried out extensive product optimization, clinical validation, patent planning, and regulatory analysis. These efforts confirmed the feasibility and practicality of EasyVoid, which was highly praised by the FITI panel. The project not only showcased outstanding innovation in medical device development but also exemplified the transformation of unmet clinical needs into real-world solutions.

Looking Ahead: Empowering KMU’s Global Biomedical Impact

Winning the FITI Outstanding Startup Award is a testament to the team’s dedication and KMU’s institutional support. More importantly, it reflects KMU’s ongoing commitment to international collaboration and innovative education. We look forward to seeing more KMU physicians and research teams bravely tackle clinical challenges and lead the future of biomedical innovation, taking KMU’s scientific capabilities to the global stage.