EMvision Research Notes, page-2870

Disco – I can’t agree with you that links with UQ are “def less relevant these days.”

It is true that “right now it seems we are solely focussed on Stroke” but, in my opinion, that is only true if you have a 1 to 3-year view in mind. If your view is longer (3+ years and especially 10+ years), the on-going connection with the UQ is highly important, with no loss of relevance.
My logic for believing this about the links is based on the following:

1. The Prospectus is quite clear in articulating that while the new Company’s focus would be on brain imaging – because this was the most advanced element of UQ’s EM imaging technology platform and because of the perceived urgency of the need – the Prospectus is also clear on the long-term strategy being about the EMVT (the assigned IP platform) rather than just the stroke devices. To quote the Prospectus (page 18):
   
   “The Company also intends to explore the development and commercialisation of other medical imaging devices that utilise the EMVT for the diagnosis of medical conditions that may arise elsewhere in the body, including the torso of human patients. Whilst work has begun on these projects, including research at UQ, these projects are yet to be developed into clinical ready prototypes”.
2. In conjunction with this longer-term strategy, EMV allocated 2,100,000 options ‘to vest upon the completion of the Successful Pivotal Clinical Trial for a Licensed Product for the torso’, but these lapsed in Dec 2023, as the work had not advanced sufficiently at time of exercise.
3. The Prospectus is quite clear that the IP assigned to EMV via UQ’s commercialisation arm (Uniquest) is for the whole EMVT platform. To quote the Prospectus (page 22)

“UQ has lodged provisional and PCT patent applications that address various potentially unique and novel aspects of the Brain Scanner and EMVT. These patent applications will be assigned to the Company in accordance with the terms of the IP Assignment Deed subject to the satisfaction of the conditions precedent set out in Section 9.3 and cover methods of using microwave radiation to develop 3-dimensional diagnostic images, as well as the framework of the commercial solution based on the underlying Intellectual Property. The patent applications also include aspects of the hardware necessary to generate and interpret the microwave signals for imaging purposes. In addition to the patent applications, the EMVT and Intellectual Property includes considerable know how in the method of applying microwave-based imaging to the development of possible commercial diagnostic devices”.

4. Additionally, the Prospectus is quite clear on the assignment to EMV of the whole EMVT platform plus any updates, enhancements, improvements, variations, modifications, derivations or adaptations to that platform. To quote the Prospectus (page 63):
Uniquest has also agreed to assign to Emvision certain know-how and technical information (including any calculations and algorithms) related to:
(a) the Patent Families;
(b) developments, updates, enhancements, improvements, variations, modifications, derivations or adaptations, to, for or of, the Patent Families (Improvements), including any new or parallel applications or uses of the Patent Families or the Improvements;
(c) any hardware, software, articles or devices which can be used to exploit the Patent Families or the Improvements; and
(d) any intellectual property rights in or relating to any product, kit, apparatus, substance, documentation or information resource (or any part of such materials) which applies or is made according to all or any part of the Patent Families or the know-how and technical information listed above.

5. Uniquest remains a top 10 shareholder in EMV and stands to earn various milestone payments and royalties following commercialisation of devices

6. During 2019-early 2020, EMV was working on a Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) project in collaboration with the Queensland Government and UQ. This was seen as a core project as late as 30 Jan 2020, to quote the 4th Quarter report:
“In partnership with the UQ, EMVision is developing and commercialising medical imaging diagnostics for various disease states and medical emergencies. The Company’s primary focus is a portable, cost effective, non-invasive brain scanner to monitor and help with the diagnosis of brain injuries and stroke by creating rapid 3D images of the brain. In addition, the Company is also at a pre-clinical research and development stage for an adjacent non-invasive torso scanner targeting detection and monitoring of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The torso scanner would utilise the same core technology being developed for brain imaging, with custom algorithms and hardware”.
By April 2020, the project was placed on the back burner, probably due to the increasing resources required for the more advanced brain imaging tech and the need for a stronger focus on it. (I am not clear on how much UQ continued their roles on the torso project over the next few years).

7. There are very strong links between EMV’s in-house tech team and the UQ Electrical Engineering team under Professor Abbosh – with 3 of the in-house team also part of the UQ team. This makes sense due to the on-going development of the IP platform. The 3 members of the EMV team who contribute on at least a part time basis to UQ research, publication and/or supervisory activities, are Chief Scientist (Emeritus Professor Stuart Crozier), Head of Technology Development (Konstanty Bialkowski) and Microwave Signal Processing Engineer (Anthony Stancombe).

8. While Stuart Crozier is an Emeritus Professor at UQ, who has retired from full time teaching responsibilities, he is still involved with the University (as is usual for Emeritus Professors) as a supervisor of PhD students, some of which are doing work of relevance to EMV’s platform (e.g. ‘ Improving Feature Extraction and Feature Interpretability for Deep Learning in Medical Image Analysis’; ‘Deep Learning Applied to Medical Image Analysis’ and as an authorised media commentator on a range of bioelectronic imaging matters

9. Further, in commenting on his role at EMvision – in an August 2024, interview – Professor Crozier observed that “in his role as the CSO, he is responsible for the strategic direction, oversight and execution of the research and development efforts that underpin the company’s devices, as well as working closely with academic colleagues and clinical partners to bring these products to market”. https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/c...p-spotlight-transforming-diagnosis-1388881423

10. And in that same interview, Professor Crozier said “He is particularly excited about the potential impact of in-home blood tests and portable brain diagnostics for rural communities…” Hence the relevance of the two new UQ electromagnetic blood test projects that have just been launched by the University after receiving Commonwealth Government funding. EMV is entitled to the IP developed in these projects under the terms of the licensing agreement documented in the Prospectus.

11. And working with his ‘academic colleagues’ at UQ is something he has continued to do – a lot – since his appointment to EMV in 2021 with multiple publications and conference papers collaborating with others such as Konstanty Bialkowski and Anthony Stancombe, Dr David Cook (who led the Princess Alexandra Hospital trials) and various members of Professor Abbosh’s UQ electromagnetic research team.

12. Additionally, 5 of the 9 members of EMV’s Clinical Advisory Board are attached to the UQ – apart from Chairman of the Board, Professor Crozier, the 4 others are Dr David Cook (Associate Professor with UQ Faculty of Medicine), Professor Michael O’Sullivan (professor and member of the Executive of the UQ Centre for Clinical Research and a Staff Specialist in Neurology at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital), Dr Ken Mitchell (a practising Interventional Neuroradiologist and a Senior Lecturer at the UQ) and Professor Alan Coulthard (Professor of Neuroradiology at the UQ and Senior Staff Specialist in diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital).

13. Finally, while I totally agree that it is sensible for Scott and the team to focus completely on the brain imaging devices – for obvious reasons – I am excited about the continuing evolution of the collaborations with UQ. Their success in obtaining the grants to reignite the torso and blood testing technology just recently – using the EMVT platform – has the potential to add significant value to EMV (as the owner of the platform tech) down the road.

14. This, IMO, is a potential long-term partnership made in heaven – with on the one side, the UQ team generating the research detail and know-how to produce compelling prototypes and – on the other side and concurrently – EMV’s industrial design, production, software and hardware engineering and regulatory teams turning those prototypes into user friendly, functional and cost-effective best of breed devices. It speeds up the cycle – with the two teams working concurrently - with the UQ team working on prototypes for ‘next generation’ devices while EMV teams finesse the ‘current generation’ devices for market readiness.