Closing the data gap: High throughput screening of nanoparticle toxicity. The nanotechnology sector is experiencing an exponential growth period with over 100 products containing manufactured nanoparticles entering the market every year. Ensuring growth of the sector needs to be balanced against the imperative of protecting both human and environmental safety. This project aims to develop new methodological and conceptual avenues to close the gap between innovation in nanotechnology and risk ass ....Closing the data gap: High throughput screening of nanoparticle toxicity. The nanotechnology sector is experiencing an exponential growth period with over 100 products containing manufactured nanoparticles entering the market every year. Ensuring growth of the sector needs to be balanced against the imperative of protecting both human and environmental safety. This project aims to develop new methodological and conceptual avenues to close the gap between innovation in nanotechnology and risk assessment. This is intended to be achieved by developing and validating high-throughput in vitro toxicity screening platforms for manufactured nanoparticles. The approach is based on advanced lab-on-a-chip microfluidic technologies. The predictive power of the platform will be refined and optimised via ex-vivo and in-vivo models.Read moreRead less
Early-Stage Medical Diagnostics by Plasmon-Mediated Gas Sensing. This project will investigate the use plasmonic absorption of light in metal nanostructures to activate the selective oxidation/reduction of a gas molecule on a semiconductor nanoparticle. This concept will be used with the aim of developing a sensing technique capable of measuring ultra-low concentrations (ppb) of breath markers for lung cancer detection. It is expected that porous sensing films of semiconductor and metal nanopart ....Early-Stage Medical Diagnostics by Plasmon-Mediated Gas Sensing. This project will investigate the use plasmonic absorption of light in metal nanostructures to activate the selective oxidation/reduction of a gas molecule on a semiconductor nanoparticle. This concept will be used with the aim of developing a sensing technique capable of measuring ultra-low concentrations (ppb) of breath markers for lung cancer detection. It is expected that porous sensing films of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles with well-defined light absorption properties will be fabricated. Superior selectivity will be achieved by matching the wavelength of the absorbed light with the required activation energy for oxidation/reduction. Successful outcomes will enable multi-analyte fingerprint identification by on-chip devices with applications ranging from portable medical diagnostics to national security.Read moreRead less
Modelling active play in preschool children using machine learning. This interdisciplinary project explores novel machine learning approaches to modelling physical activity data in preschool children. The approach taken is considered the future of physical activity assessment and is expected to substantially enhance the measurement of physical activity and the evidence base that informs strategies to improve population health through physical activity promotion. The project aims to transform the ....Modelling active play in preschool children using machine learning. This interdisciplinary project explores novel machine learning approaches to modelling physical activity data in preschool children. The approach taken is considered the future of physical activity assessment and is expected to substantially enhance the measurement of physical activity and the evidence base that informs strategies to improve population health through physical activity promotion. The project aims to transform the understanding of young children's physical activity behaviour, and is expected to have important implications for the design of accurate and effective technology-based physical activity monitoring and intervention applications that could be delivered through the e-health initiative in Australia.Read moreRead less
Microwave Head Monitor Using Compressed Sensing and Differential Techniques. The aim of this project is the design and development of a low-cost, non-ionising, and non-invasive microwave technology that can be used to diagnose and localise early brain injuries of premature newborn babies. It proposes to include a switched antenna array and wide-band microwave transceiver. The system aims to use a combination of compressed sensing and differential imaging techniques to produce, within a few secon ....Microwave Head Monitor Using Compressed Sensing and Differential Techniques. The aim of this project is the design and development of a low-cost, non-ionising, and non-invasive microwave technology that can be used to diagnose and localise early brain injuries of premature newborn babies. It proposes to include a switched antenna array and wide-band microwave transceiver. The system aims to use a combination of compressed sensing and differential imaging techniques to produce, within a few seconds, microwave images of the brain making it a real-time monitoring tool. By providing vital information about the brain at the incubator side, the proposed compact technology would avoid the risky move of critically ill babies to the expensive and bulky conventional scanners which, furthermore, cannot operate as frequent monitoring tools.Read moreRead less
An integrated nano-bioengineered chip for enhanced molecular evolution. This project aims to develop a novel molecular evolution platform technology for the rapid selection of high value target binding molecules from diverse molecular libraries using an electrically activated nanofluidic chip coated with target. Significant outcomes from the project is the controlled selection of target binding molecules that is not possible with current methods and improved understanding of nanoforce driven mol ....An integrated nano-bioengineered chip for enhanced molecular evolution. This project aims to develop a novel molecular evolution platform technology for the rapid selection of high value target binding molecules from diverse molecular libraries using an electrically activated nanofluidic chip coated with target. Significant outcomes from the project is the controlled selection of target binding molecules that is not possible with current methods and improved understanding of nanoforce driven molecular collisions on nano-bioengineered surfaces. This provides significant benefits, creating new knowledge in nanomaterials and advanced manufacturing of nanofabricated devices, creating commercial interest and positioning Australia at the forefront of molecular discovery technology, a highly valuable global market.
Read moreRead less
Bioelectronic logic. This project aims to understand ion-electron interactions relevant to bioelectronics, and create transducing interfaces. Bioelectronics is a frontier field which aims to connect biological systems with modern electronics and so create biomedical devices. Transducing ion and electron signals using a biocompatible functional interface is difficult since ion and electron physics are different. By combining individual transducers, this project intends to demonstrate ground-break ....Bioelectronic logic. This project aims to understand ion-electron interactions relevant to bioelectronics, and create transducing interfaces. Bioelectronics is a frontier field which aims to connect biological systems with modern electronics and so create biomedical devices. Transducing ion and electron signals using a biocompatible functional interface is difficult since ion and electron physics are different. By combining individual transducers, this project intends to demonstrate ground-breaking bioelectronic logic capable of interface-level processing. The stretch goal is to test this new logic with a biological neuronal model. The project could deliver new science and interfacing elements to integrate tissue and circuitry, and demonstrate these in a real biological model.Read moreRead less
Image-guided skin microbiopsy technology development. There is a need for targeted biopsies in dermatology. This novel technology enables minimally invasive biopsies to be taken from suspicious skin lesions by integrating micromedical and imaging devices.
Engineering the next generation of portable microwave scanners. This project aims to engineer a disruptive technology based on microwave hybrid imaging for biomedical applications. The project will deliver superfine resolution images using a combination of uniform near-field microwave irradiation and infrared imaging. The project will explore novel microwave antenna design, and engineer a portable platform for diagnostic applications. The proposed low-cost, non-invasive, and safe microwave techn ....Engineering the next generation of portable microwave scanners. This project aims to engineer a disruptive technology based on microwave hybrid imaging for biomedical applications. The project will deliver superfine resolution images using a combination of uniform near-field microwave irradiation and infrared imaging. The project will explore novel microwave antenna design, and engineer a portable platform for diagnostic applications. The proposed low-cost, non-invasive, and safe microwave technology will offer significant advantages over conventional diagnostic platforms. Among many potential applications, this innovation will introduce the first portable microwave scanner that can be used for the early detection of skin cancer.Read moreRead less
Portable Microwave Imaging Technology Using Reconfigurable Radar. The aim of this project is the design and development of a portable microwave imaging system to investigate the viability of microwave techniques for early heart failure detection. It will employ conformal antenna arrays integrated with compact reconfigurable radar to obtain super-resolution images that enable the early detection of heart failure. Because of its low-cost, non-ionising and non-invasive properties, it can be used fr ....Portable Microwave Imaging Technology Using Reconfigurable Radar. The aim of this project is the design and development of a portable microwave imaging system to investigate the viability of microwave techniques for early heart failure detection. It will employ conformal antenna arrays integrated with compact reconfigurable radar to obtain super-resolution images that enable the early detection of heart failure. Because of its low-cost, non-ionising and non-invasive properties, it can be used frequently for real-time monitoring, thus providing a significant advantage over conventional imaging equipment and hence paving the way for its broader applications. Moreover, portability of the technology is expected to enable its use for self-monitoring, leading to a significant reduction in health care costs.Read moreRead less
Tuneable “Nano-Shearing”: An Innovative Mechanism for the Accurate and Specific Capture of Cells and Molecules. Recent investigations have discovered a tuneable electro-hydrodynamic force which drives lateral fluid motion within a few nanometers of an electrode surface. Because the magnitude of this fluid shear force can be tuned externally (for example, via the application of an AC electric field), it provides a new capability to physically displace weakly (non-specifically) bound cellular and ....Tuneable “Nano-Shearing”: An Innovative Mechanism for the Accurate and Specific Capture of Cells and Molecules. Recent investigations have discovered a tuneable electro-hydrodynamic force which drives lateral fluid motion within a few nanometers of an electrode surface. Because the magnitude of this fluid shear force can be tuned externally (for example, via the application of an AC electric field), it provides a new capability to physically displace weakly (non-specifically) bound cellular and molecular analytes. By performing research to further understand and develop this tuneable effect, this project aims to build and test a new platform technology to enable highly efficient capture and specific detection of low concentration pathogenic molecules and circulating tumour cells (CTCs).Read moreRead less