Haemodynamic investigation of flow diverter stents for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. This project will explore the engineering of a flow diverter, an endovascular device for the treatment of brain aneurysms. The project will determine the optimal design of new types of flow diverters, which in turn could improve the effectiveness of treatments, thus reducing the associated costs of cerebral haemorrhage and stroke.
Acoustic trapping for life science applications. Force fields can be established to move suspended cells into predefined locations using high frequency vibration; randomly dispersed cells can be brought together into clusters. This project aims to develop such technologies and will have applications in drug discovery and cell to cell interaction studies and has the future potential to promote the health of Australians.
Combined optical and electrical stimulation of auditory neurons. The bionic ear, which has now helped to improve the hearing of over 200,000 people worldwide, is a great example of Australian innovation success. This project aims to develop the fundamental technology that will underpin the next generation of these devices using a combination of infrared light and electrical signals to stimulate auditory nerves.
Intelligent training (iTraining) for the human Achilles tendon. The project aims to improve understanding of the mechanical environment of the Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon plays a crucial role in human motor function and is also a structure that is commonly injured and notoriously difficult to treat. A major barrier to improving Achilles tendon function, preventing tendon injury and enhancing tendon repair is a poor understanding of the mechanical environment of the Achilles tendon durin ....Intelligent training (iTraining) for the human Achilles tendon. The project aims to improve understanding of the mechanical environment of the Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon plays a crucial role in human motor function and is also a structure that is commonly injured and notoriously difficult to treat. A major barrier to improving Achilles tendon function, preventing tendon injury and enhancing tendon repair is a poor understanding of the mechanical environment of the Achilles tendon during training and rehabilitation. The project aims to develop a better understanding of the loading conditions that optimise tendon metabolism. Based on this, it then intends to develop new technologies to estimate the mechanical behaviour of the human Achilles tendon in real time based on integrated use of wearable technology, and new training guidelines that will optimise human tendon adaptation.Read moreRead less
Complete blood fractionation using a low-cost microfluidic system. This project aims to understand particle focusing in inertial microfluidic systems to design efficient devices for cell sorting. The field of microfluidics could ultimately advance medical research but device design is primitive. Microfluidic particle separations are not thoroughly simulated before fabrication to predict performance. This project is expected to accelerate progress in design of efficient microfluidic devices. The ....Complete blood fractionation using a low-cost microfluidic system. This project aims to understand particle focusing in inertial microfluidic systems to design efficient devices for cell sorting. The field of microfluidics could ultimately advance medical research but device design is primitive. Microfluidic particle separations are not thoroughly simulated before fabrication to predict performance. This project is expected to accelerate progress in design of efficient microfluidic devices. The knowledge and models developed in this project should help design and develop a microfluidic device for efficient fractionation of complex fluids into valuable components.Read moreRead less
Understanding surface acoustic wave atomisation for pulmonary delivery of drug aerosols in personalised medicine. Delivering drugs via the lung is hampered by development costs and inadequate technology. This project will provide an understanding of atomisation in our unique respire system, enabling not only the delivery of new vaccines and drugs but also the rapid and cost effective development of new disease treatments personalised to the patient.
ANATOMICAL ORGAN MODELLING AND SURGICAL PROCEDURE SIMULATION FOR THORACOSCOPIC SURGERY. We aim to establish novel virtual reality-based surgical procedure simulation methodologies, geometric and physical models of human organs, and surgical tools and interaction modules for thoracoscopic surgery or for minimally invasive surgical procedures. This is needed to optimize surgical strategy and to anticipate possible problems that may arise during the procedure, and to train medical staff as the tren ....ANATOMICAL ORGAN MODELLING AND SURGICAL PROCEDURE SIMULATION FOR THORACOSCOPIC SURGERY. We aim to establish novel virtual reality-based surgical procedure simulation methodologies, geometric and physical models of human organs, and surgical tools and interaction modules for thoracoscopic surgery or for minimally invasive surgical procedures. This is needed to optimize surgical strategy and to anticipate possible problems that may arise during the procedure, and to train medical staff as the trend towards robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery continues. What makes this project novel is the anatomical organ modeling approach based on virtual springs and dampers traversing between the top and bottom surfaces of the organs and tissues, contrary to previous approaches.Read moreRead less
New techniques for modelling, diagnosis and counter measures for cardiac related sleep disordered breathing. Around 50% of congestive heart failure sufferers have some form of sleep disordered breathing. However, little has been done so far to simultaneously monitor, analyse and treat the two conditions. Therefore, this project proposes to develop new technology incorporating mathematical models for heart rate variability, considering the links between sleep disordered breathing and cardiovasc ....New techniques for modelling, diagnosis and counter measures for cardiac related sleep disordered breathing. Around 50% of congestive heart failure sufferers have some form of sleep disordered breathing. However, little has been done so far to simultaneously monitor, analyse and treat the two conditions. Therefore, this project proposes to develop new technology incorporating mathematical models for heart rate variability, considering the links between sleep disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease. This innovation will enable, for the first time, a device capable of accurate and reliable diagnosis of various sleep disorders using only conventional ECG data. Such technology has the potential to produce significant community health benefits, and save several millions of lives worldwide.Read moreRead less
Tissue distraction: A novel approach to enhance tissue growth for soft tissue engineering purposes. This project will provide new tissues for the expanding field of regenerative medicine to treat numerous tissue defects and
1.Benefit the health & economic well being of Australian society by rapidly supplying organs and tissues.
2.Benefit the academic community by a multidisciplinary approach, involving several academic Institutions in the fields of surgery, tissue engineering, physiology, morph ....Tissue distraction: A novel approach to enhance tissue growth for soft tissue engineering purposes. This project will provide new tissues for the expanding field of regenerative medicine to treat numerous tissue defects and
1.Benefit the health & economic well being of Australian society by rapidly supplying organs and tissues.
2.Benefit the academic community by a multidisciplinary approach, involving several academic Institutions in the fields of surgery, tissue engineering, physiology, morphology, polymer chemistry & biomolecular engineering that will produce basic scientific data with a practical application. Post-graduate students and staff will train & gain significant knowledge in this area.
3. Benefit industry through new product development and IP. This project advances a platform technology with multiple applications.Read moreRead less
Scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration and use in orthopaedic applications. Damaged joints do not repair spontaneously, often leading to arthritis. Bone defects resulting from congenital defects or disease processes are challenging to regenerate and represent a major financial burden to our health system. Bone graft treatments are widely used but have considerable drawbacks. This created a need for scaffolds to provide temporary support for new bone. However they lack the combined physical/biolo ....Scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration and use in orthopaedic applications. Damaged joints do not repair spontaneously, often leading to arthritis. Bone defects resulting from congenital defects or disease processes are challenging to regenerate and represent a major financial burden to our health system. Bone graft treatments are widely used but have considerable drawbacks. This created a need for scaffolds to provide temporary support for new bone. However they lack the combined physical/biological properties necessary for bone repair. We developed new scaffolds with improved mechanical/biological properties to mimic bone which will lead to new treatments for bone damage.Read moreRead less