ONLINE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE SPECIALIST CARE TO RURAL, REMOTE AND UNDESERVED REGIONS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,475.00
Summary
Our aim is to develop and validate an online health care system to link remote and rural health professionals, facilities and patients into an online community. The proposed online system will provide medical advice and diagnosis, consumer health care information services, support groups, information and distance education for those working in the health care as well as the community and assistance in the operational and medical decision-making process. Less expensive health care personnel shoul ....Our aim is to develop and validate an online health care system to link remote and rural health professionals, facilities and patients into an online community. The proposed online system will provide medical advice and diagnosis, consumer health care information services, support groups, information and distance education for those working in the health care as well as the community and assistance in the operational and medical decision-making process. Less expensive health care personnel should be able to use the system with little training in remote and rural areas. This project will generate knowledge about the practicality of low cost but highly effective e-health system. It will be easier to disseminate health care information and health evaluation processes to patients, doctors, nurses and other health care workers. It will also be possible to obtain information about image resolution, suitable compression algorithms and compression levels for different diseases pathologies.Read moreRead less
Development And Evaluation Of Teleophthalmic Systems For Screening Of Common Blinding Eye Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$263,918.00
Summary
Portable ophthalmic instruments will provide digital images for storage and telemetric transmission to a disease control centre. We will be assessing and developing new portable ophthalmic imaging instruments, and validating them for common blinding eye conditions. The aim is to assess the ability of various health personal to document glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, active trachoma, corneal scarring and cataract in rural screenings using digital imaging technology. A network of ophthalmologists ....Portable ophthalmic instruments will provide digital images for storage and telemetric transmission to a disease control centre. We will be assessing and developing new portable ophthalmic imaging instruments, and validating them for common blinding eye conditions. The aim is to assess the ability of various health personal to document glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, active trachoma, corneal scarring and cataract in rural screenings using digital imaging technology. A network of ophthalmologists, health department personnel and aboriginal health workers in Western Australia will be involved. The project will also examine the quality of images obtained by health workers with various levels of skills and compare this with conventional photographs currently obtained by the screening network. Finally, the project will demonstrate practicality of the large scale storage of digital images of patient eyes. Preliminary evaluations have been performed on our teleophthalmology system using different portable instruments namely a handheld fundus camera, slit-lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. We have also tested our teleophthalmology system at the Dr. Soetomo Hospital (Airlangga University) in Surabaya, Indonesia. Images captured using the handheld fundus camera were successfully transmitted to Lions Eye Institute through satellite, mobile and Internet lines. This pilot project has been sponsored by the Western Australian Department of Trade and Commerce and Telstra.Read moreRead less
Development Of A Slit Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope As A Screening Tool In Glaucoma Diagnostics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$195,830.00
Summary
Glaucoma is typified by progressive optic disc cupping and loss of fibres with consequent characteristic field defects. Direct imaging of the retina and quantitative assessment of such images greatly increases early diagnosis of this blinding disease. The proposed device, a laser line scanning ophthalmoscope, could support non-invasive imaging to obtain 3-D information in a simple and cost effective way. This could provide objective clinical parameters to support the decision making process.
A Glint Or A Squint Should Make You Think! A Randomised, Controlled Study To Determine The Impact Of An Eye-health Awareness Program For New Parents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$95,348.00
Summary
Retinoblastoma (RB) is a rare, blinding and sometimes fatal, childhood eye cancer. The earliest diagnosis affords the child the best prognosis for retaining their sight, eye or their life. This project will examine parents’ current understanding of the symptoms and signs for RB, identify barriers to early diagnosis of RB, and to develop, implement and evaluate a sustainable public health awareness program to potentially improve the timing of diagnosis and subsequent outcomes for this disease.
A Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Decision Aid For Prenatal Screening And Diagnosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$269,625.00
Summary
Prenatal screening is becoming increasingly available to pregnant women in many countries, including Australia, to test for Down syndrome and other chromosomal disorders as well as neural tube defects. Almost half the pregnant women in Victoria are now undergoing prenatal screening. Inherent in all screening tests is the possibility of false positive or false negative results. More than 5% of all women undergoing prenatal screening are likely to receive false positive results and must decide whe ....Prenatal screening is becoming increasingly available to pregnant women in many countries, including Australia, to test for Down syndrome and other chromosomal disorders as well as neural tube defects. Almost half the pregnant women in Victoria are now undergoing prenatal screening. Inherent in all screening tests is the possibility of false positive or false negative results. More than 5% of all women undergoing prenatal screening are likely to receive false positive results and must decide whether to put the pregnancy at risk of miscarriage, or a possible pregnancy termination, as a result of the necessary follow-up invasive diagnostic test. Many women do not realise they may have to face this decision. Others are not aware that their baby may be born with undiagnosed problems even if they have the screening test. One aspect of care that is likely to have a crucial influence on women's experience of screening is how much they are informed about a test prior to undergoing it. Most women visit a GP early in the first trimester of pregnancy. This visit provides an opportunity for information provision about prenatal screening. Decision aids have been developed as adjuncts to practitioners' counselling to prepare patients for decision-making. In this project we will be developing a decision aid for women considering their prenatal screening options. A randomised controlled trial will compare the efficacy of a general educational pamphlet to that of a tailored decision aid in preparing women for decision-making about prenatal screening. A total of 500 women who are less than 11 weeks pregnant and are attending one of 50 GPs will be included. Self-report questionnaires will be used to assess women immediately after use of the educational materials and then again at 24 weeks of pregnancy. The impact of the educational materials on informed choice, decisional conflict, anxiety, depression and uptake of prenatal screening tests will be compared.Read moreRead less
A ROBOTIC MICRO DRAINAGE SURGERY FOR GLAUCOMA (A BIOLOGICAL MICROFISTULA AND IMPLANTATION METHOD AND APPARATUS)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$441,020.00
Summary
Glaucoma is a major cause of blindness in our community. We are developing a new surgical procedure to treat glaucoma. The technique is based on the implantation of a tiny drainage tube inside the eye. This allows the eye's natural fluid to escape at the required rate. Insufficient drainage, or over production of fluid in the eye's of glaucoma patients is responsible for the high pressures inside the eye that characterise this disease. A simple, safe, and reliable surgical procedure to lower int ....Glaucoma is a major cause of blindness in our community. We are developing a new surgical procedure to treat glaucoma. The technique is based on the implantation of a tiny drainage tube inside the eye. This allows the eye's natural fluid to escape at the required rate. Insufficient drainage, or over production of fluid in the eye's of glaucoma patients is responsible for the high pressures inside the eye that characterise this disease. A simple, safe, and reliable surgical procedure to lower intraocular pressure would be a major benefit to the almost 67 million glaucoma patients worldwide, and would relieve the current need for lifelong medication.Read moreRead less
Screening For Chlamydia Trachomatis With Routine Pap Smears In General Practice: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,500.00
Summary
Genital chlamydia infection is the most commonly reported infectious disease in Australia. Notifications have increased three fold since 1995; five-fold in the ACT and surveillance data underestimate the true incidence of the disease in the community. Chlamydia is associated with immediate morbidity in men and women including urethritis, epididymo-orchitis, cervicitis, and pelvic pain and long-term complications including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and tubal factor infertilit ....Genital chlamydia infection is the most commonly reported infectious disease in Australia. Notifications have increased three fold since 1995; five-fold in the ACT and surveillance data underestimate the true incidence of the disease in the community. Chlamydia is associated with immediate morbidity in men and women including urethritis, epididymo-orchitis, cervicitis, and pelvic pain and long-term complications including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and tubal factor infertility. The economic costs of Chlamydial infection in Australia have been estimated to be as high as $160 million each year. In the ACT 73.8% of chlamydial infections occur in the 20-40 year old group. Between 60 and 70% of women in this age range participate in Pap screening every two years. While targeted screening for Chlamydia in women is effective in the US, there are few studies that investigate its value in an Australian setting. In this randomised controlled clinical trial we aim to test the novel hypothesis that the routine offer of chlamydia testing to women between 20 and 40 years who undergo Pap screening significantly increases the detection of Chlamydia in that population. This is the first randomised-controlled trial of its type and is an extension of a current non-randomised pilot study of linked Chlamydia-Pap screening in the primary care setting. The aim is to determine if the program can be incorporated more widely in the ACT. The study will: Measure the impact of linked chlamydia-Pap screening on chlamydia screening participation rates More accurately determine the epidemiology of genital chlamydial infection in this age group and social setting; Undertake an economic evaluation of this approach; Determine if promoting the Pap smear as an opportunity for chlamydial screening increases the uptake of Pap screening in younger women Aid in the development of a National Chlamydia Screening strategyRead moreRead less
Plasticity Of Cone Bipolar Cells In Retinas With Visual Dysfunction.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$328,261.00
Summary
Advances in stem cell research and gene therapy have shown great promise in their application to eye disorders that lead to blindness. This project will examine the capacity of nerve cells in the eye to remodel in the presence of visual dysfunction and subsequent recovery after gene therapy. The results from this study will therefore benefit current approaches employed for the reestablishment of vision in eye diseases.