Advanced microelectronic transistor structures for novel biosensor technology. This international, interdisciplinary team aims to develop an electronic biosensor technology that will significantly advance biomedical research to combat human disease. This is likely to have a major social impact on the community, improve health outcomes and generate substantial economic potential for the pharmaceutical industry. The principal benefit of this research will be the fabrication of electronic devices b ....Advanced microelectronic transistor structures for novel biosensor technology. This international, interdisciplinary team aims to develop an electronic biosensor technology that will significantly advance biomedical research to combat human disease. This is likely to have a major social impact on the community, improve health outcomes and generate substantial economic potential for the pharmaceutical industry. The principal benefit of this research will be the fabrication of electronic devices based on advanced materials, significantly reducing the time, the biological material used and the complexity of assessing human cell function. In addition to improving health through novel biosensor techniques, this technology is expected to lead to the creation of commercially important intellectual property.Read moreRead less
LIPID AND LIPOPROTEIN ADSORPTION AT BIOMATERIALS AND BIO-DIAGNOSTICS INTERFACES. This project aims to investigate molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of undesired biological deposits on synthetic materials and thereby help establish the scientific basis for the rational design of materials with improved compatibility with biological fluids and the engineering of a new generation of biomedical implant devices and bio-diagnostic devices. It is well known that proteins accumulate on synt ....LIPID AND LIPOPROTEIN ADSORPTION AT BIOMATERIALS AND BIO-DIAGNOSTICS INTERFACES. This project aims to investigate molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of undesired biological deposits on synthetic materials and thereby help establish the scientific basis for the rational design of materials with improved compatibility with biological fluids and the engineering of a new generation of biomedical implant devices and bio-diagnostic devices. It is well known that proteins accumulate on synthetic solid surfaces. This project proposes to investigate whether lipids and lipoproteins also play key roles in the initiation of biological adsorption processes. Combined with the study of the interfacial forces responsible, this information will guide the design of preventative strategies.Read moreRead less
A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor. A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor will be created. The system includes two cochleae and targeted processing pathways in the auditory brainstem that aid in solving the Cocktail Party Problem: i.e. foreground-background sound separation, sound localisation, and sound recognition. The VLSI circuits will enable real-time implementation of complex auditory models. As we develop our VLSI binaural ear, we will experiment with afferent (feed forward) and ....A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor. A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor will be created. The system includes two cochleae and targeted processing pathways in the auditory brainstem that aid in solving the Cocktail Party Problem: i.e. foreground-background sound separation, sound localisation, and sound recognition. The VLSI circuits will enable real-time implementation of complex auditory models. As we develop our VLSI binaural ear, we will experiment with afferent (feed forward) and efferent (feed back) auditory signal processing that is similar to real auditory systems and that demonstrate efficient, effective, and low-power signal processing algorithms for binaural (two-sensor) hearing systems.Read moreRead less
Silk Fibroin Optofluidic Chips. Unlike any other material, even any other biologically occurring material, silk is unique in being very transparent, able to be shaped on a very small scale and can keep natural chemicals like proteins and enzymes active. This project will use silk to make optical devices and sensors. Optics made from silk will have all these properties, which means that they can be used as sensors and devices in biochemistry applications that have never been possible before. Thes ....Silk Fibroin Optofluidic Chips. Unlike any other material, even any other biologically occurring material, silk is unique in being very transparent, able to be shaped on a very small scale and can keep natural chemicals like proteins and enzymes active. This project will use silk to make optical devices and sensors. Optics made from silk will have all these properties, which means that they can be used as sensors and devices in biochemistry applications that have never been possible before. These cost-effective devices will have the potential to enhance healthcare, emergency medicine and assist early medical diagnosis.Read moreRead less
Breaking The Wavelength Barrier: Near-Field T-ray Imaging. Australia will benefit from the interaction between engineering, physics, and biology to develop a new T-ray imaging system that will ultimately be able to probe microstructures, biological single cells or even neurons. The project will exploit a powerful new electrooptical technique for obtaining chemical 'fingerprints' at the cellular level. This breakthrough will be a fundamental step towards a system for probing disease states of sin ....Breaking The Wavelength Barrier: Near-Field T-ray Imaging. Australia will benefit from the interaction between engineering, physics, and biology to develop a new T-ray imaging system that will ultimately be able to probe microstructures, biological single cells or even neurons. The project will exploit a powerful new electrooptical technique for obtaining chemical 'fingerprints' at the cellular level. This breakthrough will be a fundamental step towards a system for probing disease states of single cells and will open up new lines of scientific enquiry. Ultimately, Australia will benefit from a new technology and new diagnostic biomedical techniques. This is potentially an enabling technology for future customised medicine, where rapid biochip sensing becomes foreseeable.Read moreRead less
Comparison of Techniques for the Removal of Ocular Artefact from the Electroencephalogram: A Validation Study. Although employed extensively for both research and clinical purposes, the utility of the electroencephalograph (EEG) is hampered by the contaminating effects of eye movements on these 'brain waves'. If it can be validated, the recent Australian development of a solution to this problem will mean that the EEG can be measured more quickly and accurately. This purpose of this research is ....Comparison of Techniques for the Removal of Ocular Artefact from the Electroencephalogram: A Validation Study. Although employed extensively for both research and clinical purposes, the utility of the electroencephalograph (EEG) is hampered by the contaminating effects of eye movements on these 'brain waves'. If it can be validated, the recent Australian development of a solution to this problem will mean that the EEG can be measured more quickly and accurately. This purpose of this research is to perform this validation, and its success would mean both more efficient EEG recording for the country, as well as an enhanced scientific reputation.Read moreRead less
Miniaturised Adiabatic Light Processing Devices. The project will develop, model and analyse a range of miniaturised light-processing devices for optical communications applications that rely soley on their geometrical design for their optical functionality. Such devices are less complex than devices that rely on other physical phenomena for their operation, such as interference, resonance or grating phenomena. They have potential application to a wide range of applications including optical tel ....Miniaturised Adiabatic Light Processing Devices. The project will develop, model and analyse a range of miniaturised light-processing devices for optical communications applications that rely soley on their geometrical design for their optical functionality. Such devices are less complex than devices that rely on other physical phenomena for their operation, such as interference, resonance or grating phenomena. They have potential application to a wide range of applications including optical telecommunications, optical sensing and biophotonics. The major outcome will be a range of novel devices that are very compact, have very low optical power loss and process light signals in ways that either cannot be readily achieved by other approaches or are simpler than other approaches.Read moreRead less
Non-invasive diagnosis using micropatches that sample biomarkers from skin. We are developing a technology called the micropatch that is laid onto the surface of the skin. When the patch is pulled away, it retains proteins found in the subsurface skin layers. We believe that by analysing these proteins we will be able to diagnose diseases like cancer earlier and therefore have a better chance of treating them successfully. The process is painless, and doctors already use it to give drugs and vac ....Non-invasive diagnosis using micropatches that sample biomarkers from skin. We are developing a technology called the micropatch that is laid onto the surface of the skin. When the patch is pulled away, it retains proteins found in the subsurface skin layers. We believe that by analysing these proteins we will be able to diagnose diseases like cancer earlier and therefore have a better chance of treating them successfully. The process is painless, and doctors already use it to give drugs and vaccines. In the future we hope that our technology will be simple enough for routine diagnosis, even in the Outback where doctors are hundreds of kilometres awayRead moreRead less
Novel Carbon Nanotube Composite Materials: Elucidation of key properties for device development. As the former co-director of CSIRO Nanotechnology indicated to the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003, 'Nanotechnology will lead us into a very different future.' The proposed research on nanomaterial interactions and biomolecular incorporation protocols will provide a foundation for future bioelectronic devices. Imagine healthcare of human diseases when nanocomponents enable the design of new platforms f ....Novel Carbon Nanotube Composite Materials: Elucidation of key properties for device development. As the former co-director of CSIRO Nanotechnology indicated to the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003, 'Nanotechnology will lead us into a very different future.' The proposed research on nanomaterial interactions and biomolecular incorporation protocols will provide a foundation for future bioelectronic devices. Imagine healthcare of human diseases when nanocomponents enable the design of new platforms for devices that give point-of-care diagnosis, or the impact on the semiconductor industry with the creation of flexible electronics. Educational outreach is an important aim of the project, providing effective research training for early career researchers.Read moreRead less
Novel coding and decoding in suspension arrays for accelerated biomolecular discovery and personalised medicine. This project will establish an advanced multiplexing technique to rapidly analyse complex biological mixtures, such as cell lysates, food samples or body fluids. It will enable the analysis of not tens, but thousands or more distinctive molecular targets in a single test. This will build the foundations for future generation bioassays, paving the way to emerging personalised medicine. ....Novel coding and decoding in suspension arrays for accelerated biomolecular discovery and personalised medicine. This project will establish an advanced multiplexing technique to rapidly analyse complex biological mixtures, such as cell lysates, food samples or body fluids. It will enable the analysis of not tens, but thousands or more distinctive molecular targets in a single test. This will build the foundations for future generation bioassays, paving the way to emerging personalised medicine. This will lead to new personal diagnostics tools for rapid genotype profiling, to better tailor therapy to the individual patient's specific characteristics. As well as the potential to improve health outcomes, the project will generate significant intellectual property and the opportunity for development of new diagnostic instrumentation in Australia.Read moreRead less