A kinetic measuring system for assistive devices used in paediatric gait. Each year, a proportion of children are born who suffer from disabilities, which limits their ability to walk efficiently. Gait analysis can identify limiting factors in walking ability, and can assess the clinical outcome of treatments. Children who use assistive devices, such as walking frames, are denied the full benefits of gait analysis due to limitations in current equipment. This project addresses this need through ....A kinetic measuring system for assistive devices used in paediatric gait. Each year, a proportion of children are born who suffer from disabilities, which limits their ability to walk efficiently. Gait analysis can identify limiting factors in walking ability, and can assess the clinical outcome of treatments. Children who use assistive devices, such as walking frames, are denied the full benefits of gait analysis due to limitations in current equipment. This project addresses this need through the development of a portable, load-measuring instrument. When integrated with existing equipment, a comprehensive description of assisted walking gait will be possible. This will lead to greater understanding and improved treatment outcomes for such children.Read moreRead less
Novel EEG data mining methods for detecting and monitoring brain injury. The outcomes of this project could ultimately help produce novel technology which would enable bedside monitoring of brain function in patients with brain injuries such as stroke. This technology could aid critical care and treatment of such patients. Hence patients' recoveries could be positively affected and the high death or disability rates associated with such conditions could be reduced. A host of economic and social ....Novel EEG data mining methods for detecting and monitoring brain injury. The outcomes of this project could ultimately help produce novel technology which would enable bedside monitoring of brain function in patients with brain injuries such as stroke. This technology could aid critical care and treatment of such patients. Hence patients' recoveries could be positively affected and the high death or disability rates associated with such conditions could be reduced. A host of economic and social benefits for patients, their families, hospitals and their staff, governments and healthcare organisations could thus result. The developed technology would be non-invasive, compact and relatively inexpensive, and could thus be used in rural and regional hospitals, thereby also benefiting patients in those communities. Read moreRead less
Development of a multivariate physiologic state space analysis framework for characterising functional properties of the cardiovascular system. Pathologies of the cardiovascular system arising from heart diseases make a major contribution to morbidity and mortality in the Australian community. This project will provide new diagnostic modalities based on advanced noninvasive bioinstrumentation, signal processing and model-based analytical methods to identify early signs of developing disease or t ....Development of a multivariate physiologic state space analysis framework for characterising functional properties of the cardiovascular system. Pathologies of the cardiovascular system arising from heart diseases make a major contribution to morbidity and mortality in the Australian community. This project will provide new diagnostic modalities based on advanced noninvasive bioinstrumentation, signal processing and model-based analytical methods to identify early signs of developing disease or the acute exacerbation of existing disease. The impact of these new technologies on the early diagnosis and improved triaging of patients in emergency departments is potentially profound and could result in improved healthcare outcomes for the patients and reduced admissions to hospital as well as the development of a substantial international market.Read moreRead less
Hybrid Sensor-based Physiological Control of an Implantable Rotary Blood Pump. With over 11 million people needing heart transplants worldwide and only 3000 donor hearts, an effective alternative therapy is needed. The Ventracor Ltd. rotary blood pump is one possible approach whereby a fully implantable mechanical device assists the failing heart. The innovative steps in this research proposal will be a means to robustly and safely control the speed of the pump to meet the metabolic needs of the ....Hybrid Sensor-based Physiological Control of an Implantable Rotary Blood Pump. With over 11 million people needing heart transplants worldwide and only 3000 donor hearts, an effective alternative therapy is needed. The Ventracor Ltd. rotary blood pump is one possible approach whereby a fully implantable mechanical device assists the failing heart. The innovative steps in this research proposal will be a means to robustly and safely control the speed of the pump to meet the metabolic needs of the body. Apart from the obvious health benefits for patients, this will provide the company with a huge market advantage that will also help to bolster the Australian medical device industry.Read moreRead less
Understanding the biomechanical effects of fixation strategies to improve the technology of fracture management. Severe limb trauma is the leading cause of disability to people of wage-earning age, and 150,000 Australians are hospitalised with fractures each year. Beyond the direct costs to the nation of $1000 million annually, temporary and permanent loss of limb functionality have a significant impact on productivity and quality of life. The computational models developed in this project will ....Understanding the biomechanical effects of fixation strategies to improve the technology of fracture management. Severe limb trauma is the leading cause of disability to people of wage-earning age, and 150,000 Australians are hospitalised with fractures each year. Beyond the direct costs to the nation of $1000 million annually, temporary and permanent loss of limb functionality have a significant impact on productivity and quality of life. The computational models developed in this project will address critical gaps in the knowledge of fracture healing and the influence of different fixation devices. The project outcomes will provide a basis for tailoring fixation technologies for more reliable outcomes and minimised risk of non-union and complications, and thereby reducing physical impairment and the socio-economic burden of fractures.Read moreRead less
Direct measurement of the kinetics of trans-femoral amputee gait during activities of daily living. This project involves the use of a novel technique to accurately measure the loads placed upon the lower limbs of above-knee amputees. Included in the subject group will be a number of amputees fitted with an artificial leg fitted directly into the bone. The ability to monitor a range of activities is possible by the use of a wireless telemetry system. The outcomes of this work will benefit ampute ....Direct measurement of the kinetics of trans-femoral amputee gait during activities of daily living. This project involves the use of a novel technique to accurately measure the loads placed upon the lower limbs of above-knee amputees. Included in the subject group will be a number of amputees fitted with an artificial leg fitted directly into the bone. The ability to monitor a range of activities is possible by the use of a wireless telemetry system. The outcomes of this work will benefit amputees around the world, as well as clinicians and companies who are dedicated to developing significant improvements in the functional abilities of subjects who have suffered amputation.Read moreRead less
Innovative approach to design a new osseointegrated implant for transfemoral amputees with better resistance to fractures. Transfemoral amputees fitted with an osseointegrated implant are experiencing numerous valuable benefits compare to their previous method conventional attachment. However, 40% of them present an early loosening of the implant or ruptures of the abutment. These problems are related to the load regime acting on the fixation system during post-operative rehabilitation and daily ....Innovative approach to design a new osseointegrated implant for transfemoral amputees with better resistance to fractures. Transfemoral amputees fitted with an osseointegrated implant are experiencing numerous valuable benefits compare to their previous method conventional attachment. However, 40% of them present an early loosening of the implant or ruptures of the abutment. These problems are related to the load regime acting on the fixation system during post-operative rehabilitation and daily life activities. In this project, the direct measurement of the actual load applied on the abutment during:
· the load bearing exercises is essential to refine the post- operative rehabilitation program.
· every-day activities is crucial to improve the design and
testing of the implants and abutments.Read moreRead less
Cytorefractometry - a new technique for refractive index tomography of living cells. An ultrahigh-resolution bifocal optical coherence refractometry is proposed, and will result to micron-scale-resolution refractive index tomography of living cells, termed cytorefractometry. This technique represents an extension from bifocal optical coherence refractometry that has recently shown a remarkable promise for direct, several-frames-per-second, motion-artifact-free determination of refractive index ....Cytorefractometry - a new technique for refractive index tomography of living cells. An ultrahigh-resolution bifocal optical coherence refractometry is proposed, and will result to micron-scale-resolution refractive index tomography of living cells, termed cytorefractometry. This technique represents an extension from bifocal optical coherence refractometry that has recently shown a remarkable promise for direct, several-frames-per-second, motion-artifact-free determination of refractive index in turbid media, including biological tissue in vivo. We propose to apply our novel technique to study tissue calcification, a serious problem in cardiology, by making use of the refractive index contrast mechanism. Calcification of smooth muscle cells and aorta subdermal implant models will be studied aiming for prevention of calcification-associated pathologies.Read moreRead less
Noval design of a Bi-Ventricular Assist Device (BVAD) Centrifugal Heart Pump as an Implantable Total Artificial Heart. In Australia, 40%(50,797) of all deaths each year are related to heart disease and accounted for 12% (A$4Billion) of total recurrent health expenditure. This innovative research aims at developing a single biventricular assist device (BVAD) driven by a magnetically suspended double-sided centrifugal pump impeller. Current techniques require two implantable devices, thus preventi ....Noval design of a Bi-Ventricular Assist Device (BVAD) Centrifugal Heart Pump as an Implantable Total Artificial Heart. In Australia, 40%(50,797) of all deaths each year are related to heart disease and accounted for 12% (A$4Billion) of total recurrent health expenditure. This innovative research aims at developing a single biventricular assist device (BVAD) driven by a magnetically suspended double-sided centrifugal pump impeller. Current techniques require two implantable devices, thus preventing smaller patients from access to BVAD technology. The expected outcomes will be a significantly small and compact device and provide an alternative to open-heart transplantation, thus helping to alleviate the demand on donor hearts, as well as the strain on the Australian Heath Care System caused by cardiovascular disease.Read moreRead less
Development and evaluation of a remote monitoring system and its application to cardiac rehabilitation and occupational health. This project further develops and evaluates a system developed by the Industry Partner which permits real-time remote monitoring of a person's cardiac activity, position and velocity via GPS, and selected aspects of motion and posture using accelerometry. The study has three aims: to enhance the system's capacity for remote monitoring of human motion and physiology; to ....Development and evaluation of a remote monitoring system and its application to cardiac rehabilitation and occupational health. This project further develops and evaluates a system developed by the Industry Partner which permits real-time remote monitoring of a person's cardiac activity, position and velocity via GPS, and selected aspects of motion and posture using accelerometry. The study has three aims: to enhance the system's capacity for remote monitoring of human motion and physiology; to test its ability to support cardiac rehabilitation for those unable to access hospital-based programs; and to evaluate its application to the monitoring of workloads in physically demanding tasks associated with cardiovascular ill-health and musculoskeletal injury.Read moreRead less