A Device For Simultaneous Continuous Acquisition Of EEG And MRI
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$179,401.00
Summary
We aim to further develop a world-leading method we invented that facilitates the simultaneous, continuous acquisition of the electroencephalogram (EEG - electrical brain waves measured at the scalp) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI - images the location of brain activity throughout the brain). Combining the two permits non-invasive imaging of human brain function with the exquisite temporal resolution of EEG and the high spatial resolution and brain coverage afforded by fMRI.
A Motion Correction Technique For Accurate PET/CT Brain Imaging In Paediatric And Dementia Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$190,450.00
Summary
PET-CT imaging is a vital tool in the diagnosis and management of patients with brain disorders including dementia, epilepsy and cancer. However images are often distorted by patient motion, particularly in demented and paediatric patients. The CI has recently developed a motion tracking and correction method to derive images nearly free of motion effects. This aim of this project is to evaluate its impact on image quality in a variety of patients referred for PET- CT brain investigations.
Rapid, Cost-effective, Diagnosis And Monitoring Of Multiple Sclerosis By Novel Multifocal Evoked Potential Methods
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$152,463.00
Summary
A new technology for concurrently stimulating both eyes, and recording thousands of responses from the brain, will be tested for its effectiveness in diagnosing and tracking progression in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and the degree to which it complements Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Our understanding of MS has changed in recent years. It is now recognised to have two phases: an initial inflammatory phase, and a secondary progressive phase. The progressive phase produces the inexorable increas ....A new technology for concurrently stimulating both eyes, and recording thousands of responses from the brain, will be tested for its effectiveness in diagnosing and tracking progression in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and the degree to which it complements Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Our understanding of MS has changed in recent years. It is now recognised to have two phases: an initial inflammatory phase, and a secondary progressive phase. The progressive phase produces the inexorable increasing disability of MS. MS only affects about 0.04% of Australians but the early onset of MS, the high cost of medication, and the prolonged period of disability, mean that the cost to Australia is about $2 billion pa. MRI quantifies the inflammatory phase well but is poorly correlated with the debilitating secondary progression. The common treatments for MS target the inflammatory phase but not the causes of secondary progression, which are unknown. Current diagnostic methods mean diagnosis can take years, meaning that patients can be denied treatment for some time. The applicants have published experiments on 50 MS patients and 27 normal subjects using a variant of the new method. Not only has it shown high diagnostic accuracy, but the new method seems to provide data on the progressive phase, suggesting strongly that it is complementary to MRI. The new method is also much cheaper to set up and run than MRI and so could provide cost-effective means for monitoring patient condition and testing new drugs that are effective against the progressive phase. The applicants have considerable experience commercialising diagnostic technologies, and are currently working with an Australian company developing new diagnostic hardware. That hardware has been adapted to perform the presently proposed experiments. Overall it is reasonable to assume that positive outcomes will be translated into economic and health benefits for Australians.Read moreRead less
Seminal Plasma Cytokines As Novel Fertility Diagnostics In Men
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$101,000.00
Summary
Infertility and recurrent miscarriage affect 60-80 million couples globally, including 15% of couples in Australia. Current IVF therapy is not successful when the underlying reason for infertility is failure of the maternal tissues to support embryo implantation. We have discovered signaling proteins present in male semen that act in the female reproductive tissues to prepare for embryo implantation and healthy pregnancy. Recently we have identified those proteins and have shown that some men ha ....Infertility and recurrent miscarriage affect 60-80 million couples globally, including 15% of couples in Australia. Current IVF therapy is not successful when the underlying reason for infertility is failure of the maternal tissues to support embryo implantation. We have discovered signaling proteins present in male semen that act in the female reproductive tissues to prepare for embryo implantation and healthy pregnancy. Recently we have identified those proteins and have shown that some men have an imbalance in seminal proteins that leads to immune rejection of the embryo in the female partner. This project aims to develop a new test for male fertility that is based on seminal plasma proteins and independent of existing sperm count tests. Furthermore we will determine whether seminal protein imbalance can result from the �silent� presence of male reproductive tract infection.Read moreRead less
Development Of An In Vitro Immunodiagnostic Test For Serum IgE Specific To The Major Pollen Allergen, Pas N 1, Of The Subtropical Bahia Grass
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$349,435.00
Summary
Treatment of grass pollen allergy by immunotherapy reduces the risk of asthma but most reagents for diagnosis and treatment are based on cool climate grasses. We will develop a more specific diagnostic blood test for people with hay fever and allergic asthma triggered by subtropical Bahia grass pollen. This test based on the major allergen of Bahia grass pollen, Pas n 1, will help people who need improved accuracy of diagnosis and more effective treatment outcomes for hay fever and allergic asth ....Treatment of grass pollen allergy by immunotherapy reduces the risk of asthma but most reagents for diagnosis and treatment are based on cool climate grasses. We will develop a more specific diagnostic blood test for people with hay fever and allergic asthma triggered by subtropical Bahia grass pollen. This test based on the major allergen of Bahia grass pollen, Pas n 1, will help people who need improved accuracy of diagnosis and more effective treatment outcomes for hay fever and allergic asthma.Read moreRead less
Development And Prototype Manufacture Of A High-throughput CD4 T-cell Test For Management Of HIV/AIDS Infections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$163,150.00
Summary
CD4 T-cells are the target of HIV-AIDS infection, and monitoring of HIV-infected patients for these cells is an essential part of disease management. Current CD4 testing methods rely on expensive equipment and reagents and high levels of training, or else they have low throughput that limits their use. This project will develop a standard laboratory assay method for testing CD4 T-cells, increasing the access of patients to CD4 testing, and to HIV therapy, worldwide.
Improving First Trimester Screening By Combining Rapid MF-PCR Of PAP Smears With Nuchal Ultrasound Scanning
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$206,809.00
Summary
Genetic defects are the major cause of embryonic and foetal death as well as being responsible for a large proportion of childhood disabilities. Although many are detected by the ~50,000 prenatal tests currently performed annually in Australia, these methods are only offered to high risk mothers because they are invasive (~1% risk of miscarriage), and-or expensive. A rapid, low cost, less invasive and safer alternative prenatal diagnostic method such as PAP smears that could be offered to all mo ....Genetic defects are the major cause of embryonic and foetal death as well as being responsible for a large proportion of childhood disabilities. Although many are detected by the ~50,000 prenatal tests currently performed annually in Australia, these methods are only offered to high risk mothers because they are invasive (~1% risk of miscarriage), and-or expensive. A rapid, low cost, less invasive and safer alternative prenatal diagnostic method such as PAP smears that could be offered to all mothers regardless of risk is therefore of immense value both to mothers and to the health care system. This proposal enhances first trimester screening by improving prenatal diagnosis from PAP smears. Although normally taken to detect cancer, these smears contain significant numbers of foetal cells. We will investigate: the best way and time to obtain these cells, the best way to remove the cells from any contamination, improvements in genetic diagnosis of these cells using a technique known as MF-PCR which is rapidly revolutionising conventional prenatal diagnosis. By automating these procedures, they will become less expensive and more accessible to all mothers regardless of risk. We will also compare these procedures with alternative first trimester screening techniques such as nuchal translucency to determine the value of both tests singly and in combination. This research should provide a safe, reliable and accurate method allowing inexpensive prenatal screening to be available for all pregnancies. General screening programmes using this new test, particularly if combined with nuchal translucency programmes, would result in a dramatic reduction in affected babies with major implications to families and the health care system.Read moreRead less
Commercial Testing Of A Physiologically Based Theory Of Oscillatory Brain Electrical Activity In Anaesthesia Monitoring
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$191,165.00
Summary
While the mechanisms of local anaesthesia are comparatively well known, the mechanisms whereby anaesthetics impair consciousness remain unresolved. This lack of understanding has implications in our ability to monitor the level of anaesthesia while anaesthetic consumption and side effects are minimized. Despite this a number of devices have been developed that attempt to monitor the depth of anaesthesia by quantifying the brains electrical activity. All monitors analyse the activity using a set ....While the mechanisms of local anaesthesia are comparatively well known, the mechanisms whereby anaesthetics impair consciousness remain unresolved. This lack of understanding has implications in our ability to monitor the level of anaesthesia while anaesthetic consumption and side effects are minimized. Despite this a number of devices have been developed that attempt to monitor the depth of anaesthesia by quantifying the brains electrical activity. All monitors analyse the activity using a set of criteria that have been developed by trial and error. The research of Dr David Liley and his team, at Swinburne University of Technology, has resulted in a detailed understanding of the physiological mechanisms that generate brain electrical activity. The outcome is a practical means to carry out a System Based Analysis of Brain Electrical Response (SABER). In 2004, Dr Liley began working with Cortical Dynamics, a company involved in the commercialisation of medical devices. This collaboration incorporated the SABER system into a new prototype device called the Brain Anaesthesia Response (BAR) monitor. In 2004 Dr Liley and Associate Professor Kate Leslie collaborated in a trial, at the Royal Melbourne Hospital to test the sensitivity of the SABER system in quantifying the effect that various levels of nitrous oxide have on measures of anaesthetic depth. The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists supported this study. Initial results obtained with sevoflurane and 3 levels of nitrous oxide showed the ability to differentiate between conscious and unconscious states of patients based on two physiological characterizations of higher brain dynamic state. The next step requires commercial product validation (ie scale up) and further clinical efficacy in testing beta stage depth of anaesthesia BAR units. Completion of this will help the technology move away from a low volume prototype system into a commercially applicable device.Read moreRead less
A Novel Non-invasive Diagnostic Imaging Technique Of Metastatic Cancer Using Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type 2.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$187,750.00
Summary
This project aims to develop a non-invasive tumour diagnostic imaging agent based on a non-toxic protein (PAI2) that we know specifically identifies a critical marker of malignancy. PAI2 will be labelled with commonly used imaging radioisotopes. This novel imaging technique has important potential clinical uses including, determination of the most appropriate treatment for individual patients, assessing the success of such treatments, and a novel non-invasive prognostic indicator of malignancy.
Implementation Of A New, Inexpensive And High-throughput Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption / Ionization _ Time Of Flight Mass Spectrometry Test For Superior Detection Of Fragile X Syndrome In Targeted Diagnostics And Newborn Population Screening.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$254,175.00
Summary
Background: The Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. There are now a number of treatments for FXS. However, often this disorder is not clearly recognized. We have developed a novel FXS test that could resolve this issue. Our objective is to develop a commercial package that describes suitability of our test for diagnostic use. If successful this could potentially leading to improvement in the prognosis for FXS children through early treatment int ....Background: The Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. There are now a number of treatments for FXS. However, often this disorder is not clearly recognized. We have developed a novel FXS test that could resolve this issue. Our objective is to develop a commercial package that describes suitability of our test for diagnostic use. If successful this could potentially leading to improvement in the prognosis for FXS children through early treatment intervention.Read moreRead less