Predicting Treatment Response To Mandibular Advancement Splints: A Novel Biomechanical Imaging Method
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$689,062.00
Summary
Mandibular advancement splints are an alternative to continuous positive airway pressure for patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). However, they are effective for only about half of OSA patients, and it is not currently possible to predict who will benefit. This project will explore a new magnetic resonance imaging method to see if it can predict who will respond to mandibular advancement splint therapy.
Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a heart/lung machine that replaces blood CO2 with oxygen, giving organs a chance to rest after injury due to infection or trauma. It saved many lives in the swine flu outbreak. Blood moving across foreign surfaces causes inflammation, cell injury and a need for transfusions. This study aims to identify which part of the ECMO causes injury and how. This will to improve survival rates of the most severe forms of cardiac and respiratory disease.