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
Microwave Differential Imaging of Myocardium for Assessment and Therapeutic Monitoring of Transcatheter Cardiac Ablation. We propose to develop Microwave Imaging techniques for cardiovascular disease diagnosis at 2.45 GHz. Firstly, we aim to image the contrast in the complex dielectric constants of healthy and ischaemic heart tissue. The second aim is to image the extent and efficacy of therapeutic lesion formation due to cardiac ablation modalities. We propose to develop a cylindrical antenna ....Microwave Differential Imaging of Myocardium for Assessment and Therapeutic Monitoring of Transcatheter Cardiac Ablation. We propose to develop Microwave Imaging techniques for cardiovascular disease diagnosis at 2.45 GHz. Firstly, we aim to image the contrast in the complex dielectric constants of healthy and ischaemic heart tissue. The second aim is to image the extent and efficacy of therapeutic lesion formation due to cardiac ablation modalities. We propose to develop a cylindrical antenna array for near field microwave imaging using novel wire antenna elements. Fast and iterative reconstruction algorithms based on electromagnetic scattering and computational techniques will also be developed.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
Non-invasive control of an implantable rotary blood pump used as a left ventricular assist device. The Holy Grail for developers of rotary blood pumps used as left ventricular assist devices is to control the pump to meet the body's metabolic demand and to do this without the need for implanting additional sensors. The controller must also detect and avoid dangerous states associated with over and under pumping.
In this research we will derive and implement a pump control algorithm that will ....Non-invasive control of an implantable rotary blood pump used as a left ventricular assist device. The Holy Grail for developers of rotary blood pumps used as left ventricular assist devices is to control the pump to meet the body's metabolic demand and to do this without the need for implanting additional sensors. The controller must also detect and avoid dangerous states associated with over and under pumping.
In this research we will derive and implement a pump control algorithm that will allow non-invasive prediction of pump flow, automatic detection of pumping states and adjustments for the metabolic demand of the body. The algorithms will be tested on the bench and in animal and human studies.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
Regulation of large artery stiffness by endothelium-derived mediators and effects on the arterial pressure waveform. Stiffening of arteries is an important cardiovascular risk factor and increases with age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells), become damaged and this reduces the available amount of a dilator substance, nitric oxide, and increases the activity of a constrictor substance, endothelin-1. We have shown that nitric ....Regulation of large artery stiffness by endothelium-derived mediators and effects on the arterial pressure waveform. Stiffening of arteries is an important cardiovascular risk factor and increases with age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells), become damaged and this reduces the available amount of a dilator substance, nitric oxide, and increases the activity of a constrictor substance, endothelin-1. We have shown that nitric oxide regulates large artery stiffness and we believe that other endothelial mediators are also important regulators. Therefore, we aim to explore this in a series of studies. Regulation of stiffness of large arteries will improve treatment of age-related cardiovascular disease (eg isolated systolic hypertension)Read moreRead less
Asymmetrically Twisted Structures to form High-Power Rotary Micromotors for In-Vivo Swimming Microrobots. Major surgery is traumatic and risky, but often the only choice for the most serious of diseases that affect older people. In this study, we aim to provide doctors with a means to avoid major surgery and extend the capabilities of doctors to diagnose and treat patients using non- and minimally-invasive procedures: a powerful micromotor carrying its own power supply and a special flagellar pr ....Asymmetrically Twisted Structures to form High-Power Rotary Micromotors for In-Vivo Swimming Microrobots. Major surgery is traumatic and risky, but often the only choice for the most serious of diseases that affect older people. In this study, we aim to provide doctors with a means to avoid major surgery and extend the capabilities of doctors to diagnose and treat patients using non- and minimally-invasive procedures: a powerful micromotor carrying its own power supply and a special flagellar propeller to swim within the vascular and digestive systems of the human body to perform tasks via remote control. We also aim to understand the mechanisms underlying the operation of our motor system and flagellar motion in fluids to assist in the understanding of twisted blade structures and propulsion in fluids on the micro-scale.Read moreRead less