Improved electrophysiological mapping techniques have enhanced understanding of arrhythmia mechanisms and the development of curative ablation strategies. Advanced mapping systems utilize online visualization of catheters, 3D geometry, and annotation of ablation sites. To date, all commercially available systems rely on proprietary equipment to locate catheter positions and reconstruct chamber shape from multiple site recordings. Thus, cost is prohibitive, limiting widespread availability. An al ....Improved electrophysiological mapping techniques have enhanced understanding of arrhythmia mechanisms and the development of curative ablation strategies. Advanced mapping systems utilize online visualization of catheters, 3D geometry, and annotation of ablation sites. To date, all commercially available systems rely on proprietary equipment to locate catheter positions and reconstruct chamber shape from multiple site recordings. Thus, cost is prohibitive, limiting widespread availability. An alternative approach has emerged with the use of CT-MRI imaging and analysis. Novel techniques extract images of the endocardial surface from CT-MRI for use in electrophysiological mapping. This surface can be used as the chamber geometry instead of reconstruction based on expensive technology measuring spatial coordinates of the catheter tip inside heart. The proposed Anatomical Template Mapping System (ATMS) will generate maps of electrophysiological parameters derived from catheter recordings without the need for proprietary equipment. The physician will direct the virtual catheter position onto the 3D model of the chamber, obviating the need for equipment to map the spatial distribution of the catheters. The major advantage is that, without the need for specialized equipment, this method of mapping is substantially cheaper and can be used with any conventional electrophysiological mapping systems. Furthermore, it will provide the most important feature of the advanced mapping systems - an understanding of the arrhythmia mechanism.Read moreRead less
A Single Digital Handheld Imaging Device For Use In Both Ophthalmology And Dentistry
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$431,221.00
Summary
Our aim is to produce and validate a single digital imaging device which can be used in ophthalmology (both for retinal and anterior segment imaging) and dentistry. This device will be low-cost, easy-to-operate and portable. Our planned development of the novel screening tool should help in bringing high quality, lower cost health care to those without easy access to it, firstly to residents of rural areas in Australia and then in developing countries in our region. This can be achieved by more ....Our aim is to produce and validate a single digital imaging device which can be used in ophthalmology (both for retinal and anterior segment imaging) and dentistry. This device will be low-cost, easy-to-operate and portable. Our planned development of the novel screening tool should help in bringing high quality, lower cost health care to those without easy access to it, firstly to residents of rural areas in Australia and then in developing countries in our region. This can be achieved by more efficient screening methods and redirecting resources to target those with treatable eye disease only. The detection process can be progressively transferred to less expensive health workers while ophthalmologist input can be redirected to monitoring the screening results and performing surgery. The dentists travel infrequently to rural and remote WA. If the dentist can pre plan their treatment then it will be more efficient and possible to treat more people at each visit to remote and rural WA. With the help of the proposed imaging device for dentistry, the nurses and other allied personnel should be able to send the digital images in advance to dentist over Internet and therefore help dentist pre-plan their treatment. As a result, improved dental care for rural, remote and underserved communities will occur.Read moreRead less
Web-based Multimedia Information Management System For Use In Remote Diagnosis Of Eye Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$196,000.00
Summary
Our aim is to develop a web-based multimedia information management system for use in remote diagnosis of eye diseases. The proposed system will provide medical advice and diagnosis, information and distance education for those working in health care as well as the community, computer-aided diagnosis and assistance in the operational and medical decision-making process. Less expensive health care personnel should be able to use the system with little training in remote and rural areas. Significa ....Our aim is to develop a web-based multimedia information management system for use in remote diagnosis of eye diseases. The proposed system will provide medical advice and diagnosis, information and distance education for those working in health care as well as the community, computer-aided diagnosis and assistance in the operational and medical decision-making process. Less expensive health care personnel should be able to use the system with little training in remote and rural areas. Significantly, the project should empower remote general doctors and nurses by proper access to expert advice, save many remote patients from unnecessary visits to specialist centres on the one hand and allow more proper diagnosis and intervention on the other. It has the potential for significant reductions in the cost of health care delivery, should strengthening the bond between medical services in remote and city areas, provide training and education of local GPs, nurses, health care workers and optometrists and provide web-based disease management systems will provide instant access to health care information. The outcomes of this project are potentially of great significance to remote and rural communities in Australia and around the world. There will be an enormous impact on current health care practices. Significantly, the project should empower remote general doctors and nurses by proper access to expert advice, save many remote patients from unnecessary visits to specialist centres on the one hand and allow more proper diagnosis and intervention on the other. It has the potential for significant reductions in the cost of health care delivery, should strengthening the bond between medical services in remote and city areas, provide training and education of local GPs, nurses, health care workers and optometrists and provide web-based disease management systems will provide instant access to health care information. The outcomes of this project are potentially of great significance to remote and rural communities in Australia and around the world. There will be an enormous impact on current health care practices.Read moreRead less
Chronic infections and cancers are major causes of global disease burden. Harnessing the immune system to combat these diseases has proven difficult and cumbersome to date. We invented a new technology to boost the ability of the immune system to fight chronic infections such as AIDS and Hepatitis C. This involves using someone�s own blood treated with sets of short proteins. We term this therapy Overlapping Peptide Pulsed Autologous CelLs (OPAL). This shows great promise in robust animal models ....Chronic infections and cancers are major causes of global disease burden. Harnessing the immune system to combat these diseases has proven difficult and cumbersome to date. We invented a new technology to boost the ability of the immune system to fight chronic infections such as AIDS and Hepatitis C. This involves using someone�s own blood treated with sets of short proteins. We term this therapy Overlapping Peptide Pulsed Autologous CelLs (OPAL). This shows great promise in robust animal models. We now propose to refine this technique in animals in preparation for human clinical trials.Read moreRead less
The DietAdvice Website A New Innovation For Dietitians In Clinical Practice.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$140,975.00
Summary
Due to the growing incidence of obesity within Australia, use of computer technology may be a method of targeting these people by increasing access to dietary services. Currently available dietary software in the Australian context only allows analysis of nutrient information. Thus when a dietitian sees a patient they must manually translate food intake to nutrient information, a largely time consuming exercise. DietAdvice is a website that was developed for people to enter in their own food int ....Due to the growing incidence of obesity within Australia, use of computer technology may be a method of targeting these people by increasing access to dietary services. Currently available dietary software in the Australian context only allows analysis of nutrient information. Thus when a dietitian sees a patient they must manually translate food intake to nutrient information, a largely time consuming exercise. DietAdvice is a website that was developed for people to enter in their own food intakes. The food information is sent to a dietitian who develops individualised dietary advice for them. A pilot study of the website has already found it to be feasible in the primary healthcare setting. Tested for 12 months the website was used by 224 patients from GP practices in the Illawarra region of NSW. Approximately 73% of patients were overweight and patients with a high BMI were 1.88 times more likely to use the website in the comfort of their home. Further research about the website however was needed. The research to follow on from the pilot study will aim to refine the DietAdvice website, leading towards its commercialisation for dietitians in clinical practice. The research will be broken into 3 phases. Phase 1 will involve a usability test of the website, assessing the underlying algorithms and testing it with dietitians in private practice. Phase 2 will see volunteers using the website on multiple occasions after being given pre-weighed amounts of food to eat. This will determine how reliable and accurate the information is; and phase 3 will evaluate whether the website is cost effective and if it increases accessibility of health services especially in rural areas. By confirming these attributes there will be a sound basis to commercialise the product.Read moreRead less
Application Of Follistatin To The Resolution Of Liver Fibrosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$330,990.00
Summary
Liver fibrosis or scarring is a consequence of a number of diseases, leading eventually to extensive damage known as cirrhosis. It is a significant health problem both here in Australia and overseas with around 180,000 patients diagnosed each year in the Western world. Cirrhosis arises from many causes, two major groups being patients who contract hepatitis and alcoholics. People with cirrhosis have a much increased risk of liver failure, which requires liver transplantation, or of developing li ....Liver fibrosis or scarring is a consequence of a number of diseases, leading eventually to extensive damage known as cirrhosis. It is a significant health problem both here in Australia and overseas with around 180,000 patients diagnosed each year in the Western world. Cirrhosis arises from many causes, two major groups being patients who contract hepatitis and alcoholics. People with cirrhosis have a much increased risk of liver failure, which requires liver transplantation, or of developing liver cancer, for which current treatments have limited success. We have been studying two proteins, activin and follistatin, both of which are made in the liver. We are interested in activin because it is one of the body's mechanisms to control cell growth, and also seems to stimulate the development of scar tissue. Follistatin is the natural inhibitory substance for activin. It blocks the effects of activin and helps promote cell growth in the liver. We believe that follistatin may also be useful in controlling liver scarring. This process will be studied in animal models of cirrhosis, in the hope that follistatin treatment will reduce the level of liver damage. If successful, this would be important information that would enable us to design treatments applicable to human sufferers of these liver diseases. In another part of the project, we will assess whether activin and follistatin might be useful markers of liver disease. Most patients require a liver biopsy to assess the amount of liver damage, and a simple blood test would be a far easier, less traumatic and cheaper alternative.Read moreRead less
The Development Of Novel, Biofilm-resistant Biomaterials
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$147,360.00
Summary
Almost all patients who are catheterised long term develop a bacterial infection. Most often, the infection is the result of colonisation of the catheter surface by bacteria. Bacterial colonisation of the surface of biomedical devices represents a significant health threat as such bacterial biofilms are extremely resistant to traditional antibiotic regimens. This project aims to develop novel materials that prevent bacterial colonisation on catheters and other biomedical related devices. Our tec ....Almost all patients who are catheterised long term develop a bacterial infection. Most often, the infection is the result of colonisation of the catheter surface by bacteria. Bacterial colonisation of the surface of biomedical devices represents a significant health threat as such bacterial biofilms are extremely resistant to traditional antibiotic regimens. This project aims to develop novel materials that prevent bacterial colonisation on catheters and other biomedical related devices. Our technology is based on compounds identified from a marine alga that prevent bacterial colonisation of its surface. Similarly, we have shown that these compounds, when coated onto test surfaces, prevent bacterial colonisation of a range of materials.Read moreRead less
Development Of A Serum Based Test For Aggressive Prostate Cancer.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$144,950.00
Summary
Prostate cancer is relatively slow growing, taking decades to reach clinical significance. A critical phase in the progression of prostate cancer is the transformation from latent (or dormant) to aggressive tumours; hence the saying that many men die with prostate cancer, rather than of prostate cancer. We aim to develop a test utilising inhibin-activin proteins as surrogate markers of aggressive disease based on our previous studies of a significant correlation between the expression of inhibin ....Prostate cancer is relatively slow growing, taking decades to reach clinical significance. A critical phase in the progression of prostate cancer is the transformation from latent (or dormant) to aggressive tumours; hence the saying that many men die with prostate cancer, rather than of prostate cancer. We aim to develop a test utilising inhibin-activin proteins as surrogate markers of aggressive disease based on our previous studies of a significant correlation between the expression of inhibins in tissues from men with high grade prostate cancer. This study aims to validate the correlation using serum rather than a tissue based assay.Read moreRead less