Atomic scale imaging with high coherence electrons and ions. This project aims to combine a cold atom electron-ion source with a commercial microscope column for atomic-scale imaging in biosciences and materials science. Nanoscale imaging with electron and ion microscopy are tools for investigating the world at the atomic scale, underpinning development in modern technologies from semiconductor devices to medical treatments. This project will use ideas from laser cooling of atoms and atom optics ....Atomic scale imaging with high coherence electrons and ions. This project aims to combine a cold atom electron-ion source with a commercial microscope column for atomic-scale imaging in biosciences and materials science. Nanoscale imaging with electron and ion microscopy are tools for investigating the world at the atomic scale, underpinning development in modern technologies from semiconductor devices to medical treatments. This project will use ideas from laser cooling of atoms and atom optics to achieve new imaging modalities for time-lapse imaging of fundamental processes at the nano-scale. It will allow increasingly small scale resolution of fundamental processes at the nano-scale.Read moreRead less
Advancing the visualisation and quantification of nephrons with MRI. . This project aims to characterise key components of nephrons, the glomeruli and tubules, using magnetic resonance imaging without contrast agents, in combination with Deep Learning and super-resolution techniques. Nephrons, the basic functional unit of the kidney, are critical to the maintenance of the body’s homeostasis. Their number and architecture are critical determinants of kidney function. The expected outcomes are inn ....Advancing the visualisation and quantification of nephrons with MRI. . This project aims to characterise key components of nephrons, the glomeruli and tubules, using magnetic resonance imaging without contrast agents, in combination with Deep Learning and super-resolution techniques. Nephrons, the basic functional unit of the kidney, are critical to the maintenance of the body’s homeostasis. Their number and architecture are critical determinants of kidney function. The expected outcomes are innovative semi-automated nephron visualisation and quantitation tools that enable efficient renal phenotyping. Techniques tailored to widely accessible preclinical research scanners are expected to accelerate research into genetic and environmental factors affecting kidney microstructure in embryonic and post-natal life.Read moreRead less
Microwave System for Early Breast Cancer Detection Employing Ultra Wideband Conformal Array Antenna. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in various parts of the world. Currently the primary method for breast screening is X-ray mammography and in rare cases Magnetic Resonance Imaging. X-ray mammography has saved many lives, but the technology still produces a relativity high number of false negative and false positive diagnoses. In the last decade, active microwave techniqu ....Microwave System for Early Breast Cancer Detection Employing Ultra Wideband Conformal Array Antenna. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in various parts of the world. Currently the primary method for breast screening is X-ray mammography and in rare cases Magnetic Resonance Imaging. X-ray mammography has saved many lives, but the technology still produces a relativity high number of false negative and false positive diagnoses. In the last decade, active microwave techniques have attracted considerable interest as viable alternatives to X-ray mammography. This project aims at the design and development of a low-cost microwave system, which will complement all the currently available breast cancer diagnosis tools. Read moreRead less
Microwave System for Breast Cancer Detection. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in various parts of the world. Currently the primary method for breast screening is X-ray mammography and in rare cases Magnetic Resonance Imaging. X-ray mammography has saved many lives, but the technology still produces a relativity high number of false negative and false positive diagnoses. In the last decade, active microwave techniques have attracted considerable interest as viable alter ....Microwave System for Breast Cancer Detection. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in various parts of the world. Currently the primary method for breast screening is X-ray mammography and in rare cases Magnetic Resonance Imaging. X-ray mammography has saved many lives, but the technology still produces a relativity high number of false negative and false positive diagnoses. In the last decade, active microwave techniques have attracted considerable interest as viable alternatives to X-ray mammography. This project aims at the design and development of a low-cost microwave system, which will complement X-ray mammography as a breast cancer diagnosis tool. Read moreRead less
Plate Wave Tomography for Reconstruction of Laminar Defects. The proposed project promotes a conceptual advance in the application of plate waves for the quantitative reconstruction of laminar defects by investigating fundamental experimental and analytical aspects of a novel approach in plate wave ultrasonic tomography. A successful development will have a comparable significance in the area of health monitoring of thin structures as computer tomography had in medical imaging. Previous attempts ....Plate Wave Tomography for Reconstruction of Laminar Defects. The proposed project promotes a conceptual advance in the application of plate waves for the quantitative reconstruction of laminar defects by investigating fundamental experimental and analytical aspects of a novel approach in plate wave ultrasonic tomography. A successful development will have a comparable significance in the area of health monitoring of thin structures as computer tomography had in medical imaging. Previous attempts have ignored wave scattering effects, and therefore do not describe the correct physics of the problem. With its combined experimental-numerical approach, the proposed fundamental studies will help to identify the potential of plate wave ultrasonic tomography for in-situ health monitoring of realistic structures and smart materials design.Read moreRead less
Tomographic Imaging of Structural Damage in Plates. The potential benefit of structural health monitoring is highlighted by the socio-economic impact of structural failure, which may result in loss of lives, infrastructure disruptions and loss of productivity. This proposal promotes a fundamental advance in the novel concept of ultrasonic diffraction tomography for imaging early stage structural damage in plates. The successful development will represent an essential advance in quantitative non- ....Tomographic Imaging of Structural Damage in Plates. The potential benefit of structural health monitoring is highlighted by the socio-economic impact of structural failure, which may result in loss of lives, infrastructure disruptions and loss of productivity. This proposal promotes a fundamental advance in the novel concept of ultrasonic diffraction tomography for imaging early stage structural damage in plates. The successful development will represent an essential advance in quantitative non-destructive evaluation of thin structures and enable the transition of the technique to realistic structures with all the potential benefits in mechanical and civil infrastructure management resulting in improved safety, reduced maintenance costs and the use of more efficient structural designs.Read moreRead less
Demonstrating Advantages of Smart Antennas in Indoor Wireless Communications Systems. The performance of indoor wireless communications systems is adversely affected by multi-path signal propagation. When the received signal drops below a certain level, the usual practice is that the receiving station requests the transmitting device to increase its output power. An adverse effect of this action is a reduced life of battery of a portable transceiver, more power being radiating towards users and ....Demonstrating Advantages of Smart Antennas in Indoor Wireless Communications Systems. The performance of indoor wireless communications systems is adversely affected by multi-path signal propagation. When the received signal drops below a certain level, the usual practice is that the receiving station requests the transmitting device to increase its output power. An adverse effect of this action is a reduced life of battery of a portable transceiver, more power being radiating towards users and an increase of interference. The aim of this project is to demonstrate an alternative method of maintaining good quality communication link. The proposed method employs a smart antenna system to mitigate adverse effects of multi-path and interference.Read moreRead less
Nanoarchitectured multifunctional porous superparamagnetic nanoparticles. This project aims to develop a method for the direct detection of biomarkers based on a new class of highly porous superparamagnetic nanoparticles with peroxidase-like activity. The particles will be used as dispersible capture agents for isolating specific targets in biological samples, and electrocatalytic nanozymes for naked-eye evaluation and electrochemical detection. The project is expected to develop simple, low-cos ....Nanoarchitectured multifunctional porous superparamagnetic nanoparticles. This project aims to develop a method for the direct detection of biomarkers based on a new class of highly porous superparamagnetic nanoparticles with peroxidase-like activity. The particles will be used as dispersible capture agents for isolating specific targets in biological samples, and electrocatalytic nanozymes for naked-eye evaluation and electrochemical detection. The project is expected to develop simple, low-cost, portable devices for the analysis of exosomes and exosomal miRNA in biological samples. The future development of this technology into diagnostic devices will improve patient outcomes by enabling earlier disease diagnosis and improved monitoring of treatment.Read moreRead less
Automatic Brain Tissue Segmentation in Magnetic Resonance Images based on Knowledge-guided Constrained Clustering. Accurate volumetric measurement of brain tissues is of critical importance in the study of many brain disorders, disease diagnosis, disease progression tracking and treatment monitoring. The study in this research will result in the development of a powerful computational technique that allows automatic volumetric measurement and analysis of brain tissues. The software developed in ....Automatic Brain Tissue Segmentation in Magnetic Resonance Images based on Knowledge-guided Constrained Clustering. Accurate volumetric measurement of brain tissues is of critical importance in the study of many brain disorders, disease diagnosis, disease progression tracking and treatment monitoring. The study in this research will result in the development of a powerful computational technique that allows automatic volumetric measurement and analysis of brain tissues. The software developed in this project will expedite early clinical diagnosis and treatment of neural diseases for patients, hence saving life and reducing health cost both at the personal and the national level. Read moreRead less
Development of microflow photochemistry and its application in the synthesis of platform chemicals of pharmaceutical interest. Light induces chemical changes with a 'flick of a switch'. Following the motto 'only as small as is necessary', the project will develop a new technology for conducting photoreactions in microspace. These microdevices will be used to construct a range of related compounds or to produce a bulk amount of a specific target molecule of pharmaceutical interest.