Fundamental theoretical and experimental investigation of cartilage mechanics. Arthritis and chronic joint symptoms are one of the leading causes of disability in the community, yet a fundamental understanding of joint mechanics has yet to be realised. The aim of this project is to develop a new state-of-the-art mathematical model describing cartilage behaviour in humans. The model will explain how activities like walking maintain healthy cartilage by transferring growth factors through the tiss ....Fundamental theoretical and experimental investigation of cartilage mechanics. Arthritis and chronic joint symptoms are one of the leading causes of disability in the community, yet a fundamental understanding of joint mechanics has yet to be realised. The aim of this project is to develop a new state-of-the-art mathematical model describing cartilage behaviour in humans. The model will explain how activities like walking maintain healthy cartilage by transferring growth factors through the tissue, and quantitatively explain how wear is minimised in cartilage through weeping lubrication. This model will progress our understanding of cartilage mechanics in health and disease, and so help Australians age well and productively.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354583
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Biodevice fabrication through intelligent surface modification. Achieving the reliable control of the attachment of proteins and other macromolecules to surfaces needed for sophisticated biosensors and medical diagnostics requires expertise and infrastructure from a diverse range of disciplines from the physical, chemical and biological sciences and engineering. This network will bring together researchers from a multidisciplinary pool working on problems relevant to the creation of functional s ....Biodevice fabrication through intelligent surface modification. Achieving the reliable control of the attachment of proteins and other macromolecules to surfaces needed for sophisticated biosensors and medical diagnostics requires expertise and infrastructure from a diverse range of disciplines from the physical, chemical and biological sciences and engineering. This network will bring together researchers from a multidisciplinary pool working on problems relevant to the creation of functional surfaces for applications in biodevices. The program we envisage will break down the barriers imposed by disciplinary boundaries and technical terminology to bring together the skills and infrastructure required to make rapid advances in this field.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100909
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,523.00
Summary
3D micro-bioprinting: acoustic actuation to shape single-cell organization. This project aims to develop an innovative cell-printing technology to replicate the microscale cell structure found in native human and animal tissues. This is based on an interdisciplinary concept that combines ultra-high frequency acoustic cell manipulation with 3D stereolithography printing, and will examine acoustic waveguide element design and their topological optimisation. In contrast to current 3D printing metho ....3D micro-bioprinting: acoustic actuation to shape single-cell organization. This project aims to develop an innovative cell-printing technology to replicate the microscale cell structure found in native human and animal tissues. This is based on an interdisciplinary concept that combines ultra-high frequency acoustic cell manipulation with 3D stereolithography printing, and will examine acoustic waveguide element design and their topological optimisation. In contrast to current 3D printing methods that are not suitable for precisely integrating microscale elements in the printing process, this work will open up the range of materials, including functional human tissues, that can be printed.Read moreRead less
Future neural electrodes: probing the electrical activity of nerves using 3D graphene networks. This research aims to develop a totally new type of neural electrode that will for the first time, allow reliable and long-term stimulation and recording. The approach incorporates graphene based biomaterials with tunable electrical and biological properties within supportive three-dimensional cellular microenvironments, greatly enhancing the electrical interactions between cells and the electrode. Th ....Future neural electrodes: probing the electrical activity of nerves using 3D graphene networks. This research aims to develop a totally new type of neural electrode that will for the first time, allow reliable and long-term stimulation and recording. The approach incorporates graphene based biomaterials with tunable electrical and biological properties within supportive three-dimensional cellular microenvironments, greatly enhancing the electrical interactions between cells and the electrode. The electrical properties of nerve cells will be probed using our three-dimensional graphene network, providing insight into the the brain-machine interface. This project is important as it directly addresses the inherent limitations of current electrode designs.Read moreRead less
Technology platform for noninvasive measurement of intracranial pressure. The project aims to investigate a technology platform for noninvasive measurement of fluid pressure in the brain to improve assessment of brain function. Engineering approaches will aim to characterise the relationships between arterial and intracranial pressure from experimental data, computational models and signal processing of noninvasive blood pressure in the aorta, pressure in the eye and blood flow in brain and reti ....Technology platform for noninvasive measurement of intracranial pressure. The project aims to investigate a technology platform for noninvasive measurement of fluid pressure in the brain to improve assessment of brain function. Engineering approaches will aim to characterise the relationships between arterial and intracranial pressure from experimental data, computational models and signal processing of noninvasive blood pressure in the aorta, pressure in the eye and blood flow in brain and retinal vessels. Findings are expected to produce novel engineering advances in development of techniques and devices for intracranial pressure measurement, a procedure currently limited to high-risk invasive methods.Read moreRead less
Estimating The Risk of Preterm Birth Using Blood Tests. This research falls under National Research Priority 'A Healthy Start to Life'. The overall aim of this project is to develop risk estimates for preterm birth that may be used in clinical practice for the management of pregnancy. The project is concerned with developing computational methods, software, and a clinical interface that may be used by obstetricians. As well as identifying women at high risk of preterm birth, this approach will a ....Estimating The Risk of Preterm Birth Using Blood Tests. This research falls under National Research Priority 'A Healthy Start to Life'. The overall aim of this project is to develop risk estimates for preterm birth that may be used in clinical practice for the management of pregnancy. The project is concerned with developing computational methods, software, and a clinical interface that may be used by obstetricians. As well as identifying women at high risk of preterm birth, this approach will also help identify women at very low risk of preterm birth, and so those women more suited to management by midwives, either in a hospital or home birth setting.Read moreRead less
Final frontier in computational modelling of movement. This project aims to create the computational models and methods needed to advance current understanding of musculoskeletal function during movement. Humans must maintain their capacity to move in order to maintain quality-of-life. Predictive modelling is potentially the most powerful approach for understanding musculoskeletal function during movement. Current computational methods are too slow and unreliable to deliver predictive simulation ....Final frontier in computational modelling of movement. This project aims to create the computational models and methods needed to advance current understanding of musculoskeletal function during movement. Humans must maintain their capacity to move in order to maintain quality-of-life. Predictive modelling is potentially the most powerful approach for understanding musculoskeletal function during movement. Current computational methods are too slow and unreliable to deliver predictive simulations of movement using realistic models of muscle and joint anatomy. This project expects to create the next generation of methods and algorithms needed to enable predictive modelling of movement. Predictive simulations will provide new insights into how muscles stabilise and control movements of the spine, pelvis and lower limbs during daily activities such as walking.Read moreRead less
Measuring large deformation tissue mechanical behaviour in living humans. This project aims to develop new in vivo imaging methods to characterise the nonlinear mechanical behaviour of soft biological tissues, and use them to measure the properties of muscle, liver and adipose tissue in human subjects. Comprehensively characterising the mechanical properties of an individual person’s body tissues in vivo is a long-standing challenge in biomechanics and biomedical engineering. These new methods a ....Measuring large deformation tissue mechanical behaviour in living humans. This project aims to develop new in vivo imaging methods to characterise the nonlinear mechanical behaviour of soft biological tissues, and use them to measure the properties of muscle, liver and adipose tissue in human subjects. Comprehensively characterising the mechanical properties of an individual person’s body tissues in vivo is a long-standing challenge in biomechanics and biomedical engineering. These new methods aim to overcome major imitations of current biomechanical imaging methods, and make new measurements of the nonlinear mechanical properties of muscle, liver and adipose tissues. These techniques may be useful for future diagnostic, biomechanics and mechanobiology applications.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0454081
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$276,317.00
Summary
Innovative Assistive Technology for Severely Disabled People. Severe disability costs Australia $1 billion a year and affects about 50,000 people. These people have few options to enhance their independence. The purpose of this grant is to purchase six equipment systems to support high quality research in this field. The new facility builds upon substantial national and international research strengths and collaborations to develop a world lead in assistive technology. This will yield a new gene ....Innovative Assistive Technology for Severely Disabled People. Severe disability costs Australia $1 billion a year and affects about 50,000 people. These people have few options to enhance their independence. The purpose of this grant is to purchase six equipment systems to support high quality research in this field. The new facility builds upon substantial national and international research strengths and collaborations to develop a world lead in assistive technology. This will yield a new generation of innovative medical devices that give the disabled people more independence, mobility and control over their lives, and form the basis of a niche export industry.Read moreRead less
Inhomogeneous tissue conductivity influence on the forward and inverse electroencephalogram problems in realistic head models. The brain dysfunction indicators have been extremely difficult to obtain, largely because many disorders of higher brain function reflect abnormalities of brain function rather than apparent brain structure. The neuronal generator localization and identification in this project will provide complementary information about source and timing of neural activities sub-servin ....Inhomogeneous tissue conductivity influence on the forward and inverse electroencephalogram problems in realistic head models. The brain dysfunction indicators have been extremely difficult to obtain, largely because many disorders of higher brain function reflect abnormalities of brain function rather than apparent brain structure. The neuronal generator localization and identification in this project will provide complementary information about source and timing of neural activities sub-serving higher brain function and form sequences of spatial-temporal brain activity image. That will enable the information from MRI, which has a good spatial but poor temporal resolution, and the information from EEG, which has a high temporal resolution on the scalp, to be combined to provide clinical psychologists and brain researchers a more efficient diagnostic tool.Read moreRead less