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
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
The Effect Of Stress/strain And Fatigue Fracture Sites On Durability Of Modular Aortic Endografts And Arterial Walls
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,919.00
Summary
Aneurysmal disease is an age related phenomenon. The mean life expectancy of western populations has doubled in 100 years because of the reduction in deaths from preventable and treatable diseases, and prolongation of life with chronic and incurable diseases. The older community (>65 years) continues to be active and productive contrary to prior predictions. Aneurysmal disease has emerged as a result of the changing pattern of diseases in the community. As with many other diseases, prophylaxi ....Aneurysmal disease is an age related phenomenon. The mean life expectancy of western populations has doubled in 100 years because of the reduction in deaths from preventable and treatable diseases, and prolongation of life with chronic and incurable diseases. The older community (>65 years) continues to be active and productive contrary to prior predictions. Aneurysmal disease has emerged as a result of the changing pattern of diseases in the community. As with many other diseases, prophylaxis against aneurysmal disease is the most effective approach since 80% of those that rupture will result in death. Endoluminal grafting provides a much less invasive procedure and provides an attractive and elegant alternative to open surgery. The danger is that structural strengths will be compromised with failures due to lack of strength and inadequate device durability. The most practical endografts are those that are built up from modules but vulnerable sites affected by fatiguing and disruptive forces are being identified, in particular where a tube divides into two outflow channels – the bifurcation - and joins. To improve and protect the current device, and enable sound engineering for future devices, we need to know the nature, magnitude and location of these forces. The existing collaboration with medical specialist, Cook Aust., the Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (CSIRO, Melb.) and University of WA combines a multidisciplinary team working towards the design and durability of the next generation of endoluminal devices and percutaneous insertions. While Australia is at the forefront of development, its current place in the market can only be maintained by further product development. Optimising and improving endoluminal grafts will reduce the suffering of major surgery while prolonging a higher quality of life with a much less invasive procedure whose long-term effectiveness, and thereby acceptance is dependent upon reliable durability.Read moreRead less
A Novel Vaccine Platform For Trimeric Envelope Proteins: HIV-1 Envelope
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$139,250.00
Summary
Vaccines are urgently needed for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The design of this vaccine candidate is based on the display of HIV-1 envelope spikes using a related primate retrovirus envelope with a more stable assembly to anchor the the spikes in a particle.
Minimal Structural Strength Required In Endoluminal Devices For Aortic Aneurysms: Mechanisms Of Rupture When They Fail.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$102,794.00
Summary
Aneurysmal disease is an age related phenomenon. The mean life expectancy of western populations has doubled in the last 100 years mainly because of the reduction in deaths from occlusive cardiovascular disease. Aneurysmal disease has emerged as a result of the changing pattern of diseases in the community. The impact of this work would be to improve minimally invasive, effective prophylaxis against aneurysm of the abdominal aorta since 80% of those that rupture will result in death. Endoluminal ....Aneurysmal disease is an age related phenomenon. The mean life expectancy of western populations has doubled in the last 100 years mainly because of the reduction in deaths from occlusive cardiovascular disease. Aneurysmal disease has emerged as a result of the changing pattern of diseases in the community. The impact of this work would be to improve minimally invasive, effective prophylaxis against aneurysm of the abdominal aorta since 80% of those that rupture will result in death. Endoluminal grafting provides a much less invasive procedure and provides an attractive and elegant alternative to open surgery. The general drive in this field is towards miniaturisation. The danger is that structural strengths will be compromised with early failures due to lack of strength; and late failures due to inadequate device durability. This application proposes the development of a collaborative venture with the Department of Vascular Surgery, Royal Perth Hospital, Cook R and D (WA), the Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (CSIRO, Melbourne) and Centre for Health Services Research (University of WA) to investigate the dynamic flow forces involved in aneurysms of the abdominal aorta. It combines together expertise and facilities to examine the forces acting upon endoluminal stent grafts in pulsatile high pressure environments, the impact on the design, patency, effectiveness and longer-term outcomes. The multidisciplinary team provides a comprehensive approach for this developing area of high technology surgery throughout Australia and internationally. The benefits of this study will directly influence the design and durability of the next generation of endoluminal devices and percutaneous insertions. While Australia is at the forefront of development, its current place in the market can only be maintained by further product development.Read moreRead less
The NanoNautilus : A Breakthrough In The Successful Treatment Of Strokes And Other Cerebrovascular Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$187,212.00
Summary
Strokes are one of the biggest killers of Australians and are becoming increasingly so every year. Bleeding from the brain involves extremely delicate and dangerous medical treatments. The development of NanoNautilus [TM]---a remote-controlled steerable microcatheterusing world-first miniaturization technology---will revolutionise current practises and greatly reduce the current risk with medical intervention.
Exploitation Of Unique Growth Factors To Develop New Products For Infertility Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$132,525.00
Summary
Infertility comes at an enormous social and financial cost to Australian society; infertility is a major psychological burden on young couples and the technologies used to treat infertility, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), require expensive drugs to stimulate the ovary. The cost of these drugs to Medicare is expected to exceed $100 million p.a. over the next decade. A reproductive technology, which has always shown great potential to elevate some of this burden, is oocyte (egg) in vitro ma ....Infertility comes at an enormous social and financial cost to Australian society; infertility is a major psychological burden on young couples and the technologies used to treat infertility, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), require expensive drugs to stimulate the ovary. The cost of these drugs to Medicare is expected to exceed $100 million p.a. over the next decade. A reproductive technology, which has always shown great potential to elevate some of this burden, is oocyte (egg) in vitro maturation (IVM), which drastically reduces the use-cost of drugs and the stress to patients. However, oocyte IVM has been slow to live up to its potential and the technology is still not in widespread clinical practice, mainly due to disappointing success rates in women. We have been studying oocyte IVM in animals for many years, and have recently made a significant technological breakthrough, improving success rates by ~50%. In this field, a 50% increase in efficiency is substantial and has significant clinical and commercial application. Currently, we are the only group worldwide with this technology. Over the course of this 2-year project we will conduct follow-up experiments to refine this discovery and investigate the feasibility of using this approach to treat human infertility. We are already in negotiations with two medical device manufacturers to licence this technology. We expect that this project will lead to a series of products and technologies that will enter a clinical trial for the treatment of infertility within 2-3 years.Read moreRead less