Improved patient care and image resolution in magnetic resonance imaging. A better understanding of the vibration within MRIs would result in techniques to both improve the image resolution and lower the noise emissions. Direct improvement of health care for Australians will result. Both the patient and the working environment around these scanners will improve as well as image resolution. Presently imaging is possible at the cellular scale, but only through improved MRI stability will imaging r ....Improved patient care and image resolution in magnetic resonance imaging. A better understanding of the vibration within MRIs would result in techniques to both improve the image resolution and lower the noise emissions. Direct improvement of health care for Australians will result. Both the patient and the working environment around these scanners will improve as well as image resolution. Presently imaging is possible at the cellular scale, but only through improved MRI stability will imaging reach the molecular level. Medical research that is linked to MRI imaging can be expected to advance in step with improved image resolution. The resulting knowledge could also be used in other research and industrial areas, including micro- and nano-scale devices, where vibration is a critical performance limiting factor.Read moreRead less
Determination of lung morphology from X-ray phase contrast radiographs. Current methods of imaging the lung rely heavily on low contrast images obtained with chest radiography or computed tomography. This research will develop new X-ray phase contrast imaging techniques capable of providing a tenfold contrast increase over conventional chest radiography at a fraction of the X-ray dose of computed tomography. Methods of extracting quantitative information on lung morphology and pathology from pha ....Determination of lung morphology from X-ray phase contrast radiographs. Current methods of imaging the lung rely heavily on low contrast images obtained with chest radiography or computed tomography. This research will develop new X-ray phase contrast imaging techniques capable of providing a tenfold contrast increase over conventional chest radiography at a fraction of the X-ray dose of computed tomography. Methods of extracting quantitative information on lung morphology and pathology from phase contrast chest radiographs will be developed during this research. Eventual outcomes are likely to lead to improved methods of detecting lung disease and injury for both biomedical and clinical studies.Read moreRead less
Discovery of Novel Respiratory Viruses Causing Influenza-Like Illness in Healthy Australian Adults Aged 18 to 64 Years. This work will inform our understanding of the causes of acute respiratory illnesses in Australia at the present time by looking for both known and previously undiscovered respiratory viruses. Increasing the knowledge base regarding causes of disease will have downstream relevance for health policy planners seeking to assess the burden of disease due to different causes. Early ....Discovery of Novel Respiratory Viruses Causing Influenza-Like Illness in Healthy Australian Adults Aged 18 to 64 Years. This work will inform our understanding of the causes of acute respiratory illnesses in Australia at the present time by looking for both known and previously undiscovered respiratory viruses. Increasing the knowledge base regarding causes of disease will have downstream relevance for health policy planners seeking to assess the burden of disease due to different causes. Early identification and description of new diseases will allow pre-emptive evaluation of new public health threats. This information will help to ensure availability and marketability of vaccines to prevent infection.Read moreRead less
Coproantigen detection tests for diagnosis of intestinal parasitic nematode infection. The aim of this project is to develop new tests for detection of hookworm and Strongyloides, two common intestinal worm infections of humans. These tests offer the potential to replace current tests, namely stool microscopy and serodiagnosis, both of whose performance is unsatisfactory due to deficiencies in sensitivity, specificity and operator convenience. The tests will rely on monoclonal antibodies to dete ....Coproantigen detection tests for diagnosis of intestinal parasitic nematode infection. The aim of this project is to develop new tests for detection of hookworm and Strongyloides, two common intestinal worm infections of humans. These tests offer the potential to replace current tests, namely stool microscopy and serodiagnosis, both of whose performance is unsatisfactory due to deficiencies in sensitivity, specificity and operator convenience. The tests will rely on monoclonal antibodies to detect parasite products in stool. Such testing technology is amenable to configuration in a robust format, suitable for large-scale manufacture. Given the worldwide prevalence of these parasites, the tests will have a market potential of international significance.Read moreRead less
Development and commercialization of novel diagnostic assays for the early detection of acute dengue virus infection. Dengue is an emerging disease of the tropics and is endemic in more than 100 countries with up to 100 million cases annually. Of these, 500,000 result in dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), a serious life-threatening complication of dengue virus infection. Dengue activity in northern Australia has increased in recent years with suggestions that it may be coming endemic in this count ....Development and commercialization of novel diagnostic assays for the early detection of acute dengue virus infection. Dengue is an emerging disease of the tropics and is endemic in more than 100 countries with up to 100 million cases annually. Of these, 500,000 result in dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), a serious life-threatening complication of dengue virus infection. Dengue activity in northern Australia has increased in recent years with suggestions that it may be coming endemic in this country. Early diagnosis, using NS1 based assays should facilitate containment of such outbreaks through earlier identification, treatment, isolation and strategic mosquito control.Read moreRead less
Novel EEG data mining methods for detecting and monitoring brain injury. The outcomes of this project could ultimately help produce novel technology which would enable bedside monitoring of brain function in patients with brain injuries such as stroke. This technology could aid critical care and treatment of such patients. Hence patients' recoveries could be positively affected and the high death or disability rates associated with such conditions could be reduced. A host of economic and social ....Novel EEG data mining methods for detecting and monitoring brain injury. The outcomes of this project could ultimately help produce novel technology which would enable bedside monitoring of brain function in patients with brain injuries such as stroke. This technology could aid critical care and treatment of such patients. Hence patients' recoveries could be positively affected and the high death or disability rates associated with such conditions could be reduced. A host of economic and social benefits for patients, their families, hospitals and their staff, governments and healthcare organisations could thus result. The developed technology would be non-invasive, compact and relatively inexpensive, and could thus be used in rural and regional hospitals, thereby also benefiting patients in those communities. Read moreRead less
Gastrointestinal parasites and their diagnosis. Gastrointestinal disease such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome are common in the Australian population and there are a wide variety of causes, including potentially parasites. The parasite Dientamoeba fragilis has, until recently, been overlooked as a cause of human disease, but recent studies have confirmed its role as a pathogen. This project seeks to improve the diagnosis of this organism in faeces and this development ....Gastrointestinal parasites and their diagnosis. Gastrointestinal disease such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome are common in the Australian population and there are a wide variety of causes, including potentially parasites. The parasite Dientamoeba fragilis has, until recently, been overlooked as a cause of human disease, but recent studies have confirmed its role as a pathogen. This project seeks to improve the diagnosis of this organism in faeces and this development will allow effective treatment to be used in patients thereby ameliorating disease.Read moreRead less
Rare isotopes as tracers of prosthesis debris. The incidence of knee replacement surgery in Australia is 30,000 per year. Limited by wear debris, the lifespan of knee implants is only 10-15 years and can be much shorter. Due to increasing life expectancy, many patients need several surgical procedures. As a multi-disciplinary team of materials-, isotope-tracing- and medical-experts, we aim to understand and monitor wear debris in prostheses. Knee replacement surgery alone imposes a high burden o ....Rare isotopes as tracers of prosthesis debris. The incidence of knee replacement surgery in Australia is 30,000 per year. Limited by wear debris, the lifespan of knee implants is only 10-15 years and can be much shorter. Due to increasing life expectancy, many patients need several surgical procedures. As a multi-disciplinary team of materials-, isotope-tracing- and medical-experts, we aim to understand and monitor wear debris in prostheses. Knee replacement surgery alone imposes a high burden of annually half a billion dollars on the Australian health budget. Controlling and reducing wear debris in prosthesis joints would reduce these costs and improve patients' quality of life.Read moreRead less
Development of microwave tomography techniques and inverse methods for biomedical imaging applications. Microwave tomography is a rapidly emerging imaging technology with highly significant applications in industry and medicine. In particular, given its sensitivity to differences between normal and malignant breast tissue, non-invasive microwave imaging has been the subject of intense research interest in the last ten years. In collaboration with workers at Chalmers University in Sweden, we wi ....Development of microwave tomography techniques and inverse methods for biomedical imaging applications. Microwave tomography is a rapidly emerging imaging technology with highly significant applications in industry and medicine. In particular, given its sensitivity to differences between normal and malignant breast tissue, non-invasive microwave imaging has been the subject of intense research interest in the last ten years. In collaboration with workers at Chalmers University in Sweden, we will develop and evaluate a scanning microwave imaging tomographic system with a number of potential industrial and biomedical applications. This appears to be a new Australian initiative.Read moreRead less
Novel Motion Correction Technologies for Simultaneous Positron Emission Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The recent development of the world's first prototype combined MR-PET scanner for human use has prompted immense interest. MR-PET is likely to revolutionize clinical diagnosis and basic research, by providing exquisite structural images co-registered with simultaneous functional PET images. We will exploit the as yet unexplored potential for motion information derived from the MR sy ....Novel Motion Correction Technologies for Simultaneous Positron Emission Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The recent development of the world's first prototype combined MR-PET scanner for human use has prompted immense interest. MR-PET is likely to revolutionize clinical diagnosis and basic research, by providing exquisite structural images co-registered with simultaneous functional PET images. We will exploit the as yet unexplored potential for motion information derived from the MR system to be used to correct the simultaneously acquired PET data for patient motion. This research is an excellent opportunity for Australian researchers to make important contributions to an emerging technology with high economic potential, and will strengthen Australia's international position in engineering and biomedical systems development.Read moreRead less