MULTI-CENTRED CLINICAL EVALUATION OF A NOVEL KERATOPROSTHESIS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$515,091.00
Summary
The prosthesis developed by applicants, known also as Chirila keratoprosthesis, is an artificial implantable device designed to replace a diseased cornea or a failed corneal graft, and can be used in patients with no hope for a conventional replacement of the cornea with donor tissue. The device may ultimately find a wider application, as it has the potential to give better visual results than human donor grafts. Even when not rejected, the donor grafts may lead to problematic healing patterns a ....The prosthesis developed by applicants, known also as Chirila keratoprosthesis, is an artificial implantable device designed to replace a diseased cornea or a failed corneal graft, and can be used in patients with no hope for a conventional replacement of the cornea with donor tissue. The device may ultimately find a wider application, as it has the potential to give better visual results than human donor grafts. Even when not rejected, the donor grafts may lead to problematic healing patterns and astigmatism, both limiting the final vision of patients. From the 45 million blind people worldwide, at least 10 million are due to corneal diseases or trauma. The figures released by WHO suggest a doubling of this number by year 2020. Many countries are unable to provide sufficient donor corneas, sometimes for cultural-religious reasons. In developed countries, the replacement with donor tissue is a common procedure, but many patients remain untreated because their prognosis for successful grafting is poor. Figures released in Australia show that long-term success of donor transplantation is unlikely in the patients identified as high-risk recipients. Furthermore, even technically successful cases show disppointing final vision. The significance of the applicants' artificial cornea is that allows high-risk, or otherwise untreatable corneal blind patients, to have their vision restored, and it could ultimately reduce the need for donor corneal tissue. A phase I pilot study has been completed, and Phase II is currently underway with support from NH and MRC. These studies showed that the Chirila KPro is an effective means of reversible replacement of a diseased cornea.The proposed Phase III will evaluate both safety and effectiveness in different categories of patients in comparison with published outcomes of donor grafting, and will establish unequivocally the clinical potential of this prosthesis.Read moreRead less
Responsive Endovascular Neuromodulation: Detection And Suppression Of Epileptic Seizures
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,487,455.00
Summary
For millions of people with epilepsy, seizures can be debilitating and dangerous. Medical devices approved for seizure prevention require risky open-brain surgery and traumatic electrode insertion. The Stentrode can record and stimulate the brain from within a blood vessel. By optimising it for delivery into small vessels, designing software to detect seizures, and conducting chronic safety studies, I will create a tool that can detect and suppress epileptic seizures without the surgical risk.
Safety And Efficacy Of A Surgically Implanted Suprachoroidal Retinal Prosthesis (Bionic Eye)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,233,826.00
Summary
A bionic eye is a electronic device which can stimulate the remaining visual pathway in a person who is blind, to restore some basic vision. Our team have previously shown that our novel bionic eye device can be safely implanted in a patient, and can give improvements in vision when tested in a laboratory environment. The next stage of the research is to provide patients with a more advanced device, which will contain more electrodes and also be able to be taken home.
Delivering Advanced Electrode Materials To The Clinic
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$702,604.00
Summary
This research will develop improved electrodes for interfacing neural tissue by combining the expertise of materials scientists and electrophysiologists with medical bionics researchers. This work is expected to deliver improved bionic devices to the clinic in order to treat a variety of disorders from blindness to the control of motor tremor in Parkinson's disease.
Preclinical Validation Of First In Man Endovascular Brain Machine Interface Device
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$870,000.00
Summary
The stentrode technology has been given significant public attention, following publication in the fourth highest impact factor journal 'Nature Biotechnology' and a public statement of endorsement by the President of the United States in 2016. The program now seeks to conduct a preclinical validation program to satisfy the FDA in its requirements to provide Investigational Device Exemption (IDE).
Endometrial Receptivity For Embryo Implantation: Proprotein Convertase 6 And Plasma Membrane Remodeling
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$631,344.00
Summary
Implantation of an embryo into the uterus is a key step in establishing pregnancy; it requires a receptive uterus (fertile soil) and a healthy embryo (seed). Implantation failure causes pregnancy loss and infertility, and is also a major limiting factor in IVF. We have established that proprotein convertase 6 (PC6) is a master regulator of uterine receptivity for implantation. We will investigate how PC6 works in a woman’s uterus, and how we can use this knowledge to improve implantation in IVF.
A New Mouse Model That Determines The Effects Of A Unilateral Vestibular Prosthesis On Vestibular Plasticity.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$455,678.00
Summary
Much like a cochlear implant restores auditory function, a vestibular prosthesis restores balance function. It is not clear whether the limited results from vestibular prostheses is due the device not stimulating one component (the otoliths) of the vestibular system essential for self-repair. We will test mutant mice that lack otoliths to determine the importance of stimulating the otoliths in restoring function. This work will shape the future direction of prosthesis development.