Functional Electronic Stimulation of Muscles - Development of a Model for Sensory Feedback to Amputees and Vision for the Blind. Electrical stimulation of nerve fibres is an emerging physiological technique with great promise towards rehabilitation. The field lacks techniques for detailed, focal application of stimuli to recruit specific fibres for fine muscle control or conveying useful neurosensory information. The investigator has developed microtechnology for delivering stimuli to 100 sites, ....Functional Electronic Stimulation of Muscles - Development of a Model for Sensory Feedback to Amputees and Vision for the Blind. Electrical stimulation of nerve fibres is an emerging physiological technique with great promise towards rehabilitation. The field lacks techniques for detailed, focal application of stimuli to recruit specific fibres for fine muscle control or conveying useful neurosensory information. The investigator has developed microtechnology for delivering stimuli to 100 sites, conceivably facilitating recruitment of specific fibres within a given bundle. Effects of muscle stimulation are readily measured and shall be used to model and refine techniques for generic high-resolution fibre recruitment. Benefits include, improved muscle control in functional electrical stimulation, sensory perception for amputees and patterned vision from optic nerve stimulation.Read moreRead less
Conformal Bionics - addressing the challenges in bringing miniaturised implants to the site of therapeutic delivery. Smaller, more sophisticated, lifetime-implantable bionic devices capable of being placed at the site of therapeutic delivery will facilitate new or improved opportunities for treatment of disease. Three critical areas of research aim to be explored in pursuit of this goal will be addressed within this study: introduction of new fabrication materials that enable devices to conform ....Conformal Bionics - addressing the challenges in bringing miniaturised implants to the site of therapeutic delivery. Smaller, more sophisticated, lifetime-implantable bionic devices capable of being placed at the site of therapeutic delivery will facilitate new or improved opportunities for treatment of disease. Three critical areas of research aim to be explored in pursuit of this goal will be addressed within this study: introduction of new fabrication materials that enable devices to conform to the anatomy of the targeted site of therapeutic delivery; improved means of addressing the data and energy transfer needs of devices implanted in confined spaces; and innovation of novel sensors for testing and monitoring of atmospheric conditions within the implant to anticipate and safely manage issues relating to a breach of hermetic encapsulation barriers.Read moreRead less
Large-scale Parallelization of Neural Stimulation in a Visual Prosthesis. Over time, engineers have been able to treat a large number of disorders through new technologies. For example, the deaf can now hear again through cochlear implants. Similar efforts to provide vision to the blind, however, have met with difficulties owing to the high quantities of sites that must be stimulated to provide 'useful' vision. This study addresses the important issues relating to the delivery of large quantitie ....Large-scale Parallelization of Neural Stimulation in a Visual Prosthesis. Over time, engineers have been able to treat a large number of disorders through new technologies. For example, the deaf can now hear again through cochlear implants. Similar efforts to provide vision to the blind, however, have met with difficulties owing to the high quantities of sites that must be stimulated to provide 'useful' vision. This study addresses the important issues relating to the delivery of large quantities of electrical stimulations to surviving nerves in the eyes of blind patients in an effort to devise a beneficial visual prosthesis or 'bionic eye'. The outcomes of this study could substantially enhance Australia's already prominent reputation in neurostimulation and provide much needed treatments to vision disorders.Read moreRead less
Novel Neural Interfaces and Instrumentation for Stimulation and Monitoring of Retinal Activation in an Epiretinal Vision Prosthesis. Australia's reputation in medical neuroprostheses is second to none with the most notable example being the 'bionic ear' for the deaf. This research compliments that reputation by advancing science and engineering knowledge towards achieving a truly beneficial prosthesis for the blind, a 'bionic eye'. This research will also advance our capacity to address other a ....Novel Neural Interfaces and Instrumentation for Stimulation and Monitoring of Retinal Activation in an Epiretinal Vision Prosthesis. Australia's reputation in medical neuroprostheses is second to none with the most notable example being the 'bionic ear' for the deaf. This research compliments that reputation by advancing science and engineering knowledge towards achieving a truly beneficial prosthesis for the blind, a 'bionic eye'. This research will also advance our capacity to address other areas of therapeutic medical implants including those for limb movement to the paralysed. Benefits to the community include the very real possibility of restoring some visual capacity to the blind thus improving their quality of life through improved mobility, social interaction, and mental health. Read moreRead less
Unified platform for real time QA in radiation therapy in brachytherapy based on high resolution silicon detectors (Magic Plate). This project will design and manufacture new devices for measuring the amount of radiation given to the patient during radiotherapy. This will improve the accuracy and safety of cancer treatment as well as greatly reducing the time needed to perform essential safety checks.
Formation of bone-like materials for bone repair and regeneration. A successful outcome for this project would lead to the production and application of new bone-like calcium phosphate materials. Enhanced bioactivity of this material would lead to higher but controlled rates of calcium phosphate release. An understanding of the formation process of these materials and the controlled release of calcium phosphates has the potential to slow the development of metabolic diseases such as osteoporosis ....Formation of bone-like materials for bone repair and regeneration. A successful outcome for this project would lead to the production and application of new bone-like calcium phosphate materials. Enhanced bioactivity of this material would lead to higher but controlled rates of calcium phosphate release. An understanding of the formation process of these materials and the controlled release of calcium phosphates has the potential to slow the development of metabolic diseases such as osteoporosis. The WHO reports that osteoporosis is the second largest health care problem world-wide. In 2002, 44 million people in the USA were estimated to be at risk. This and similar figures in Australia and around the world emphasize the urgency of understanding and appropriately combating weak bone degenerative diseases.Read moreRead less
Next generation positron imaging technologies for contemporaneous measurements of brain function and behaviour in freely moving mice. The mouse brain is an important target for Post Emission Tomography (PET) imaging studies that aim to elucidate the role of specific molecular pathways in determining normal and aberrant brain function. However, current imaging technology requires the animal to be unconscious which precludes the study of pathways involved in cognition, learning and behaviour. To o ....Next generation positron imaging technologies for contemporaneous measurements of brain function and behaviour in freely moving mice. The mouse brain is an important target for Post Emission Tomography (PET) imaging studies that aim to elucidate the role of specific molecular pathways in determining normal and aberrant brain function. However, current imaging technology requires the animal to be unconscious which precludes the study of pathways involved in cognition, learning and behaviour. To overcome this major limitation this project will: investigate tomograph designs capable of continuously imaging a moving animal; develop a PET detector with sub-millimetre spatial resolution and depth-of-interaction capability; and, develop a fully integrated motion tracking system. This research will lead to next generation PET technologies for contemporaneous brain imaging and behavioural analysis in freely moving mice.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100006
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,000.00
Summary
An adaptable and dedicated linear accelerator for medical radiation research. Leading radiation scientists developing innovative methods and devices for treating cancer patients will collaborate in future research using this highly adaptable linear accelerator for medical radiation research. Innovations in tumour targeting, better patient safety, new medical devices and improved cancer outcomes are expected.
Cochlear Implants: Identifying Current Paths through Computational Modelling of MRI Data. The Cochlear implant is an Australian invention (first prototype 1978), leading to the formation of Cochlear Ltd. to commercialise it. Cochlear Ltd. has now delivered implants to over 60,000 people in 70 nations across the world. Copycat companies have arisen overseas, but Cochlear Ltd. remains the market leader, due to their commitment to ongoing R&D. The present project involves magnetic resonance imaging ....Cochlear Implants: Identifying Current Paths through Computational Modelling of MRI Data. The Cochlear implant is an Australian invention (first prototype 1978), leading to the formation of Cochlear Ltd. to commercialise it. Cochlear Ltd. has now delivered implants to over 60,000 people in 70 nations across the world. Copycat companies have arisen overseas, but Cochlear Ltd. remains the market leader, due to their commitment to ongoing R&D. The present project involves magnetic resonance imaging and finite element analysis to study the current leakage pathways in the cranial cavity for the purpose of optimizing the design and placement of the return electrode. The obvious benefit of this is longer battery life. Better understanding of current leakage over other intracranial nerves is the other anticipated benefit.Read moreRead less
Advanced computational algorithms for brain imaging studies of freely moving animals. Current brain imaging technology requires the animal to be unconscious. This project will remove this barrier by developing computational algorithms that measure brain function in freely moving animals. These technologies will provide brain scientists with new tools to study behaviour altering diseases, such as schizophrenia and depression.