External Therapeutic Device To Support Rehabilitation Of The Hand Following Trauma Or Surgery
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$175,000.00
Summary
The loss of hand function will affect every aspect of an individual’s life. This includes the ability to feed and care for themselves and the ability to work and participate in family life. For people recovering from problems such as trauma, burns or surgery affecting the hand, careful management of hand rehabilitation can influence the outcome for the patient significantly. In order to reduce the possibility of mobility difficulties occurring, including loss of joint range of motion, muscle and ....The loss of hand function will affect every aspect of an individual’s life. This includes the ability to feed and care for themselves and the ability to work and participate in family life. For people recovering from problems such as trauma, burns or surgery affecting the hand, careful management of hand rehabilitation can influence the outcome for the patient significantly. In order to reduce the possibility of mobility difficulties occurring, including loss of joint range of motion, muscle and tendon sheath adhesions or non-functional scar tissue formation, continuous passive motion (CPM) is often indicated. Additionally, for people with reduced mobility of the hand due to upper limb paralysis, such as those with cervical spinal cord injury, stroke, cerebral palsy or peripheral nerve injury, disregard for management of the maintenance of the joint range of motion of the effected hand will result in contracture and limited joint range of motion. Such syndromes will reduce hand function, which is already limited by paralysis, and will negatively affect potential outcomes for aggressive rehabilitation techniques, such as tendon transfer surgery and functional neuromuscular stimulation. Therefore, in such cases, CPM is also indicated. Current devices applying CPM have shown to be effective in minimising the syndromes indicated above and these results are summarised in the Background and Research Plan attached to this proposal. Unfortunately, the use of such devices is not always prescribed by clinicians. This is due, mainly, to the limitations of these devices that are in the marketplace. These limitations include lack of secure finger placement, lack of portability, the inability to provide specialised therapy to specific joints and inflexible programming. This proposal introduces an improved device to be developed and these improvements form the proposal aims below. Given such an improved device, which can overcome many of the problems with current CPM machines, it is likely that that the clinical application of CPM will achieve the greater degree of prescription and application in hand rehabilitation. These improvements should overcome the clinical reticence to use these devices and restore a balance by increasing their use to the level that the scientific literature indicates they should have. The overall aim of the proposal is to take the device to a stage where it is ready for clinical trial.Read moreRead less
Development Of An Assay To Distinguish Between Recent And Established HIV-1 Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$192,500.00
Summary
We have discovered a marker of recent HIV infection. Further refinement of this assay and fully evaluating it on samples from individuals infected with different subtypes of the virus will result in an HIV incidence assay ready for commercialisation. An assay capable of distinguishing between recently acquired and established HIV infection would be most valuable in establishing the incidence of infection for epidemiological surveys, to clearly identify new infections following vaccine trials and ....We have discovered a marker of recent HIV infection. Further refinement of this assay and fully evaluating it on samples from individuals infected with different subtypes of the virus will result in an HIV incidence assay ready for commercialisation. An assay capable of distinguishing between recently acquired and established HIV infection would be most valuable in establishing the incidence of infection for epidemiological surveys, to clearly identify new infections following vaccine trials and identify HIV infection as opposed to transfer of maternal antibodies in new born infants.Read moreRead less
Seminal Plasma Cytokines As Novel Fertility Diagnostics In Men
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$101,000.00
Summary
Infertility and recurrent miscarriage affect 60-80 million couples globally, including 15% of couples in Australia. Current IVF therapy is not successful when the underlying reason for infertility is failure of the maternal tissues to support embryo implantation. We have discovered signaling proteins present in male semen that act in the female reproductive tissues to prepare for embryo implantation and healthy pregnancy. Recently we have identified those proteins and have shown that some men ha ....Infertility and recurrent miscarriage affect 60-80 million couples globally, including 15% of couples in Australia. Current IVF therapy is not successful when the underlying reason for infertility is failure of the maternal tissues to support embryo implantation. We have discovered signaling proteins present in male semen that act in the female reproductive tissues to prepare for embryo implantation and healthy pregnancy. Recently we have identified those proteins and have shown that some men have an imbalance in seminal proteins that leads to immune rejection of the embryo in the female partner. This project aims to develop a new test for male fertility that is based on seminal plasma proteins and independent of existing sperm count tests. Furthermore we will determine whether seminal protein imbalance can result from the �silent� presence of male reproductive tract infection.Read moreRead less
Modulating Immune Responses By Targeting Dendritic Cells Using Dendritic Cell Specific Markers.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$197,750.00
Summary
The ability to modulate immune responses would have major health benefits. Dendritic cells (DC) are key regulators of the immune system. Different types of DC possess different cell surface molecules and have differing regulatory functions. We have identified four novel DC surface molecules that can be used to target different types of DC. We aim to use antibodies against these molecules to either enhance the effectiveness of vaccines or to suppress autoimmune diseases.
Ultrasonic Blood Pressure Measurement On Implanted Biomedical Surfaces
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$170,250.00
Summary
The project would develop a prototype device reporting blood pressure on a biomedical implant surface. The device would extract data in real time from a standard ultrasound scanner that images the implant. The School of Mathematical Sciences at Monash University will be contracted to develop this ultrasound pressure sensor.
A Novel Device To Improve Renal Blood Flow In Cardiorenal Syndrome
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$198,900.00
Summary
The aim of this project is to assist in the development of a novel device to treat poor delivery of blood to the kidneys in conditions such as heart muscle weakness (chronic heart failure, CHF). Specifically we aim to build a prototype and test the device in a relevant animal model of CHF. Chronic heart failure is a major public health problem affecting >10% of the adult population over the age of 60 years. It is associated with high morbidity, mortality, frequent hospitalisation and major co ....The aim of this project is to assist in the development of a novel device to treat poor delivery of blood to the kidneys in conditions such as heart muscle weakness (chronic heart failure, CHF). Specifically we aim to build a prototype and test the device in a relevant animal model of CHF. Chronic heart failure is a major public health problem affecting >10% of the adult population over the age of 60 years. It is associated with high morbidity, mortality, frequent hospitalisation and major cost burden on the public health system. Weak heart muscle results in poor delivery of blood to the kidneys. Poor delivery to the kidneys activates circulating hormones which in turn further impair cardiac function by adverse effects on the heart. We have developed and patented a novel catheter based system for improvement of renal function via a purpose built device. Proof-of-concept studies have shown that the device should improve kidney blood flow in the setting of CHF. Given the huge public health problem of heart failure and the importance of the kidney in this setting, the commercial potential for a simple device that can be positioned via a catheter-based approach, permanently implanted is large. The device is currently being constructed by the Monash University Department of Engineering where expertise exists with regard to biomedical devices and materials engineering. A series of proof-of-concept studies will then be performed in sheep, as the vasculature of the sheep roughly approximates the dimensions of man. Sheep with CHF will have the device inserted percutaneously into the aorta. Measurements will be made of renal artery flow, relevant circulatory hormones and ultrasound of the heart at baseline (pre-deployment) and following deployment. We believe the above studies (should they be successful) will be sufficient to constitute definitive proof-of-concept and thus allow the device to be commercialised, most likely by a licensing arrangement with a device company.Read moreRead less
Despite recent advances in therapeutic options, chronic viral infections, including infection with hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus, continue to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia and affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This R&D program aims to develop a cheaper drug formulation that is easier to deliver and more stable for transport to remote areas.
Cellular And Molecular Mechanisms Of Transcutaneous Immunisation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$190,490.00
Summary
Vaccines are among the most effective medical interventions. The recent discovery that cholera toxin, when applied to the normal skin of humans and laboratory animals, stimulates powerful and protective immune responses to itself, and to other proteins has opened up the possibility of needle-free vaccines in the form of skin patches. How CT brings about this effect is currently unknown. We have discovered that the immune stimulating effect of CT depends upon the production of an immune protein ( ....Vaccines are among the most effective medical interventions. The recent discovery that cholera toxin, when applied to the normal skin of humans and laboratory animals, stimulates powerful and protective immune responses to itself, and to other proteins has opened up the possibility of needle-free vaccines in the form of skin patches. How CT brings about this effect is currently unknown. We have discovered that the immune stimulating effect of CT depends upon the production of an immune protein (cytokine) called tumour necrosis factor (TNF). TNF is known to activate specialised immune cells within the skin (Langerhan's Cells ) and we hypothesise that the interaction beween CT and LC via TNF is the pathway to the potent immune response. In this project we propose to investigate the cells and molecules involved in the immune effects of CT in the skin with a view to the development of new skin based vaccine strategies.Read moreRead less
The Diagnosis, Biomarker Identification And Measurement Of Drug Efficacy In Mental Illness And Neurological Conditions.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$119,050.00
Summary
Globally, 2 billion people suffer from a neuropsychiatric illness. The cost is more than US$2 trillion a year. Hampering early intervention is the current lack of definitive, quantitative techniques for diagnosis and measurement of treatment efficacy. This research will determine whether the disease fingerprints produced by a new technique, EVestG, are diagnostically unique (to schizophrenia, depression and Parkinson's disease) and sensitive to disease progression and treatment response.