Tooth-mic Devices for Monitoring the Efficacy of Home-based Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Technology. Over 800,000 Australians suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA patients use twice the health resources compared to healthy people. They are 7 times more likely to cause traffic accidents; in NSW up to 43000 accidents/year are due to OSA. OSA is treatable & consequences such as strokes, diabetes & heart attacks are preventable. The standard OSA treatment is home-based Contin ....Tooth-mic Devices for Monitoring the Efficacy of Home-based Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Technology. Over 800,000 Australians suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA patients use twice the health resources compared to healthy people. They are 7 times more likely to cause traffic accidents; in NSW up to 43000 accidents/year are due to OSA. OSA is treatable & consequences such as strokes, diabetes & heart attacks are preventable. The standard OSA treatment is home-based Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy. Unfortunately, no effective technique exists to measure the efficacy of the treatment. We propose enabling solutions to this problem via developing technology centered on breathing sound analysis. The project proposes joint work with a US-company facilitating access to advanced technology highly beneficial to Australia.Read moreRead less
Non-contact Instrumentation for the Home Monitoring of Upper Airway Obstructions in Sleep. Over 800,000 Australians suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea costing billions of dollars annually to the nation. Obstructive sleep apnoea patients use twice the health resources compared to a normal person, and 7 times more likely to cause traffic accidents. In NSW alone up to 43000 accidents per year are due to obstructive sleep apnoea. Obstructive sleep apnoea is treatable and thus consequences such as ....Non-contact Instrumentation for the Home Monitoring of Upper Airway Obstructions in Sleep. Over 800,000 Australians suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea costing billions of dollars annually to the nation. Obstructive sleep apnoea patients use twice the health resources compared to a normal person, and 7 times more likely to cause traffic accidents. In NSW alone up to 43000 accidents per year are due to obstructive sleep apnoea. Obstructive sleep apnoea is treatable and thus consequences such as stroke and heart attacks are preventable. At present over 90% patients remain undiagnosed. Current diagnosis is expensive and requires hospitalization; no acceptable mass screening device exists. This project proposes an enabling technology for the population screening of obstructive sleep apnoea based on analysing snoring sounds. Outcomes of the project have the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea.Read moreRead less
Detection and Quantification of General Fetal Movements from Accelerometer Measurements using Nonstationary Signal Processing Techniques. There are approximately 1,750 fetal deaths per year in Australian with about one-third occurring late in gestation and without an apparent cause. The development of an automated system capable of long-term monitoring of fetal health will result in accurate diagnoses and prediction of future outcome. This will, in turn, allow early intervention by the clinicia ....Detection and Quantification of General Fetal Movements from Accelerometer Measurements using Nonstationary Signal Processing Techniques. There are approximately 1,750 fetal deaths per year in Australian with about one-third occurring late in gestation and without an apparent cause. The development of an automated system capable of long-term monitoring of fetal health will result in accurate diagnoses and prediction of future outcome. This will, in turn, allow early intervention by the clinician to reduce fetal deaths and enhance the chances of good outcomes with resultant savings in social and financial costs to the community. The development of such equipment would spawn future research into intervention treatments and contribute to Australia's position as a world leader in computerised health monitoring systems.Read moreRead less
Multi-Channel Time-Frequency Analysis for EEG Neonatal Seizure Characterization. This project researches new signal processing methodologies for a multi-channel characterization of seizures for use in diagnosing newborn brain dysfunctions. The outcomes will result in important immediate clinical benefits for sick newborn babies and will fundamentally facilitate research progress in the development of neuroprotectants and anticonvulsants. The success of this project will contribute in minimizing ....Multi-Channel Time-Frequency Analysis for EEG Neonatal Seizure Characterization. This project researches new signal processing methodologies for a multi-channel characterization of seizures for use in diagnosing newborn brain dysfunctions. The outcomes will result in important immediate clinical benefits for sick newborn babies and will fundamentally facilitate research progress in the development of neuroprotectants and anticonvulsants. The success of this project will contribute in minimizing the social financial costs by diagnosing brain disorders in the initial stage of life and preventing further damage. This has the potential to result in a standard diagnostic equipment in neonatal intensive care units and medical research centres.Read moreRead less
Design of Neonatal Seizure Diagnosis Methods Using Time-Frequency Signal Processing Techniques. Seizures occur in approximately 0.5% of all newborns. They are often the only indicator of an early dysfunction in central nervous system (CNS). Their occurrence raises concerns about the underlying cause, its effect on the brain, and the appropriate treatment. Newborn seizures are mostly sub-clinical and only detected through the Electroencephalogram. For an efficient diagnosis, seizure classificatio ....Design of Neonatal Seizure Diagnosis Methods Using Time-Frequency Signal Processing Techniques. Seizures occur in approximately 0.5% of all newborns. They are often the only indicator of an early dysfunction in central nervous system (CNS). Their occurrence raises concerns about the underlying cause, its effect on the brain, and the appropriate treatment. Newborn seizures are mostly sub-clinical and only detected through the Electroencephalogram. For an efficient diagnosis, seizure classification systems were proposed based on visual observations. This project proposes developing a novel approach to automate the classification process using time-frequency (TF) signal processing techniques based on the multi-channel characteristics of the seizure; namely: A) TF signature B) origin, and C) propagation behaviour.Read moreRead less
Peripheral aberrations of the human eye. This project will benefit Australia from several perspectives. It will make an important contribution to understanding limitations to peripheral vision of the eye, particularly as a result of refractive surgical intervention. This is important because many Australians will require such surgery. Being able to better measure and correct peripheral aberrations will lead to improved imaging of the eye and thus contribute to improved detection and diagnosis of ....Peripheral aberrations of the human eye. This project will benefit Australia from several perspectives. It will make an important contribution to understanding limitations to peripheral vision of the eye, particularly as a result of refractive surgical intervention. This is important because many Australians will require such surgery. Being able to better measure and correct peripheral aberrations will lead to improved imaging of the eye and thus contribute to improved detection and diagnosis of ophthalmic disease. The study will benefit ophthalmologists, optometrists, and engineers involved in designing visual instruments. This project will provide training in adaptive optics for graduate students not available in any other Australian institution.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing. Sensor networks, a collection of diverse sensors interconnected via an ad-hoc communication network, are identified as one of the key technologies that over the next two decades will change the way we live. This research network brings together an interdisciplinary team of outstanding Australian researchers representing all the key disciplines required to successfully deploy sensor networks and links this te ....ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing. Sensor networks, a collection of diverse sensors interconnected via an ad-hoc communication network, are identified as one of the key technologies that over the next two decades will change the way we live. This research network brings together an interdisciplinary team of outstanding Australian researchers representing all the key disciplines required to successfully deploy sensor networks and links this team with the foremost international authorities and leading industry players in the area of sensor networks. This research network will guide collaborative research that will ensure Australia to play a world leading role in sensor network development and implementation.
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Automatic Brain Tissue Segmentation in Magnetic Resonance Images based on Knowledge-guided Constrained Clustering. Accurate volumetric measurement of brain tissues is of critical importance in the study of many brain disorders, disease diagnosis, disease progression tracking and treatment monitoring. The study in this research will result in the development of a powerful computational technique that allows automatic volumetric measurement and analysis of brain tissues. The software developed in ....Automatic Brain Tissue Segmentation in Magnetic Resonance Images based on Knowledge-guided Constrained Clustering. Accurate volumetric measurement of brain tissues is of critical importance in the study of many brain disorders, disease diagnosis, disease progression tracking and treatment monitoring. The study in this research will result in the development of a powerful computational technique that allows automatic volumetric measurement and analysis of brain tissues. The software developed in this project will expedite early clinical diagnosis and treatment of neural diseases for patients, hence saving life and reducing health cost both at the personal and the national level. Read moreRead less
Prediction of outcome following whiplash injury: a multicentre international prospective study. The main aim of this study is to validate a set of biological and psychological prognostic indicators of outcome following whiplash injury that we have previously identified in a single centre prospective cohort. Validation will be in the context of a large multicentre international cohort. This will allow stakeholders involved in whiplash such as health care and insurance providers to predict with co ....Prediction of outcome following whiplash injury: a multicentre international prospective study. The main aim of this study is to validate a set of biological and psychological prognostic indicators of outcome following whiplash injury that we have previously identified in a single centre prospective cohort. Validation will be in the context of a large multicentre international cohort. This will allow stakeholders involved in whiplash such as health care and insurance providers to predict with confidence both those persons at risk of developing chronic symptoms as well as those with a good chance of full recovery. Furthermore the validation of the predictive capacity of these indicators will, for the first time, provide predictive markers that are amenable to specific early multiprofessional treatment interventions.Read moreRead less
The kinematics of the anterior eye deformation. This project has a potential to benefit Australia from a number of perspectives. The outcomes will provide ophthalmologists and optometrists with currently unavailable knowledge on dynamic behaviour of eye. In particular the research will identify aspects of corneal deformation that in turn will help improve the accuracy of refractive surgeries and aid in the management of glaucoma. Also, the knowledge generated through this project will be of valu ....The kinematics of the anterior eye deformation. This project has a potential to benefit Australia from a number of perspectives. The outcomes will provide ophthalmologists and optometrists with currently unavailable knowledge on dynamic behaviour of eye. In particular the research will identify aspects of corneal deformation that in turn will help improve the accuracy of refractive surgeries and aid in the management of glaucoma. Also, the knowledge generated through this project will be of value to engineers designing advanced clinical instrument for measuring eye parameters. Read moreRead less