BIONIC IMPLANTS FOR SOUND & SIGHT

26 March 2009

It was once the exclusive realm of the medical practitioner to investigate and discover new means of treating disease. In recent years, this role is also being played by engineers, often resulting in tremendous benefits to patients suffering from various disorders that were previously not treatable through medical intervention.

This presentation discusses the origins of implantable bionics and how such devices have allowed the deaf to hear again, and may soon allow the blind to see again. The similarities between these two important medical treatments are remarkable. How the bionic eye can benefit from the experience of the bionic ear will be explored.

Dr Gregg J. Suaning is an Associate Professor with the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales, and Co-Director of the Centre for Implantable Bionics. Following a career in auditory prostheses (cochlear implants for the deaf), he entered academia in 1997 in order to research and lead the development of a visual prosthesis to restore sight to the profoundly blind.

CANCER ALPHA THERAPY: FACT & CONSPIRACY

30 April 2009

Radiopharmaceuticals long championed by the AAEC/ANSTO have led to the development of sophisticated nuclear medicine procedures involving SPECT and PET. While nuclear medicine has benefited medical practice in many fields, including the diagnosis/imaging of metastatic cancer, its contribution to cancer therapy has been limited. There is an urgent need for short range targeted radiation that can eliminate micrometastases to prevent the onset of lethal metastatic cancer and to regress advanced tumours by anti-vascular therapy. Alpha emitting radioisotopes emit short range, high energy alpha radiation ideally suited for these functions.

Professor Allen founded the targeted alpha therapy (TAT) program at ANSTO in 1994, and moved it to St George Hospital when he was appointed Director, Centre for Experimental Radiation Oncology, where it achieved world's best results in the phase 1 trial for 38 patients with systemic TAT, including better tumour regression results without any adverse events. Despite some 50 inter-national journal publications on this research, it is now threatened by recent funding cuts, and this raises the question: Is this a conspiracy against alpha therapy for cancer, or will science prevail over bureaucracy?

This lecture presents the benefits, challenges and politics of the TAT program.

KNEE & HIP IMPLANTS - BENEFITS & CHALLENGES

28 May 2009

Knee and hip replacement surgery deliver excellent quality of life outcomes the world over. The success of this technology today is the result of decades of work by an enormous number of talented engineers, scientists and surgeons to constantly improve upon designs, materials and operating techniques. This presentation explores some of the highlights of this journey, as well as provide a snapshot of where we are today.

Dr Greg Roger graduated in medicine from the University of Sydney in 1984, and did his internship at Royal North Shore Hospital. He completed a Master of Engineering degree at the University of Sydney in 1989, and was Medical Director of the Surf Life Saving Association's Rescue Helicopter Service. He is a Board Member of AIMS Research, a privately funded clinical research organisation fostering excellence in the clinical outcomes of research, and is the Founder and CEO of Advanced Surgical Design & Manufacture Limited (ASDM). He is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Sydney, and is a Member of the Medical Device Evaluation Committee (MDEC) advising the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on new medical devices.

ROBOTIC SURGERY - BENEFITS & CHALLENGES

25 June 2009

The speed of technological evolution is such that some new developments hardly become known until people's lives are impacted by them. One is ROBOTIC SURGERY, where recent advancements in minimally invasive surgical technologies give patients today a broader range of alternatives to conventional open surgery than patients 10 years ago. The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System is providing robotic-assisted procedures which can treat conditions as diverse as obesity, heart disease and prostate cancer, and which can benefit patients with less pain, discomfort, blood loss and a quicker return to normal activities. This talk describes the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System and its medical benefits over traditional surgical techniques.

Dominic Breuker is Sales, Clinical and Service Support engineer with Device Tech-nologies engaged in the installation, commissioning and programming of the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. He commenced his career as a biomedical engineer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1980 to 1996, with a sabbatical year at a hospital in Amsterdam in 1991. In 1996 he joined Medtel as Service Technician and then Olympus in 2000 as Salesman for Endoscopy equipment. He joined Device Technologies in 2004 to work on the second Australian daVinci Surgical System purchased by the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and has been involved with the installation and commissioning of the next seven da Vinci Systems in Australia and New Zealand.

[VIEWING NOTE: This PDF presentation has images labelled "Click image to view video" which are linked to videos showing robotic surgical procedures. Your default browser/Adobe Acrobat Reader must be linked to a video player (WMP or QuickTime) to view the (mpg/wmv) video files. If the PDF is saved for viewing off-line in your Acrobat Reader, then the videos need to be saved to a 'Videos' sub-folder for linking to the labelled PDF images. Video download times may be excessive depending on your Internet connection speed.]

DIAGNOSTIC MAGNETIC RESONANT IMAGING

30 July 2009

It is rare that a person can go through life without the need for a diagnostic medical examination that requires internal imaging of their anatomy. What do we know of these imaging devices?

This presentation takes you on a journey through a medical imaging department. Here we discover the various devices used for imaging of the body. We look at their applications, limitations and risks. Of these modalities, we take a more detailed examination of the Magnetic Resonant Imaging (MRI), and look at the basic physics and engineering marvels of its development. The presentation also looks at more recent developments and research being performed using MRI techniques.

Stephen Kerrison has worked as a field engineer within the medical industry for the last 20 years. During this time he has worked with Film Processor, Laser Printers, dedicated chest x-ray unit, Ultrasound systems and, for the last 9 years, on Magnetic Resonant Imaging. He is currently a Team Leader for Philips Healthcare with responsibility for all work performed within the fields of Computer Tomography (CT), MRI and Nuclear Medicine. Philips Healthcare is a leading supplier of medical imaging equipment worldwide.

[VIEWING NOTE: This PDF presentation has images labelled "Click image/here to view video" which are linked to videos showing MRI scans. Your default browser/Adobe Acrobat Reader must be linked to a video player (WMP or QuickTime) to view the (mpg/wmv) video files. If the PDF is saved for viewing off-line in your Acrobat Reader, then the videos need to be saved to a 'Videos' sub-folder for linking to the labelled PDF images. Video download times may be excessive depending on your Internet connection speed.]