The Centre congratulates the successful researchers. The two awarded projects promote health equity and support regional and rural areas in Australia.
The National Health and Medical Research Council’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) rewarded the following CBT projects:
Associate Professor Peter Lazzarin, Professor Woodruff, Dr Sean Powel, Dr Edmund Pickering, Associate Professor David Holmes and Alexander Terrill (PhD Candidate)
A project to 3D-print low-cost, personalised, pressure-offloading insoles for people with diabetes-related foot disease in remote areas has received a $810,000 Medical Research Future Fund Primary Health Care Digital Innovations Grant. Read the press release for more details.
A project on clinical imaging inspired point-of-care microtechnology for enhanced diagnosis and monitoring of recurrent stroke received a $1,199,996.00 Medical Research Future Fund Cardiovascular Health Mission Grant. Lead Organisation: University of Sydney. Prof Li’s contribution to the project is to develop CT images based cerebrovascular biomechanical analyses for thrombosis prediction, and to perform patients-specific microvessel-on-chip for haemodynamic characterisation.
Summary:
Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the No.1 cause of disability in Australia. According to Australian Health and Welfare data; 5% of all deaths and 20% of cardiovascular disease-related death are related to stroke. Despite advances in cerebrovascular imaging and antithrombotic therapies, recurrent ischaemic stroke events are still unpredictable and significant. Notably, regional, aged, pregnant, handicapped, and indigenous Australians are 19% more likely to suffer stroke recurrence above average. This disadvantaged population is large, not able to access centralised but overloaded clinical resources, thereby likely experiencing delayed and suboptimal care. Currently, there is no personalised, portable, and affordable point-of-care testing (POCT) that allows rapid prediction of recurrent stroke.
A bioengineer-clinician team with NSW biotech industry partners has been formed to integrate cerebral arterial CT images with biomechanical analysis and patient-specific microvessel-on-chip technology as an innovative POCT platform. The microtechnologies aim to model patient-specific Virchow’s triads, thereby enhancing diagnosis and monitoring of recurrent stroke and re-thrombosis with three aims:
- CT images based cerebrovascular biomechanical analyses for thrombosis prediction;
- Patients-specific microvessel-on-chip for haemodynamic characterisation and blood clotting tests;
- Standardised POCT devices for coagulation and platelet function profiling on a wide population.
The team’s chip-based microtechnologies will provide more accurate diagnostic platforms and allow for short- to long-term monitoring of re-thrombosis and intervention failure. Furthermore, patient-specific assessment of thrombosis is inadequate and relies on labour-intensive testing, bulky and costly equipment, and specialist interpretation – all of which are poorly available in regional and indigenous settings. Our POCT devices will promote health equity as a game changer.