Healthy Society (Past Projects)

Farmed fish are fed specific diets formulated to ensure their specific nutritional needs are met. A balance of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino-acids, and fats have been traditionally provided by diet components such as by fishmeal oils, grains, and animal trimmings. 70% of commercially available fishmeal is derived unsustainably from open-ocean pelagic fish.

Meals derived from Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) (BSF) larvae is an exemplary ingredient providing a nutritional profile which can be adjusted by simply changing the diet provided to the insect.

Our project involves selective feeding of pre-plate supermarket organic waste to BSF, to create the optimal nutrient profile to feed farmed fish. We are currently running trials in Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii) and Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus).

Our results aim to show that the fish will not only be healthier but will grow efficiently and flesh quality will closely resemble that of wild caught animals.

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Group member

• Adele Barca

According to the World Health Organization, coronary artery disease (CAD) claims the lives of over 17 million people annually, with Atherosclerosis, the accumulation of arterial plaque, being the most recurrent. Plaques can obstruct lumens and rupture, causing a heart attack. Current medical imaging techniques cannot detect plaque vulnerability before rupture, however biomechanical modelling can. This project aims to widen plaque detection methods through 3D biomechanical CFD simulations, with a focus on high risk Left Anterior Descending Coronary Arteries. Since the creation of patient specific models require significant computation time, parametric studies on one 3D biomechanical model were completed. A real-life biomechanical model was created using a variety of medical imaging technology data. Artificial, realistic plaques were then integrated, and investigations focused on behaviours in wall shear stress, pressure, and flow velocity. The findings were then validated against existing literature. This modern approach holds potential to be used for early plaque rupture identification, transforming coronary artery disease management.

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Group members

• Armin Simon
• Shahryar Mirza

Traumatic spinal cord injury is life-altering event with few options for effective treatment. Researchers at the University of Adelaide are studying the impact of trauma or obstruction of the spinal cord on the flow and pressure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in a pre-clinical pig model, with the aim of improving clinical procedures following the initial incident. The researchers have identified two limitations with their current protocols. Firstly, catheters introduced into the subarachnoid space to measure pressure need a retention device that is easier to apply during surgery. Secondly, the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fluid flow measurements need to be validated with a known pulsatile flow using an MRI flow phantom. To address these limitations, the aims of this project are to design, prototype, and test a catheter retention clip and an MRI-suitable flow phantom that simulates the spinal cord anatomy and the pulsatile flow of the CSF surrounding it.

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Group members

• Carys Jones
• Muhammad Zamani Yahya

Our goal is to create a waterproof, windproof, solar - and wind-powered wireless music player that can operate the entire device for at least six hours a day with the energy generated by an average of eight hours of sunshine per day and a wind speed of around 4m/s, while controlling it only by transmitting signals through a base station.
We determine the size of solar panels and wind turbines through energy estimation, and determine the model of wireless devices through research on wireless devices and finally form the whole. Because the entire system does not require external power supply, all rely on solar and wind energy, so it is very environmentally friendly.

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Group members

• Zhirun Wang
• Jasenthu Liyana Pumudi
• Kamalka Fernando

Roughly 8000 Australians undergo lower-limb amputations each year because of physical injury or disease such as diabetes. These Australians are faced with the challenge of living with a prosthetic leg for the rest of their lives. The fitting process of these prosthetic legs are currently quite rudimentary, with commonly used crude methods such as lipstick and Blu-Tack to mark off and judge where pressure is distributed. This crude process often leads to poor prosthetic fittings, which cause the development of pressure sores due to uneven pressure distribution. These sores are a significant detriment to the health and well-being of post-amputation patients. This project aims to offer a more reliable solution using a pressure sensor array that measures pressure between the prosthetic and the leg. Recorded pressure is processed by a read-out circuit and visualised as a coloured pressure map on a mobile application for easy viewing of pressure distribution.

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Group members

• Benjamin Cook
• Patrick Kedzior
• Daniel Kibet Kimtai

In my master's project, I explore the world of mathematical biology. More specifically, I aim to understand better the growth patterns and behaviour of yeast commonly used for making bread and alcoholic beverages. My work takes two approaches: (i) understanding how yeast colonies grow at a macro level and (ii) developing a model to understand how yeast colonies grow on a cellular level. This work requires interdisciplinary collaboration which I find extremely rewarding because it empowers me to make contributions to benefit winemakers, bioengineers, material scientists etc. Very cool!

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Group member

• Kai Li

Electrocardiograms (or ECGs) are a vital tool in diagnosing heart problems but notoriously difficult to read. Many projects over the years have aimed to develop accurate machine-learning methods for reading ECGs. Our project hopes to provide progress on AI learning through image recognition, while providing a friendly user interface through which to use this efficiently and effectively.
We use a type of AI called a Convolutional Neural Network, trained with the largest ECG database available, to produce prognoses for any given ECG. ECGs are taken as raw data and transformed into png form so that we control the input for the AI, reducing the potential for generating bias. At the end of the project, we have produced an analysis of the effectiveness of convolutional neural networks and a framework for an effective and easy to use user interface, which we hope to act as a basis for further research.

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Group members

• Alex Mastersson
• Ayman Rachid

Lager Fermentation normally takes a long time. This is due to the low temperature required. This project aims to investigate how using higher temperatures can speed up the process, and if this hotter fermentation changes how the lager tastes, for better or worse. To do this the Universities Micro-Brewery was used to brew some lager and record the time taken for different temperatures. Then this beer was supplied at a tasting where data from a survey was collected to see the effect on taste. This has given valuable data about the relationship between fermentation temperature, speed and taste.

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Group members

• Rhys Vaudin
• Dan Hai Dang Truong

Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability, hospitalising more than 20,000 Australians each year. The development of treatments and protective technologies continues to be limited by a lack of understanding of underlying injury mechanisms. This project involves developing a surrogate model of the brain and skull which can be used to understand injury kinematics through physical experiments. The design comprises a custom-moulded gelatin brain, 3D-printed skull cavity, cerebrospinal fluid, and a method of applying tension to the spinal cord. The model has been augmented with an ultrasound crystal array, and radiopaque markers to enable measurement of brain deformations under controlled impacts. Experiments conducted using this physical model will investigate the effect of spinal cord tethering and direction of head rotation on brain kinematics. It is hoped that these and subsequent experiments will contribute to understanding of brain injury mechanisms to inform injury prevention and treatment strategies.

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Group member

• Ben Melville

Approximately one in every twenty Australians are living with diabetes. Diabetes impairs blood flow in small vessels which can lead to chronic wounds, for which there is currently no method to determine whether they will heal. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive medical imaging technique that is capable of visualising small, surface level-level blood vessels. However, there is uncertainty as to how accurately it can quantify blood flow through these vessels. Thus, the aim of this project was to develop a flow phantom that would validate the accuracy of OCT. Three flow phantoms of increasing vessel complexities were designed, printed, and tested. A flow analysis MATLAB algorithm was developed to quantify flow data from the OCT to assess accuracy through comparison to a control velocity. The validation flow phantom will allow researchers to determine the accuracy of OCT and other techniques to measure blood flow in patients with diabetes.

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Group members

• Anna Cernev
• Sophie Lennon-George
• Madison Blacker

Hand injuries are frequent among cricketers, as supported by Brooks' study revealing the prevalence of finger fractures in 17% of elite Australian cricketers within a three-year period. David Warner and Cameron Green are amongst many players who have fallen victim to hand injuries that have impacted their careers. Our project aims to address this issue by assessing the effectiveness of three distinct designs of batting gloves at different curvatures to replicate hand positions in a match-based cricket scenario. A bowling machine will be implemented to deliver high speed balls to the gloves. A combination of hardware and software have been developed to measure and process the force exerted onto these gloves. A high-speed camera will monitor the testing to allow for a qualitative assessment of the impact. The findings will provide useful insight for cricket coaching staff and athletes to understand the impact that glove selection has on hand injuries.  

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Group members

• Isabella Baldino
• Eleanor Dalgarno Fixter
• Emma Dunthorne

This project aims to develop a comprehensive computational model of blood flow in an atherosclerotic coronary artery. In 2019 coronary artery disease (CAD) was the reported cause of over 17.7 million deaths worldwide (WHO 2020). The focal cause of CAD is atherosclerosis. Advanced stenosis caused by atherosclerosis can lead to arterial ruptures and patient fatality.
ANSYS is used to produce a model of an atherosclerotic section of the left anterior descending coronary artery with multiple plaque variations. The arterial geometry was constructed from data collected on the Vascular Model Repository, with material characteristics derived from published literature. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and fluid structure interaction (FSI) are used to investigate mechanical characteristics leading to arterial rupture.

Specific impact of the varying plaque formations is yet to be assessed; it is however expected that plaques causing turbulent flow pose higher risk of rupture. As the model was constructed using patient specific data, results found are not directly applicable to other patients. However, the model can aid in the development of tools for approximate prediction of myocardial infarction.

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Group members

• Bella Buchanan
• Issa Royle

The intricate interplay of flavour and aroma in beer is a fundamental aspect that elevates the experience of enjoying a beloved beverage. The flavour profile of a beer encompasses a spectrum that spans from rich and malty to crisp and bitter to fruity and spicy. The goals for this process were to investigate whether changing hop variety would affect the flavour and aroma of a hazy pale ale. Three separate beer brews were created through the process of milling, mashing, wort boiling, hop addition and fermentation; with hop varieties being Galaxy, El Dorado, and Idaho 7. The results were collected through a survey via sensory analysis of the three different beer brews. The hazy pale ales were easily differentiated between one another with a variety of different flavours and aromas in each brew.

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Group members

• Jim Rothe
• Duc Hoang Tung Nguyen

As the craft beer revolution continues to grow exponentially with the concurrent rise in microbreweries, there is incentive to optimise the process to ensure operating parameters are at the ideal measurements for the intended brew schedule. While the malt and hop components of the brew recipe are often complimented for impacting notable flavour and aroma characteristics, the yeast strain is also responsible for a significant quantity of the final organoleptic qualities.

This project aimed to determine whether yeast strains for opposing beer categories could still result in a viable and enjoyable product. There was specific interest in investigating whether a typical larger yeast could be used to produce a quality ale under ale fermentation conditions. 

Through the production of three batches of pale ale, each with a vastly different yeast strain, a sensory analysis was conducted to determine the difference, or lack thereof, between the beers.

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Group member

• Ella Konings

Endometriosis is a painful and debilitating disease known for its challenging diagnostic process. Surgery serves as the most reliable method for obtaining a diagnosis, but it can be problematic, difficult to access and is often associated with delays. In contrast, ultrasounds lack the drawbacks of surgery, although they do not provide a definitive diagnosis. The accuracy of an ultrasound diagnosis depends on achieving a high standard of image quality. Inexperienced sonographers performing pelvic scans often struggle to generate high-quality images, leading to potential delays or even misdiagnoses. Both outcomes significantly affect the patient's quality of life. Improving the quality of pelvic ultrasound images could substantially alleviate the impact of endometriosis on patients. To address this issue, we have developed an AI model to autonomously assess ultrasound quality. This approach offers sonographers real-time feedback, enabling them to produce higher quality images.

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Group member

• Daniel Petashvili

Brewing with oat malt provides different flavour opportunities for consumers of beer. Known for creating a smoother creamy taste, oat malt beers may be more desirable to those with sensitive palates. The difficulty for oat malt brewing lies within the mashing process, mixing hot water with powered malt and the activity of the amylase enzyme. The amylase enzymes that help breakdown starches to produce fermentable sugars for brewing lack the presence in oat malts in comparison to barley malts. The aims of the project were to maximise the amount of fermentable sugars during the mashing process by understanding the rate kinetics of enzymes associated with sugar production and have a comparison between oat malts and barley malts. With this knowledge we will be able to further understand the ideal conditions to encourage fermentable sugar production in oat malt brews.

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Group members

• Joanne Tran
• Harry Reemst

The mechanisms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are currently not well understood making it the global leading cause of post-injury mortality in people aged 45 and under, and the most common cause of disability throughout all ages. Pre-clinical models are currently used during simulation on animal heads to study TBI but have been found not to provide the most accurate data. The angular and linear acceleration kinematics of the animal’s head during the simulation injury are important to measure accurately. This project aims to improve the design of an accelerometer and angular rate sensor array, and its support structure, to ensure accurate recording of head kinematics. Currently, the array used is highly susceptible to vibrations in the vertical stand and therefore when recording the brain kinematics, it provides invalid data. In order to ensure that the new array is rigid, a pyramid geometry will be used whilst ensuring that the accelerometers are orthogonal. Testing will include mounting the array on an ovine head and assessing if flexure occurs. To validate the kinematic data from the array, a code specific to the array will be used that converts the described head kinematics into an anatomical coordinate system (ACS) that can then be compared to the human ACS. By the time the project is complete it will allow for valid acquisition of the true kinematics that occur within the skull on impact allowing for a more detailed understanding on how TBI’s occur.

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Group member

• Lachlan Dubois

Product related impurities produced through the transcription of messenger RNA (mRNA) can have potential side effects in the human body. The most widely known mRNA impurity is the double stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecule. The immune response to mRNA impurities may lead to cell death, causing potential patient fatality. Therefore, it is important to mitigate the presence of mRNA impurities, thus reducing negative impacts. This project focuses on understanding how mRNA impurities are formed and their effects in the human body and determining possible prevention strategies during the transcription process, as well as purification steps to ensure the final mRNA product is free of impurities.

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Group members

• Anna Ivenovichbokuv
• Gia Hung Nguyen

Oral cancer stands at the sixth most common cancer in the world. The average five-year survival rate is merely 20% due to poor disease diagnosis as clinicians are lack of insights into subsurface structures of the tissue. 51% of pre-cancerous lesions develop into oral cancer and by detecting subtle subsurface structural alterations at early stages it improves survival rate to 80%-90%. To address unmet need, optical coherence tomography (OCT) is utilised in our novel device to provide improved spatial resolution and subsurface imaging capability. This project aims to investigate what design requirements are necessary for an oral imaging device to be widely used by clinicians, and how these can be achieved. This imaging prototype will be able to acquire OCT images without direct contact of oral tissues, minimise patient discomfort and gag reflexes, and enable observation of subsurface structures (e.g., epithelial alternations and pre-cancerous lesions) for early detection of cancer.

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Group member

• Minqi Ji

Little is currently understood about changes to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure dynamics after spinal cord injuries (SCI). CSF pressure dynamics could be useful biomarkers for clinical decision-making. The Adelaide Spinal Research Group (ASRG) has collected CSF pressure data in a pre-clinical model of SCI. The aim of this project is to improve understanding of CSF pressure dynamics, particularly focusing on the relationship between location along the spinal cord relative to the injury site, and time elapsed post-injury. This will be achieved through processing previously collected data. Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) are used to determine the frequencies at which the relevant signals act. These frequencies help determine the appropriate bands at which filters can be applied. Once filtered the data will be analysed to identify any relationships between the pressure readings post-injury.

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Group members

• Jonathan Venner
• Jeremy Friederich

mRNA vaccines have been used by BioNTech and Moderna to develop vaccines against COVID-19. It has attracted attention for its success in preventing and treating the rapid spread of the disease. Lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology is considered the most advanced mRNA delivery system into the human body via intravenous injection. However, the application of mRNA vaccines is limited due to its instability and the need to overcome many barriers to realize its function in the body. Therefore, this project uses advanced technologies and tools to improve mRNA vaccine formulation to enhance vaccine stability. The methodology used in this project is to provide solutions based on literature reviews to increase vaccine stability, both physically and chemically. The outcome of the project is that solutions will help the vaccine be more stable in testing (in vitro) and when deliver into the human body (in vivo).

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Group member

• Ha Vy Tran