Events

Date: 4 March 2025   Time: 12:00 - 13:00     

Location: SEMS Seminar Room, 3rd floor, Engineering Building

Title: Automated Production of Engineered Nerve Tissue

Talk Summary of Poppy Smith:

Traumatic peripheral nerve injury has a sudden, debilitating effect on millions of people every year, resulting in loss of sensation and movement, significantly reducing quality of life. The standard clinical treatment to repair peripheral nerve injuries which result in a gap in the nerve tissue, is the nerve autograft. The autograft has multiple limitations including donor site morbidity and availability, donor-recipient nerve mismatches, and poor patient satisfaction. Tissue engineering offers a promising alternative, artificial nerve repair constructs produced from aligned cells and biomaterials. Automating the production of tissue engineered nerve repair constructs promises to improve the feasibility of scalable manufacture for clinical translation. Here, a novel automation technique was developed to facilitate the high throughput production of nerve repair constructs in an easily modifiable and rapid fashion.

Title: Use of Finite Element Modelling to Reduce the Risk of Preterm Birth

Talk Summary of Mia Frances Crowther:

This talk explores the application of mechanical testing and immunofluorescent imaging to develop 2D and 3D micro- and macroscale models of the fetal membranes. By integrating these models with finite element analysis, this research aims to enhance clinical strategies for predicting and preventing preterm birth.

Title: Surface-Based Ultrasound Scans for AI-assisted Screening of Prostate Cancer

Talk Summary of Rory Douglas Bennett:

Surface-based ultrasound (SUS) systems have undergone substantial improvement over the years in image quality, ease-of-use, and reduction in size. Their ability to image organs non-invasively makes them a prime technology for the diagnosis and monitoring of various diseases and conditions. An example is the screening/risk-stratification of prostate cancer (PCa) using prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD). Current literature predominantly focuses on prostate volume (PV) estimation techniques that make use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging, while SUS techniques are largely overlooked. My research focuses on developing and clinically validating a reliable SUS PCa screening method to accelerate prostate cancer screening, saving patients from unnecessary MRI or TRUS scans. Such a screening procedure could be introduced into standard primary care settings with point-of-care ultrasound systems available at a fraction of the cost of their larger hospital counterparts.