X-ray imaging for lung health recognised with prestigious Eureka Prize

Monash University together with the University of Adelaide, the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, 4D Medical Pty Ltd, have been awarded the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research for their work on developing and applying new methods of x-ray imaging to measure lung health, particularly when affected by cystic fibrosis.

This award recognises the most recent accomplishments of the team, but its members have been working together since 2007, when Dr Karen Siu of Monash University brought them together to work on x-ray imaging of the respiratory system. The members of this team are Associate Professor David Parsons, Associate Professor Martin Donnelley, Professor Andreas Fouras, Dr Stephen Dubsky, and Associate Professor Kaye Morgan.

While looking for a treatment for cystic fibrosis, Associate Professors Parsons and Donnelley from the University of Adelaide and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide identified a need for more accurate evaluations of lung and airway health.

It can take many months to determine whether or not a treatment for cystic fibrosis, an early-onset lung condition that can be deadly, is helpful.

"At Monash, we have been working on novel methods of X-ray imaging that make the lungs and airways much more visible than in a normal x-ray," said Associate Professor Morgan, from the Monash University School of Physics and Astronomy.

"Our engineer colleagues, Professor Andreas Fouras and Dr Steve Dubsky, brought analytical methods that are usually applied to aeronautics, and applied them to x-ray movies of the lungs to track precisely where air flows during a breath,” she said.

“The technique resulting from this interdisciplinary collaboration has allowed us to measure early and regional measures of health in lungs affected by Cystic Fibrosis."

For more information, see:
Aspire Scholarship Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research

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