The kit provides for a magnetic coupling consisting of two magnets, which are coupled across a gastrointestinal and abdominal wall to provide a guide path for accurate incision and subsequent insertion of a feeding tube. The internal magnet is carried on an endoscope, which is a component of standard feeding PEG tube kits. The device, which is still a working prototype, was developed in collaboration with surgeons and endoscopists at a number of Irish teaching hospitals and with the support of the Technology Transfer Office at UCC. Future work will aim to refine the device in advance of pre-clinical testing, scheduled for late 2012.

The tool was originally developed specifically to facilitate clinical researchers in the development of magnetic compression anastomosis devices in a variety of applications (e.g. gastrointestinal, biliary, cardiovascular). To this end, the Case Studies section documents our tool’s application to quantify force and pressure in reported clinical use of magnetic compression for anastomosis. However, the tool may be of use to researchers in the use of high-strength permanent magnetic and ferromagnetic devices for a variety of applications.Tadhg was awarded third place in the HRB Watts Medal Competition for 2012 based on the development of the tool.

The award, which will be presented in Spring 2012, will benefit student teams engaged in the Biomedical Design module at UCC. Biomedical Design is a final-year elective subject taught by Dr. Cantillon-Murphy which couples engineering and medical students at UCC with senior clinicians at the Cork teaching hospitals to develop innovative solutions to real clinical needs.

Dr. Padraig Cantillon-Murphy, Director of the Bioelectromagnetics group at UCC, has been selected as a Marie Curie Reintegration Fellow by the European Research Council. The award, which is valued at €100,000 over four years, will be used to support the research efforts of BioEM@UCC between 2010 and 2014. Dr. Cantillon-Murphy is only one of a handful of UCC researchers to have been awarded the fellowship which provides financial support to individual research projects presented by the incoming experienced researchers in liaison with a host university in the European Union. The fellowhips aims to reinforce the scientific excellence of the EU through knowledge sharing with incoming top-class researchers active in a third country (the United States, in this case) to work on research projects in Europe, with the view to developing mutually beneficial research co-operation between Europe and a third country.

The event, organised by the School of Medicine at UCC, focussed on simulation in health care education. The other speakers were Professor Richard Satava, University of Washington and Dr. Marian McCarthy, Programme Coordinator for the Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma and Masters in Teaching and Learning at UCC.

Created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” the TEDx program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis. For more information as video from the event,check back here.

Cathal O Lionaird and Sean Walsh will explore the use remote magnetic manipulation of endoscopic capsules while Diarmaid Hogan and Mark Healy will work on the application of electromagnetic steering technology for navigation in human lung biopsy.

The workshop featured seminar presentations from fifteen institutions around Europe with key interests in minimally-invasive surgery. Partipants included the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Technische Universitat Graz and the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery at Imperial College, London. The workshop proceedings, including the UCC contribution, are available online.

The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) ‘EMBARK’ Initiative offers opportunities for suitably qualified individuals to pursue a postgraduate degree by research in Ireland. The Scheme supports basic research in the broad areas of Science, Engineering and Technology. Kilian was one of seven UCC awardees in 2011.

BioEM@UCC has been chosen as one of eleven UCC winners to receive the 2011 Health Research Board‘s Summer Scholarship. The award will see Tadhg Lambe, an undergraduate at UCC’s School of Engineering join BioEM for summer 2011 to conduct work on numerical modelling of self-deployed magnetic components for minimally-invasive surgery. This award is part of the HRB’s efforts to offer summer scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students in health-related disciplines to support their participation in research. The purpose of the student scholarships is to encourage an interest in research and to give the student an opportunity to become familiar with research techniques. Tadgh will join BioEM in July 2011.