SYNOPSIS

The development of new medical technology requires the collaboration of engineering, IT, medicine, science and industrial design.  The Monash Institute of Medical Engineering (MIME) fosters the development of new medical technologies across the whole spectrum of medical science.  A prime example of this is the bionic vision device which has been developed over the last five years.  This is a ‘brain-machine’ device to restore visual function to blind individuals.  I will be presenting this research project but also some of the other exciting areas of medical engineering including the development of replacement body parts such as the ear and the trachea using bio-printing techniques and ‘laboratory on-a-chip’ technology.  There is great scope for medical engineering in paediatrics.

SPEAKER

Professor Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld, AM, OBE, KStJ, is Foundation Director, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering (MIME);  Professor and Head, Division of Clinical Sciences of the Department of Surgery, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Director, Department of Neurosurgery at the Alfred Hospital, Adjunct Professor in Surgery at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of The Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, MD, USA, and Honorary Professor in Neurosurgery, University of Papua New Guinea (PNG).   He is a Major General in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and was immediate past Surgeon General, ADF-Reserves 2009-2011.  He has served on seven ADF Operations including Rwanda, East Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Iraq.  He was Director of Neurosurgery at Royal Children’s Hospital April 1996 to December 2000 and Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Surgery University of Melbourne 1997 to 2000.