On this week’s Our Changing World, a research group from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute discuss the medical device they are designing to help people with hydrocephalus.
In hydrocephalus, increased fluid around the brain increases the pressure, which leads to different symptoms and problems. Before the invention of an implantable shunt to drain this fluid, hydrocephalus was almost universally fatal.
Robert Gallichan stands next to a blown up image of the electronic circuit he has designed to go in the sensor. Photo: RNZ/Claire Concannon
Unfortunately, these shunts fail quite often. Some of the most common early symptoms of a shunt failing are nausea and headache, which can create a lot of uncertainty and anxiety amongst patients and their families. Is the headache they are experiencing due to shunt failure, or something more innocuous?
By designing a brain pressure sensor that can be implanted in patients alongside the shunt, Simon Malpas and his team hope they can relieve this uncertainty by providing a way to directly measure brain pressure. This would help patients know whether their shunt was still working well or not. In this week's episode, Simon and the team explain how they design and test the sensor, and how it works.
Bryon Wright next to test equipment the lab has made to check the sensor. Photo: RNZ/Claire Concannon
