Development of a workable radiopaque rare earth doped nitinol

This thesis details the results obtained from an extensive study on the development of a workable radiopaque rare earth doped NiTi alloy through a traditional ingot melting (IM) route and a powder metallurgy (PM) route. The rare earth elements investigated as a potential NiTi ternary alloying element included erbium (Er), lanthanium (La), neodymium (Nd), gadolinium (Gd) and lutetium (Lu). Overall Erbium additions proved to be the most favourable from the ternary alloy workability point of view. The IM route involved the use of three different foundaries to melt the ingots. Two of these foundaries also hot worked the materials. Other hot working results that appear in this thesis were performed in UL on custom built equipment. Overall an interdendritic or intergranular ErNi network was always shown to form around the NiTi dendrites or grains in the IM route. This resulted in an alloy that was extremely difficult, if not impossible, to hot and cold work. Homogenisation heat treatments were discovered that do break up or at least partially break up this network into many individual ErNi spheroids. However, breaking the ErNi network has not, to date, resulted in successful hot rolling of the IM alloys. Extrusion produced far superior results, but no NiTiEr extrudate has been successfully cold drawn to-date. Attempts to add other elements such as chromium (Cr) and palladium (Pd) to improve the network break up through subsequent heat treatments and hot working, worked to a certain degree but ultimately resulted in hardening the alloy and embrittling it. Small additions of boron (B) finally proved successful in improving the workability of the alloy as it is drawn into the ErNi phase and appears to make this phase more ductile. The PM route has produced the most favourable results to-date, where-by 4% recoverable strain has been recorded through tensile testing. This was achieved through the addition of ErNi powder to NiTi powder and the non-reactive spark plasma sintering (SPS) of these powders into an ingot. This was followed by hot rolling the alloy into a strip for tensile testing at a hot rolling temperature up to 880 °C. A second alloy also proved successful, where-by 11% strain to failure was recorded through tensile testing. This alloy was made by spark plasma sintering ErFe gas atomized powder (1.5wt.% Fe) and NiTi powder in a reactive form of sintering. This alloy’s austenite finish temperature was high, so little to no recoverable strain was present. Overall both the IM and PM route have had their successes and failures, but both routes are very much strong runners as potential routes for the production of a workable and cost effective radiopaque NiTi alloy

Static magnetic susceptibility of radiopaque NiTiPt and NiTiEr

Magnetic properties of metallic alloys used in biomedical industry are important for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If the alloys were to be used for long term implants or as guiding devices, safety of the patient as well as the medical staff has to be ensured. Strong response to the external magnetic field can cause mechanical damage to the patients body. In this paper we present magnetic susceptibility of nickel rich, ternary NiTiPt and NiTiEr to static magnetic field. We show that the magnetic susceptibility of these radiopaque alloys has values in low paramagnetic region comparable to the binary nickel-titanium. Furthermore, we studied the effect of the ther mal and mechanical treatments on magnetic properties. Despite deviation from linear M(H) treated samples spanning small region around H = 0, the linearity of the M(H) and x = dM=dH values suggest that these ternary alloys are safe to use under MRI conditions

Australia-Indonesia Megatrends Foresighting Report: Energy

<div>The Energy Cluster joint Indonesian-Australian researcher workshop was held in Bandung, Indonesia in late November 2014. A horizon scanning activity was undertaken on 24th November with 35 members of the Cluster, including representatives from the AIC and CSIRO. Five of </div><div>the representatives were from Australia, with two from The Australian National University, two from Monash University and one from the University of Melbourne. The remaining participants were from Indonesian institutions including: UNHAS, IPB, ITSN, ITB, UI and </div><div>UGM. The horizon scan workshop exercise aggregated participants’ views into common issues, drivers and megashocks</div

Australia-Indonesia Megatrends Foresighting Report: Infrastructure

<div>A joint Indonesian-Australian researcher meeting for the Infrastructure Cluster was held in Surabaya, Indonesia in January 2015. During this meeting a horizon scanning activity was undertaken with 20 members of the Cluster and two AIC representatives. The horizon scanning exercise aggregated participant concerns into common issues, drivers and megashocks. </div

Australia-Indonesia Megatrends Foresighting Report: Health

<div>For the Health Cluster a planning meeting with Australian Health Cluster Leads was held by teleconference </div><div>on the 24th November 2014. In early December 2014 a series of stakeholder engagement meetings were undertaken in Jakarta, Indonesia with both Australian and Indonesian Cluster Leads. Following this consultation a joint Indonesian-Australian Cluster planning meeting was held on 11th December to undertake a horizon scanning exercise for the Cluster. The meeting was attended by members from the University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, </div><div>UI, and UNAIR, CSIRO and the AIC. The results of these consultations were aggregated into shared issues, drivers and megashocks</div

Report: 'Evaluating the impacts of participatory planning for urban water infrastructure and rural livelihoods adaptation in Indonesia'

<div>In 2009-2014 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)-CSIRO Research for Development (R4D) Alliance (‘the Alliance’) brought together the research skills of CSIRO and its international research partners with the development knowledge and networks of the Australian aid program to enhance poverty reduction in the Southeast Asian region. The partnership provided an opportunity to develop innovative approaches to international aid delivery by better understanding the relationship between poverty and the environment. Six major collaborative projects were implemented, covering Vietnam (two projects), Bangladesh (one), Indonesia (two) and the Greater Mekong Region (one). The research investigated complex development challenges in the domains of climate, water resources, sustainable cities, and food security. </div><div><br></div><div>This Australia Indonesia Centre (AIC) Small Grants project enabled us to refine an evaluation methodology developed as part of the Alliance. In this case, the two Indonesian projects and partners were the focus: Makassar Sustainable Urban Development (with Hasanuddin University), and Climate Adaptation Strategies for Rural Livelihoods in Nusa Tenggara Barat Province (with the University of Mataram). The Small Grants project involved repeating evaluation workshops and stakeholder interviews in April-June 2015 that had first been undertaken at the end of the Alliance projects in April-June 2014, thus enabling the tracking of progress along each project’s Impact Pathway 1 year after project completion. </div><div><br></div><div>A significant limitation amongst many current impact evaluation methodologies is that a narrow set of approaches is often used to evaluate complex development issues. This means that impacts may be only partially described, and this is compounded by a lack of clarity around the validation and attribution of impacts to particular interventions. The Alliance approach applied mixed methods to overcome many of these challenges, allowing us to evaluate and quantify the impact of the individual projects, and to provide an opportunity for reflection by the project teams and hence further build capacity through learning.  </div><div><br></div><div>Our approach was based on three facets: </div><div><div>1. A Theory of Change and Impact Pathway exercise and diagram which created a ‘roadmap’ for each project’s assumed progress and related outputs, outcomes, impacts and goals.</div><div>2. A self-reflection workshop amongst the Indonesian research partners which mapped key achievements against the project’s Impact Pathway, and discussed reasons for lack of progress and necessary remedial actions.</div><div>3. An impact evaluation survey of the research team and boundary partners, which asked interviewees to score 18 indicators linked to phases of the Theory of Change and Impact Pathway, providing additional perspectives and triangulation of results from the self-reflection workshops.</div></div><div><br></div><div>The results of the exercises demonstrated that with a small additional investment, project impacts can be effectively estimated and attributed. In addition, the process of self-reflection was shown to rekindle project teams’ efforts to maintain momentum, and to tackle barriers to impact that they had identified. We suggest that the Alliance methodology demonstrated by this Small Grants project could be usefully applied to other projects in the AIC portfolio. <br></div

Australia-Indonesia Megatrends Foresighting Report: Agriculture and Food

<div>For the Agriculture and Food Cluster a joint Indonesian-Australian researcher meeting, as had been convened for other Clusters, was not possible. Instead, the project team engaged researchers separately in Australia and Indonesia. Following a Cluster planning meeting at the University of Sydney on 27th November 2014, individual telephone interviews were carried out with five members from the University of Sydney, the Australian National University and the Department of Agriculture. In Indonesia, a workshop was held on 23rd December 2014 with six members from IPB, ITB, ITS and UNAIR. The results of these consultations were aggregated into shared issues, drivers and megashocks. </div

Citric acid functionalized nitinol stent surface promotes endothelial cell healing.

While drug-eluting stents containing anti-proliferative agents inhibit proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs), they also delay the regrowth of the endothelial cells which can result in subsequent development of restenosis. Acidic extracellular environments promote cell anchorage and migration by inducing conformational change in integrins, the main cell adhesion proteins. This study addresses the feasibility of a citric acid (CA) functionalized nitinol stent for improving vascular biocompatibility, specifically enhancing endothelialization. CA functionalized nitinol vascular stents are compared to commercial bare metal (Zilver Flex) and paclitaxel eluting stents (Zilver PTX) in terms of re-endothelialization. To study the effect of stent coatings, a stent conditioned media methodology was developed in an attempt to represent in vivo conditions. Overall, distinct advantages of the CA functionalized nitinol stent over commercial Zilver PTX DES and Zilver Flex BMS stents in terms of endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation are reported. These novel findings indicate the potential of a CA functionalized stent to serve as a bioactive and therapeutic surface for re-endothelialization, perhaps in combination with a SMC proliferation inhibitor coating, to prevent restenosis

AIC Foresighting Final Report Lessons.pdf

<p>The Australia-Indonesia Centre is collaboratively researching solutions to shared national challenges in four Clusters: </p> <p>* Energy<br>* Infrastructure<br>* Agriculture and Food<br>* Health</p> <p>In 2015 a Cluster Investment Plan (CLIP) was developed for each Cluster. This was undertaken through planning workshops held in Australia and Indonesia. In November 2014, CSIRO was contracted by the AIC to assist with the Cluster planning process by applying its ‘foresighting’ method, which analysed key trends in each theme towards 2030 and beyond. The over-arching goal was ‘to support the development of CLIPs which focus on priority research areas of shared interest between Australia and Indonesia, and to promote integration, synergy and learning amongst the Cluster teams’.</p> <p>The objectives of the Foresighting Project were:</p> <p>1. For each Cluster, analyse megatrends and megashocks with shared relevance for Australia and Indonesia to support the development of each CLIP;<br>2. Develop exploratory scenarios with AIC partners of Australian and Indonesian regional development to identify and integrate research priorities within and between Clusters;<br>3. Test and apply the DFAT-CSIRO Research for Development Alliance method to assess the learning and integration achieved amongst AIC researchers as a result of the foresighting.</p><p></p

Modulating the release of pharmaceuticals from lipid cubic phases using a lipase inhibitor

Lipid cubic phase formulations have gained recognition as potential controlled delivery systems for a range of active pharmaceutical and biological agents on account of their desirable physiochemical properties and ability to encapsulate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. The most widely studied lipid cubic systems are those of the monoacylglycerol lipid family. These formulations are susceptible to lipolysis by a variety of enzymes, including lipases and esterases, which attack the ester bond present on the lipid chain bridging the oleic acid component to the glycerol backbone. The release of poorly soluble molecules residing in the lipid membrane portions of the phase is limited by the breakdown of the matrix; thus, presenting a potential means for further controlling and sustaining the release of therapeutic agents by targeting the matrix stability and its rate of degradation. The aims of the present study were twofold: to evaluate an approach to regulate the rate of degradation of lipid cubic phase drug delivery systems by targeting the enzyme interactions responsible for their demise; and to study the subsequent drug release profiles from bulk lipid cubic gels using model drugs of contrasting hydrophobicity. Here, hybrid materials consisting of cubic phases with monoacylglycerol lipids of different chain lengths formulated with a potent lipase inhibitor tetrahydrolipstatin were designed. Modulation of the release ofa hydrophobic model pharmaceutical, a clofazimine salt, was obtained by exploiting the matrices’ enzyme-driven digestion. A stable cubic phase is described, displaying controlled degradation with at least a 4-fold improvement compared to the blank systems shown in inhibitor-containing cubic systems. Sustained release of the model hydrophobic pharmaceutical was studied over 30 days to highlight the advantage of incorporating an inhibitor into the cubic network to achieve tunable lipid release systems. This is done without negatively affecting the structure of the matrix itself, as shown by comprehensive small-angle x-ray scattering experiments