Month: September 2012

Science Uncovered at the Natural History Museum

On Friday 28th September 2012, The Natural History Museum joined the European-wide festival of science to host Science Uncovered, an evening to celebrate European Researchers Night. The event was held across 200 European cities showcasing how exciting, fun and vital to our daily lives research is. It was a chance for the general public to visit the museum after-hours and meet Imperial Researchers for the 3rd year running. Our resident Bone Boffin, Richie took part in the event along with several members of the Faculty of Medicine, giving presentations, talks and demonstrations to the public.

In the photo below Richie is discussing the bone anatomy of a 2300 year old ancient Egyptian mummified cat.

Imperial Fringe Festival

Imperial Fringe is a series of public events exploring the unexpected side of science. Based on Imperial’s groundbreaking research, Imperial Fringe will comprise of a series of monthly public evening events to engage with and build Festival audiences throughout the year via innovative public programming.

Richie did a turn at the Imperial College Fringe on 26th September 2012 explaining how he is using 3D imaging to study the anatomy and physiology, particularly of developing bone.

Ms Chloe Chiou: 6 month research placement

“I’m Chloe Chiou, a PhD student from the department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology from National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. The National Science Council of Taipei strongly supports and encourages international collaborations between colleges. It is for this reason I applied to Imperial College and owe a huge thanks to Professor Alison McGregor and Dr Paul Strutton for approving my place here, allowing me to join the MSk Lab and assist in research for the next six months.

The project I am working on here is to investigate the way the nervous system controls the trunk muscles, particularly focusing on people with low back pain by using transcranial magnetic stimulation as a tool.

Nakhla meteorites, brain pathways and hip resurfacing. Edition 2

The Lab Report is back, bringing you new stories and developments from the MSk Lab in edition two of our quarterly newsletter.

Mr Jacobs donated his story for inclusion in the “Real Stories” section about his return to sport after hip resurfacing, after just 6 months post operation.

Our Bone Boffin tells us a science fiction tale about bones ….Are we cracking up? he questionsand what exactly do meteorites have to do with bone disease?

….and plenty more.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please email Miss Zoe Williams on the msklab@imperial.ac.uk

Technology and Outcomes in Arthroplasty

Professor Cobb was invited to write an article for Issue 4 of Orthopaedics Today Europe about the role technology has in orthopaedic surgery and if it does indeed make a difference in outcomes – “Technology can make a difference in outcomes for most arthroplasty Luddites”. There have been a number of discussions in medical journals the last few months about technology and the role of robotics in surgery; however this article gives a plotted history of how surgical tools have developed over the last 20 years and the impact they have had.

The article concludes with Professor Cobb summarising;

Only two things are required from surgical technology: a precise plan of surgery, including the size of the devices needed and exactly where they should go, and a timely and cost-effective way of carrying out the plan.