Young brainy students
create world first
Melbourne, Australia, September 5:
A new 3D brain model is at the centre of a project created by a
group of postgraduate students based at the Howard Florey Institute.
The team, known as BRAINYak scanned a fellow members' brain using
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to construct their
model.
They have literally put their brains
into their new entry in this year's Biotechnology Entrepreneur
Program, an initiative of Young Achievement Australia.
As a group of young neuroscientists
grappling with brain anatomy, the BRAINYak team endeavoured to
design a unique way to understand where regions are in the brain and
how they inter-relate.
Scott Kolbe, the BRAINYak member who
donated his brain for the scan said powerful new neuroimaging
technologies such as magnetic resonance have opened up a new window
in understanding the organisation and inner workings of the body's
most mysterious organ, the brain.
"Using this technology we have
created the perfect tool to understand neuroanatomy as easily and as
efficiently as possible so we can instead focus on curing brain
diseases and disorders that impact enormously on society," he said.
Their product, the NeuroSlice model
consists of MR images of Scott's brain, which the group has colour-coded
so different areas of the brain can be identified easily.
The NeuroSlice model will be of use
to students and postgraduates new to the neuroscience field and to
clinicians as a prop for diagnostic explanations to patients.
BRAINYak's invention is the first 3D brain model using MRI images
and provides a representation of the brain in space, something not
found when using software programs and brain atlases.
Participants in Biotechnology
Entrepreneur Program are guided through a 24-week intensive program
by industry mentors during which they develop a product, taking it
through the commercialisation process from concept to market.
The BRAINYak team are sponsored by
the Howard Florey Institute, Australia's leading brain institute and
Neurosciences Victoria, an organization dedicated to linking brain
research with commercial opportunities.
For further information on BRAINYak
and their new invention visit
www.hfi.unimelb.edu.au/BRAINYak.
