Biomedtrix Workshop: Total Knee Replacement

As well as assisting the students here in Cambridge, a team from the SDC recently travelled to the University of Liverpool to take part in the Total Knee Replacement course run by Biomedtrix. Professor Matthew Allen and colleagues demonstrated the surgical techniques to a group of Veterinary surgeons from the UK and Europe. It was a great opportunity, bringing together experts from the two Universities, and America, to share their vast knowledge and experience of the procedure with attendees.

Research Afternoon at the Department of Veterinary Medicine

This week saw a wide range of researchers from all over the Department of Veterinary Medicine come together to share their recent work and present ideas for the future. It was a great opportunity to showcase the diversity of research that is going on, and to meet fellow researchers both within and across different specialities.

Charlotte Palmer presented her work on circulating tumour cells in osteosarcoma patients, and Amy Stelman presented a pilot study into the diagnosis of ectopic ureters in Golden retrievers using ultrasonography.

This was a fantastic afternoon and we are already looking forward to next year!

Exploring Gait Analysis with Veterinary Students

It was a pleasure to welcome a group of final year Cambridge Veterinary Students to the Surgical Discovery Centre as part of their Elective Study weeks. We looked at how gait analysis can be used with both clinical and research cases, including diagnosis and ongoing investigations into medical or surgical intervention. They then had the opportunity to apply their knowledge with Harry and Wiggy who are always very obliging patients!
Well done everyone for all your hard work and good luck for the future.

Seminar at the Veterinary Department, University of Cambridge

Professor Matthew Allen chaired a departmental seminar this week, with the invited speaker Dr Constanza Gomez Alvarez from the University of Surrey talking about her exciting work into gait analysis in dogs. We have ongoing collaborations between our facilities, and Dr Gomez Alvarez has been instrumental in this. It was a very informative talk, and opened up lively discussions about the future of gait analysis and it's continued integration into patient care.

Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month 2017

Veterinary Nurses here in the Surgical Discovery Centre, and within the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, play a huge role in research, so we are joining in VN Awareness Month in May to celebrate this! #whatvnsdo

Science Festival 2017

Thank you to everyone that could make it to Science Festival 2017.  It was great to meet so many enthusiastic scientists of all ages!

Jose supervised students preparing for "surgery", there were  fractures to fix with Luisa and Charlotte, demonstrations of 3D printing and the robot with Matthew, and plenty more hands on activities for budding vets and researchers, with a great team of volunteers from staff and students.

Looking forward to next year!

Scientists Welcome

We were really pleased to host a practical session run by the SynBio Forum recently,  giving hands-on experience to scientists from a wide range of backgrounds.

Our laboratory provided the ideal environment for the workshop; Programmable biology for diagnostics: impacting global health and development, challenged delegates to design logic circuits using DNA, and programme cell extracts to produce colours or other reporters in response to a signal.

 

 

Robot takes over Surgical Discovery Centre!

KR 60_Header.jpg

The Surgical Discovery Centre in Cambridge is awaiting delivery of a cutting edge robotic simulator for biomechanics studies. The system, consisting of a KUKA 60-3 robot (https://www.kuka.com) and a dedicated biomechanics software package (SimVitro) developed by the BioRobotics core at Cleveland Clinic in the United States, is due to be installed the week of March 6th, 2017.

Unlike traditional mechanical testing systems, which usually operate in one or perhaps two planes of motion (up and down, to apply tension and compression, or in rotation to apply torque), the new robot is capable of translational and rotational movements around all three axes simultaneously. From a practical perspective, this means that the software drives to the robot to simulate the complexity of movement in both animals and humans. An example of the system's capability to simulate human knee movement can be found on the Cleveland Clinic site (http://mds.clevelandclinic.org/Services/BioRobotics/simVITRO.aspx).

 

Once installed in the Surgical Discovery Centre, the new simulator will be put to work immediately! The first testing will involve evaluation of the effects of knee replacement on movement patterns in the canine knee. We then plan to use the robot in a new study to develop a better surgical solution for dogs with elbow disease. Watch this space for videos and updates on our progress :)

3D Printing meets Education.

In the Surgical Discovery Centre we've been really excited to use our 3D printing techniques to produce this model from a CT scan of a rabbit's skull.
This is the first stage of a final year Veterinary Medicine student's project we have been working on, alongside the Clinical Skills lab in
the Queen's Veterinary School Hospital.
We are really looking forward to seeing the finished project!

The CT scan of the rabbit's skull

The CT scan of the rabbit's skull

The finished 3D model

The finished 3D model