Fascinating projects

Press, 20 November 1989, Page 35

Fascinating projects

The latest medical research being carried out in Canterbury will be featured in the Medical Research Expo, giving the public the chance to see some fascinating projects. Displays have been prepared by the Canterbury Medical Research

Foundation and will be on view from 6.30 to 10.30 p.m. in the foyer of the Christchurch Town Hall tomorrow. There will be 28 displays about a huge range of relevant topics. The display prepared by university pathology

groups, “Liver and Atherosclerosis,” an image analyser demonstration and “Form and Function” is about the health of the liver.

Publicity about the treatment of port wine birth marks has aroused much public interest. This

is the topic for the University of Canterbury Physics Department’s display, “Lasers in Medicine.”

Jaw movements during sleep reveal plenty of information about people, some with psychological implications. A model and poster appropriately entitled “Jaws” shows how jaw measurements are made.

Finding a cure for the common cold has long been regarded as a “pie in the sky.” But finding a cure for this perennial nuisance may not be so far off. The virology display about anti-viral agents shows progress on killing the cold virus.

One of the best known methods of identifying people is by fingerprinting. But identification can be done through speech, though the application for speech synthesis, which is the subject of a demonstration and poster, is applied mainly to stroke victims being trained to regain their speech.