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Epidural simulator developed by BU and Poole Hospital will help reduce risk of harm to patients

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An epidural simulator being developed by Bournemouth University and Poole Hospital will help train doctors to carry out the procedure – and reduce the risk of harm to patients.

The simulator is being created by PhD student Neil Vaughan and Professor Venky Dubey from BU’s School of Design, Engineering and Computing, alongside Dr Michael Wee and Dr Richard Isaacs from Poole Hospital.

It will use sophisticated software to replicate the conditions of giving an epidural to a real-life patient, and will allow adjustments for different heights, BMIs, angles, and rotations of the spine.

The simulator will be used to help doctors train to do the procedure – an injection into the spine to provide pain relief during labour – to improve results and reduce the risk of harm to patients.

Dr Wee is a consultant anaesthetist at Poole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and visiting professor in BU’s School of Health and Social Care.

He said: “I developed the simulator because there is a need to provide precise training in a delicate clinical procedure which has potential devastating effects to the mother when things go wrong.

“A high fidelity epidural simulator will help to reduce the learning curve and thereby improve the success of epidurals whilst reducing potential harm to the mothers.”

He added: “I decided to team up with Bournemouth University’s School of Design, Engineering and Computing as they have the necessary expertise and skills in developing the epidural simulator.

“The jointly funded PhD studentship is also a great incentive as it is an example of an NHS Hospital working collaboratively and fruitfully with a local university to produce ground-breaking research and products.”

Development of the simulator began in 2010, and it is currently undergoing clinical trials on patients.

The project has already received international attention, and has been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards – including the National Patient Safety Awards 2013, in the Technology and IT to Improve Patient Safety category, and The Design of Medical Devices International Student Design Showcase 2013.

It will also be part of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Innovation Showcase in June – competing against Ivy League universities to secure further funding.

BU is the only UK university represented at the Showcase, and will be up against the likes of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr Venky Dubey, Associate Professor in Research at BU, said: “Our team is recognised as world-leading in epidural research by many international bodies.

“It is hoped that these successes will establish Bournemouth University as the internationally-recognised research institution.”

The ASME Innovation Showcase takes place in Indianapolis on June 22 and the National Patient Safety Awards take place in London on July 9.

Mentoring Celebration event takes place at BU

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Pupils who have been involved with Bournemouth University’s Mentoring Scheme visited Talbot Campus for a celebration event.

The Mentoring Scheme aims to promote higher education as an option to pupils, with current BU students visiting schools to help and support pupils – covering everything from university finances, to choosing the right course or writing a CV.

http://youtu.be/Sd5NnYFSV14

Around 50 pupils who have been involved in the scheme over the last year visited BU for the celebration event, and to get a taste of university life.

Alongside activities like course tasters and a shopping challenge, they toured the campus with their mentors and had the chance to visit the 2013 Dorset Higher Education Convention taking place that day.

Outreach and Student Recruitment Officer Matt Usher, who coordinates the mentoring scheme, said: “It’s about that first step.

“Pupils may not know what they want to do next so the scheme is really just about introducing it to them as an idea and letting them know there are opportunities out there for them.

“Often they find that working with a peer mentor can be really inspirational and aspirational – they can see an example of what they can do if they work hard over the next few years, and their mentor will understand and have been through the experiences that those pupils will be going through now.”

Pupils at the celebration event came from schools including Oak Academy, The Grange School and Carter Community College, and ranged in age from 14 to sixth form age.

Dawn Griffiths, Upper School Progress Coordinator at Oak Academy, said the pupils at her school had enjoyed working with the mentors and visiting the BU campus.

“They learnt a lot about things that they may not necessarily discuss with each other in a normal school environment. I think to be taught things like budgeting and study skills by somebody who is still studying is very, very valuable.”

She added: “It’s been lovely for them to mix with the students in the university environment, and they’ve been really excited about what courses and universities they are going to look at.”

More information about the mentoring scheme, and other outreach activities taking place at BU

Dr Heather Hartwell joins radio debate on brands and nutrition

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Associate Professor in Food Service and Applied Nutrition at BU Heather Hartwell took part in a Battle of the Brands debate on BBC Radio Solent.

The feature, on Alex Dyke’s mid-morning show, came as research showed that supermarket own-brands now account for 43 per cent of food sales.

Heather told Alex that she believed supermarket brands could more than match up to well-established names in terms of taste and nutritional value.

“Sometimes there’s no difference, but sometimes they are actually better.

“The traditional brands, they do put a little bit more sugar and salt in them, because they taste nicer, and the value brands don’t do that.”

She added that this particularly happened with cereals, and encouraged people to take a closer look at the labels and nutritional information.

“Cereals are some of the labels that people look at most, because they are out on the breakfast table, they’ve got time to look at them. It’s a staple product, so it is worth looking at the nutritional value labelling and comparing it to the own brands.”

“You could be saving yourself a lot of money, and nutritionally they are the same.”

She said that humans are creatures of habit, and could be difficult to steer away from long-established food traditions – adding that she had even resorted to buying own-brand products and putting them in familiar brand packaging so her family didn’t notice!

You can hear the debate in full here.

Students and academics from across Europe visit BU for international social work conference

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Students and academics from across Europe visited Bournemouth University for a week of events centred around social work and diversity.

It is the first time BU has held the International Social Work Week, organised for students and staff of universities in the SOCNET network.

Around 50 academics and students in social work, sociology and law visited BU for the week, from universities in places including Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain.

Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Head of Sociology at BU, helped to organise the week.

She said: “It helps the staff gain international connections, and because you are part of a network it helps give students the opportunities to go abroad to other universities as well.

“It means that you are part of a community rather than an individual institution.”

She added: “We are creating these research networks and links, which are really important.

“There are very different approaches to social work in Europe. We learn from them as much as they learn from us.”

The event is held every year at different universities who are part of the network, with each week having a different theme.

This year’s theme was around diversity, with talks and workshops on issues including discrimination and cohesion, marginalised groups and social work approaches.

But there was also chance for the visitors to explore Bournemouth and the surrounding area, with excursions to Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast and a visit to the Mayor of Bournemouth’s Parlour.

Student Franziska Lasche, from Hochschule Bremen University in Germany, said she had enjoyed her time in Bournemouth.

“It’s the first time I have been to Bournemouth, and I have really enjoyed it,” she said.

“It’s good to get to know people and exchange our experiences and ideas. It’s useful to have a network of people from all across Europe.”

Jill Davey, Framework Leader for Social and Community Studies and Erasmus coordinator at BU, said the week had gone well, and they now hoped to hold the event in Bournemouth every three years.

“It has been a very successful week,” she said.

“As well as potential student exchanges and opportunities at BU, a lot of the students have expressed interest in coming across and doing programmes and further study here.

“We’ve also had lots of people saying they are going to come back to Bournemouth for a holiday, so it’s really good for the tourist trade as well.”

Maria Luisa Gomez Jimenez, from the Public Law Department at the University of Malaga, was one of the academics running workshops during the SOCNET week.

She said: “It has been wonderful, and I think it’s a really valuable thing for us and the students to meet each other and exchange perspectives, backgrounds and ways of looking at problems and seeking solutions.”

Dr Jeff Bray comments on Tesco trading figures

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Dr Jeff Bray, Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Retail Management at BU, was interviewed on BBC Radio Solent about Tesco’s dip in profits.

The retail giant had recorded a fall in its annual profits for the first time in 20 years, and announced that it was planning to pull out of its stores in the USA.

Jeff told Solent’s Drivetime presenter Steve Harris that he thought the latest figures were “absolutely appalling”.

“Their actual profits, after tax has been taken into consideration, are down some 95 per cent, so frankly, those who have invested into Tesco in the last 12 months have seen barely any return on their investment,” Jeff said.

He added that because Tesco was such a huge company, it would take a long time to turn things around.

“Essentially, in the UK, they took their eye off the ball, and didn’t refurbish their stores in a regular process, so their whole store estate is a little dated now.

“Of course, they’ve got so many stores spread all over the country that it’s going to take a great deal of time – and money – to update the stores and bring them up to the standard that actually some Waitrose and Sainsbury’s stores are now at.

Jeff explained that one of the key reasons Tesco took their eye off the ball in the UK was because it had been expanding internationally.

While that has been successful in countries such as Thailand, they have struggled in more developed markets like the USA – where there are already a large number of established grocery retailers.

“It’s in those markets where they have lost their way and, in the case of America, are going to withdraw – having lost £1.2 billion, which is a staggering figure.” said Jeff.

You can listen to the interview in full here.

Students take on videogame marathon to raise money for charity

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Students from Bournemouth University aim to raise £2,000 for charity by playing video games continuously for a week.

The group of around 20 students will take it in turns to play the Zelda computer games in The Atrium, on BU’s Talbot Campus.

They started at 1pm on Monday and will finish on Sunday April 14, with the games being played 24 hours a day.

They are holding the event to raise money for GamesAid, which supports various children’s charities, including improving access to gaming and technology.

“They help disabled people who can’t use controls to play games by adapting them especially for them,” said Mike Warner, a second year BSc (Hons) Software Engineering student, who has organised the fundraiser.

“It’s about making them accessible for everyone.”

The group are playing the games on a number of large screens on The Atrium, and people can also watch a live stream of the players on a website created by Mike.

They aim to complete all 12 Zelda titles in the 212 hours they will be playing.

“Lots of people have come around to see what is going on,” said Mike, 26, of Wimborne.

“I was up late before we started because I was finishing off the website, so I’m already behind on my sleep, but I’m not worried about getting bored of it as each game is really different.”

He added: “We probably won’t have time to finish them all, but it is worth a go.”

Mike attempted the challenge with friends in 2011, and raised £1,312 for GamesAid.

He said: “When I raised money for them last time, I met the people behind GamesAid and it was really impressive seeing first-hand what they have done.

“This year, we want to raise £2,000.”

To watch the live stream of the Zelda marathon and donate visit: www.zeldagamesaid.co.uk.

New online portal to highlight research done by BU in the Poole and Purbeck region

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A new online portal will allow students and staff from BU’s School of Applied Sciences to share their knowledge and research more easily with the local community.

The Poole and Purbeck Portal will highlight the work being done in the area, as well as providing a space for employers and key stakeholders in the region to post placement and project opportunities.

BU Networking and Bid Development Officer Ben Thornes has helped create the Portal.

He said: “The community is open to anyone who wishes to understand, study, protect or improve the region – this includes professionals in organisations outside the university, as well as students, academics, scientists and anyone who lives in the area.

“Exciting opportunities, knowledge and expertise will be shared on the Portal, creating a gateway for new collaborations across the region.”

The Poole and Purbeck region is an area of outstanding natural beauty, with rich biodiversity and important heritage sites.

It has long been a popular place for research within BU’s School of Applied Sciences, ranging from archaeological investigations of an Iron Age port at Poole Harbour to analysis of woodland patches to see if biodiversity is being lost.

The website will be used as a showcase for the work and research that the School of Applied Sciences is doing across the region, as well as an area for staff and students to network with employers, local authorities and key stakeholders.

Dr Genoveva Esteban, Associate Professor in Aquatic Environmental Sciences at BU, is principal investigator for the Poole and Purbeck Portal.

She said: “Job offers will go on the portal, as well as third year dissertation and research projects.

“We have already been out speaking with businesses and organisations in the area about it. They think it is an excellent idea and now they can easily see what we do.”

The project has been funded by a £41,000 grant from the university and the team are also hoping to connect with wildlife, conservation and heritage groups in the region.

“If you want to find out what the university has done in a particular area, it is an easier way of locating it right there and then without having to go through all the different journal sites,” said Ben.

“It is a way for people to be easily able to see the work that BU does in the community and the benefits of that.”

You can find the Poole and Purbeck Portal at: www.pooleandpurbeckportal.co.uk

Dr Max Lowenstein talks about high profile sentencing case on BBC Radio Solent

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Dr Max Lowenstein, a Lecturer in Law at BU, was interviewed on BBC Radio Solent’s drivetime programme about high profile sentencing cases taking place that day.

Mick and Mairead Philpott had been sentenced for the manslaughter of their six children in a house fire, alongside friend Paul Mosley, earlier that day.

Mick Philpott received a life sentence, but could be released after 15 years, while Mairead and Mosley could be released after serving half of their 17 year prison term.

Presenter Steve Harris said that many listeners believed that it was not a long enough sentence but Dr Lowenstein explained that judge’s hands could sometimes be tied by the law in terms of the punishment they could hand out.

“What would be interesting is what sort of emotions the judge is picking up on and what sort of perspectives the judge is picking up on, because we have the offender, the victim and the public,” said Dr Lowenstein, who specialises in criminal law and sentencing.

“Within the remarks that the judge makes, they will be referring to different perspectives in order to justify the sentence.”

He added: “The range of sentencing [for manslaughter] is also extremely wide – manslaughter has a discretionary life sentence, as opposed to the mandatory life sentence for murder, and can range from conditional discharge to life in prison, which is a huge range for judicial discretion.

“In this particular case, the Philpott case, you can see that the judge has taken the highest possible sentence for manslaughter.”

You can hear the interview in full here.

BU virtual reality bystander research featured on BBC London TV news

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Richard Southern, Research Lecturer in Computer Animation at BU, was featured on BBC London TV news talking about using virtual reality to investigate the bystander effect.

Richard and a team from BU have been working with University College London to create a virtual reality simulation of an altercation in a bar, to see how people react when they witness a violent situation.

Participants wear special glasses which create a 360 degree virtual experience, and are confronted with a conflict between two men in the bar – one of whom is wearing an Arsenal football shirt.

The research found that people were more likely to intervene if they were fellow Arsenal fans or if the simulated person made eye contact, seen as an appeal for help.

BBC London reporter Sara Orchard tried out the simulation, for a report which appeared on both the lunchtime and evening bulletins.

Richard said: “A lot of people were frustrated that they couldn’t intervene, but I think in general, most people were surprised by how emotionally involved in the event.”

The research is now being looked at for potentially uses by the prison service, the Ministry of Defence and the police.

You can watch the BBC London report here.

Centre for Face Processing Disorders at BU campaigns for greater recognition of face blindness

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Imagine not being able to recognise your own child at nursery or even pick out your own face from a line-up of photos.

This is just how severe face blindness, or prosopagnosia, can be.

“In extreme cases, people might withdraw socially – become depressed, leave their job, or just suffer endless embarrassment,” said Bournemouth University psychologist Dr Sarah Bate.

Dr Bate leads the Centre for Face Processing Disorders at BU, which carries out research to advance understanding of the causes of prosopagnosia and develops training strategies that can help to improve face recognition skills.

The Centre is now campaigning for formal recognition of face blindness, and has launched an e-petition for the issue to be discussed in parliament.

“Children with prosopagnosia can find it really difficult to make friends because all children wear school uniforms in the UK – this takes away any external cues to recognition,” said Dr Bate.

“If children with face blindness seem socially withdrawn, this is often misinterpreted as an indicator of other socio-emotional difficulties or behavioural problems because of the lack of professional awareness of prosopagnosia.”

She added: “Because prosopagnosia is not a formally recognised disorder, many people are reluctant to inform their employer that they have the condition, despite it influencing their performance at work or their relations with colleagues and clients.

“Indeed, many people feel they would be discriminated against if managers became aware of their condition, and this may prevent promotion and impede other opportunities in the workplace.”

Until the last decade or so, face blindness was virtually unknown, with just a handful of documented cases.

But now thousands of people have contacted Bournemouth University, the largest research centre in the UK investigating the condition.

Dr Bate estimates one in 50 people suffer from prosopagnosia to some degree – some struggle to put a name to a face while others can’t recognise people they have known their whole lives.

Those with severe forms of the condition typically cannot recognise spouses, children or other family members and some cannot even recognise their own reflections in the mirror.

Dr Bate said: “I imagine there is such low awareness of prosopagnosia because it has traditionally been thought of as a rare disorder, and only recently has it become clear that it affects many people.

“Someone said to me recently that public awareness about prosopagnosia is where Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was 20 years ago, and there’s a real upwards battle to achieve sufficient recognition amongst the public and professionals.”

The disorder can be acquired following neurological trauma or illness, such as a head injury or stroke, but many more people suffer from a developmental form of the condition and have lifelong difficulties in face recognition.

There may be as many as 1.5 million prosopagnosics in the UK alone, but public and professional awareness of the condition is low.

Dr Bate hopes that the Centre’s public awareness campaign will lead to greater recognition of prosopagnosia.

The campaign includes an e-petition, which needs 100,000 signatures to have the condition discussed in parliament.

“It’s going to take a while to achieve the required number of signatures, but it will get people talking about prosopagnosia and discussing the importance of proper recognition,” she said.

“If the issue does get discussed by government, it’s possible that we can use our research to advise about the need for professional awareness of the condition, and work with appropriate committees to provide information that can be distributed via the NHS and educational and occupational pathways.”

You can sign the e-petition here

To find out more about face blindness and the work of the Centre for Face Processing Disorders visit www.prosopagnosiaresearch.org.