News Publications
Monash in the top ten for NHMRC funding
Monash News and events
27 March, 2015
Professor Sunita Chauhan, from the Faculty of Engineering, aims to develop a new non-invasive treatment for liver and bile duct cancers. Over $564,000, will enable Professor Chauhan’s team to design an image-guided, radiation free, robotic High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) as an alternative to current treatments.
Achievements recognised by prestigious Indian award
Monash News and events
February, 2015
The Monash systems engineer and director of mechatronics program has been recognised as a 'Jewel of India', one of the highest disporic awards presented to non-resident Indian citizens (NRIs). Presented by the NRI Welfare Society of India, Professor Sunita Chauhan from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has been recognised for her outstanding services, achievements and contributions in the field of medical robotics with the prestigious Hind Rattan (Jewel of India).
No scalpels
Sound bites in the surgery: Catherine Norwood
June, 2014
HIFU techniques create the possibility of surgery without a scalpel, reducing the potential for complications inherent in any procedure that cuts into the body. However, most HIFU treatments are still considered experimental.
"It is usually offered to patients who have no alternatives," Professor Chauhan says.
If there is one part of the body most in need of the precision of a robot approach it is the critical brain systems.
– Professor Sunita Chauhan
"Some people do not want to have surgery and others are poor candidates for various reasons – their health, or their age. Some people might require multiple surgeries and you can't operate on the same place over and over again because of the scar tissue. Or they might be offered this technique when other treatments, such as radiotherapy, have failed."
She says that, while ultrasound is already used for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic purposes, the potential of HIFU in clinical medicine as a surgical technique is only just beginning to be realised. In procedures such as lithotripsy, ultrasound is used as an alternative to laser or electromagnetic waves to break up gallstones or kidney stones. The fragments are subsequently excreted naturally, avoiding the need for open surgery.
Surgery steps away from the cutting edge
No cuts, no wounds to heal, no blood loss and no extended hospital stay: that is the promise being extended by ultrasound surgery.
Sunita Chauhan Receives Hind Rattan Award
Ultrasonic Industry Association Volume 24, Issue 3
2014
Sunita Chauhan, member of the UIA Board of Directors, will receive the coveted Hind Rattan award from the Indian government in January 2015. The Hind Rattan (Hindi phrase translated to English as "Jewel of India") is one of the highest Indian diasporic awards granted annually to non-resident Indian citizens (NRIs) by the NRI Welfare Society of India, an organization under the umbrella of the Government of India. The award is granted at the Society's annual congress, held in conjunction with national Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations. The award ceremony is attended by senior members of the Government of India and of the Supreme Court of India.
'Bloodless' Surgery
Breakthroughs and trends in world of technology - PRISM
September, 2014
The idea sounds like something from Star Trek: a surgical technique that involves no cuts or blood. In fact, the method developed by medical robotics expert Sunita Chauhan, a systems engineering professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is so non-invasive, it doesn’t even scratch the skin. The procedure uses high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) with precisely targeted waves to burn cancerous tumors while leaving surrounding tissue undamaged. Though still experimental, the method “works well in the lab,” says Chauhan, who predicts it initially will provide a lifesaving alternative to conventional surgery for tumors in such difficult locations as the stomach, liver, and kidneys, as well as for breast cancer and high-risk brain procedures. Noting the popularity of laparoscopic or “keyhole” surgery, she calls HIFU “the next step in reducing surgical trauma,” and expects it to spread worldwide – after human trials and regulatory approvals – in five to seven years. Paging Dr. McCoy!