Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

officially set up on campus by the Faculty of Engineering on 4th November 1999. W i t h s t a t e - o f - t h e - a rt f a c i l i t i es a n d expertise f r om the Faculty o f Engineering, A E C T w i l l assume a c r u c i a l role i n the advancement of e-commerce technologies and applications. It will conduct basic and applied research in ma j o r areas o f e-commerce technologies, which include the Internet and i n f o r m a t i o n systems technologies , and enterprise solutions technologies. The centre was made possible by the generous sponsorship of various business corporations including Oracle Systems Ho ng K o n g L i m i t e d and Sun M i c r o s y s t ems o f California Limited. Medical News New Treatments New Achievements in Heart and Lung Surgery The Faculty o f Medicine has pioneered the development of minimal access cardiothoracic surgery which greatly reduces the pain arising from surgery and markedly shortens recovery. I t also has a p r o f ound effec t on healthcare economics by shortening hospital stay and allowing patients to return to work earlier. The new method allows the operation to be performed through a few small incisions. Ma j o r muscles do not need to be cut and ribs not spread. Postoperative pai n is substantially less, and patients can go home a few days following surgery. The Faculty o f Medicine has performed over 1,500 minimal invasive thoracic surgical procedures for a variety o f chest conditions. These procedures can also be applied in aortic valve replacement, aortic root replacement, and coronary artery bypass grafting. Pioneering Treatment for Parkinson's Disease A t present there is no cure fo r Parkinson's disease. W h i l e the ma j o r i ty of patients r e s p o n d t o d r u g therapy, a significant proportion may suffer f r o m s e v e re s i d e - effects. T h i s l a t t e r group may benefit from s u r g i c a l t r e a t me n t, w h i c h i n c l u d e s d e s t r u c t i o n o f deep b r a i n n u c l e i b y r a d i o s u r g e r y , t h e implantation o f foetal or g e n e t i c a l l y - engineered neuronal cells into the deep brain nuclei, or deep brain stimulation of the thalamic and subthalamic nuclei. The F a c u l ty o f Me d i c i ne ha s been developing the first deep brain stimulation programme in Asia since 1996-97, and by the end o f 1999, has implanted the deep brain stimulation system i n five patients with good results. Deep b r a i n s t i mu l a t i on ha s the advantage of not destroying the deep brain nuclei, and avoiding the ethical issues over foetal cell transplantation. I n deep brai n stimulation, an electrode connected to a pulse generator is placed inside the brain to stimulate the thalamus and the subthalamus in order to treat tremors, rigidity of limbs, and slowness of movements. Surgical Advance Brings Hope to the Hearing Impaired Two ground-breaking Au d i t o r y Brainstem Implant ( AB I ) operations were performed at the Prince of Wales Hospital by the Divisions of Otorhinolaryngology and Neurosurgery o f the Department of Surgery to restore hearing in patients w i t h bilateral nerve and sensory deafness. I n October 1999, two young women wit h tumours on bo t h hearing nerves had their tumours removed and were implanted with 24- Deep Brain Stimulation System Chinese University Bulletin Sprin g • Summer 2 0 00