Bulletin No. 1, 2010

Research  41 Vibration Platform to Improve Human Musculoskeletal System A team led by Prof. Leung Kwok-sui, Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, has developed an innovative vibration platform that uses mechanical stimulation, specifically low-magnitude and high-frequency whole-body vibration (LMHFV) matching the natural frequency of the human body, to improve the musculoskeletal system. LMHFV technology has wide applications. Besides the elderly, bone fracture patients and post-menopausal women, it can also benefit patients with osteoarthritis and parkinsonism, athletes who need to train up their muscles, etc. New Pacing Therapy to Prevent Heart Failure I mplantation of pacemakers is the conventional treatment for patients with slow heart rhythms. Several studies have shown that pacing in the right ventricle may lead to a worsening of function in the most important chamber of the heart, the left ventricle. Prof. Yu Cheuk-man, head of the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, and director (Clinical Sciences) of the Institute of Vascular Medicine, conducted a clinical trial titled ‘Pacing to Avoid Cardiac Enlargement’ from 2005 to 2009. The study showed that the novel biventricular pacing can avoid the adverse effect of right ventricular pacing. Prof. Yu Cheuk-man (right) and Dr. Chan Yat-sun Joseph, clinical assistant professor (honorary) of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics Research