THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI * THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 5 TIMES CITY Chennai: Counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Ad- missions (TNEA 2016) -- con- ducted by Anna University -- will begin in Chennai on Ju- ne 24, starting with candida- tes under the sports quota. Differently-abled students will sit for counselling on Ju- ne 25 while general category counselling will begin on Ju- ne 27. While the counselling usually begins in the first we- ek of July, Anna University registrar S Ganesan said that they decided to start it early this time to aid students. He said that the universi- ty received 1,85,070 applica- tions online, of which 1,34,722 candidates have paid their fee as of May 31. The rank list will be published on June 22, upon which candida- tes can download the call let- ter from the university web- site. In a first, the university is arranging accommodation for girls coming to Chennai for counselling. Students wishing to avail accommoda- tion can use the TNEA helpli- nes -- 044-22358265/66/67, or send a mail to tancetenq@an- nauniv.edu. Last year, close to 1.9 lakh candidates registered online, 1.54 lakh paid their fees, with 1.1lakh taking up the final of- fer. The registrar denied a dip in candidates opting for engi- neering despite the stats. “Every year, there are a lot of candidates who don’t take up the offer due to vario- us reasons. That way, the ra- tio of those who apply to tho- se who take up admission is not skewed. Engineering co- urses are very much in de- mand and jobs are aplenty,” he said. For details, visit www.an- nauniv.edu/tnea2016. Anna Univ counselling from June 24 TIMES NEWS NETWORK Chennai: Southern railway will run a superfast special train from Trichy to Santragachi in West Bengal via Chennai Egmore. The train (No 00609) will leave Trichy at 5.30pm on June 18 and June 25, both Saturdays, and reach Santragachi on the following Mondays. TNN Spl superfast train to West Bengal Chennai: From ventilators to contraptions fitted with wi- res, complex devices have be- en employed to imitate the lungs in patients struggling to breathe. A group of resear- chers is now looking at a bubb- le to save lives. Ben Terry, assistant pro- fessor of mechanical and ma- terials engineering at Univer- sity of Nebraska-Lincoln who was the city, on Wednesday ex- plained his research on provi- ding oxygen to people whose lungs don’t function. “The method involves inserting a bubble of many micro oxy- gen-filled bubbles into the bo- dy,” he said. Lungs help oxygen from the air we breathe enter the blood’s red cells which then carry oxygen around the body. Lungs also help the body get rid of CO2 when we breathe out. Bacterial infection or in- jury can trigger acute respira- tory distress, causing a per- son’s lungs to shut down. Doc- tors now use mechanical ven- tilators or pump blood outside the body to oxygentate it. “Ventilators only aid in breat- hing while the lungs continue to function. Pumping blood outside requires anti-coagu- lants that can cause side-ef- fects like haemorrhage and blood contamination,” said Prof Terry. He and another resear- cher from University of Colo- rado-Boulder have been try- ing to find an alternative by in- troducing bubbles into a body cavity that would be transpor- ted by the patient’s circulato- ry system to the brain and other vital organs. “We have tested them on rabbits, with positive results. Even if the trachea is clamped, the bubble takes up the role of the lungs for around 45 minutes. The ca- vity is transformed into a third lung,” said Prof Terry, who specializes in minimally invasive surgical tools. Bubb- les, smaller than 1mm, have properties of air sacs. Doctors say the research, if successful, will allow time for lung injuri- es to heal. “There is a great ne- ed for an alternative to keep lungs functional. Right now, when a person with end-stage lung disease is put on ventila- tor, it is like a death warrant for him,” said transplant sur- geon Dr N Madhu Sankar. Third Lung Inserted Into Body Cavity Now, a micro bubble to function as lung Even if the trachea is clamped, the bubble takes up the role of the lungs for around 45 minutes. The cavi- ty is transformed into a third lung Ben Terry| UNIV OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN TIMES NEWS NETWORK Chennai: For more than 12 years, doctors from the Frontier Lifeline Hospital have been visiting abattoirs with their surgical gloves and scalpels to harvest val- ves, blood vessels and tissue from buffaloes and pigs, pro- cess them in labs, and use them on ailing human he- arts. Now, after a clinical trial on 600 patients, including infants, the hospital says it will take these animal grafts to the operation theatre if the last leg of the research is successful. “Less than 5% of patients who got these ani- mal grafts have returned with complications,” said senior cardiac surgeon Dr KM Cherian, who heads the Frontier Lifeline Hospital. On May 13, a team from the hospital presented their findings before a panel of doctors at the Indian Coun- cil of Medical Research. “Decks have been cleared to take this to the phase III tri- al. We are waiting for the for- mal letter to start the study,” he said. For the study, the processed animal grafts will be used in 50 patients at the All India Institute of Medi- cal Sciences, New Delhi, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Re- search, Chandigarh and Frontier Lifeline, Chennai. The hospital started the process of making grafts from animals after it found it difficult to replace certain parts of the human heart, including the pericardium and the pulmonary artery. “It is difficult to get grafts from brain-dead patients. When we used synthetic grafts, patients came back with problems,” he noted. Dr Cherian said that if the study succeeded, pati- ents would get valves at half the cost of imported valves. “The valves manufactured in India presently are less expensive but have their li- mitations. For instance, pa- tients will have to be on blo- od thinner medicines, which can increase risks of bleeding. Our valves, like imported ones, don’t need blood thinners,” he added. Animal valves to heal hearts TIMES NEWS NETWORK The hospital started the process of making grafts from animals after it found it difficult to replace certain parts of the human heart Doctors, Scientists Merge Tech And Medicine