Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Lifelike mannequin teaches Nursing students about childbirth

09 December 2019 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Barend Nagel

Victoria Read more — Victoria the mannequin has become a familiar face in Nursing classrooms

She has an uncanny ability to move her eyes towards the sound of voices in a room, her voice shrills and squeals when she's in pain, she throws in a Spanish word or two, and she releases bodily fluids just like a real human would.

These are just some of the quirky characteristics that make up the new R1,76 million-rand birthing mannequin in the School of Nursing's Simulation Unit, who goes by the name Victoria. She weighs more than 80 kg and is almost 1,7 metres high. With features such as real eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair, you can't help but do a double take when you lay eyes on her.

Students getting practical experience

While the unit has other mannequins used for training Nursing students in each year or their study, Simulation Coordinator from the School of Nursing in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Cecile Fourie, said Victoria was a major upgrade for the school because of her versatility. Victoria would further enhance the school's quality of teaching by training students in their final year of undergraduate studies as well as those pursuing their postgraduate studies, about the ins and outs of pregnancy and other female morbidities, Fourie said.

"We try to make our scenarios as real and authentic as possible and we've seen how much our students have grown. Introducing Victoria to our pre- and postgraduate students will prepare them to be competent in clinical practice."

Meet Victoria

So, what exactly can Victoria do?

Fourie said while the other mannequins were made with screws that made them look robot-like, Victoria was made with silicone and given a clean finish to make her appear life-like. The other mannequins can only blink, but Victoria's eyes move around, she can speak Spanish and French, and she comes with five tummies for different medical scenarios. She has a normal tummy which acts as a closure, an operable tummy for caesarean delivery, a tummy that allows a breeched baby to be twisted and turned from the outside just before delivery, a contraction tummy used for normal vaginal delivery – which also allows Victoria to push, bleed, urinate, and release mineral oil which acts as amniotic fluid. The fifth tummy is postpartum haemorrhage, a condition that is common among South African mothers after delivery.

"It’s so good that we get to train our students in such real, lifelike circumstances. Through Victoria we're going to try and do our part in lessening maternal deaths, which are so prominent in our country. She can act out all the abnormalities that take place in a real delivery, and she can also have other medical conditions such as a heart attack," Fourie said.

News Archive

Nanotechnology breakthrough at UFS

2010-08-19

Ph.D students, Chantel Swart and Ntsoaki Leeuw

Scientists at the University of the Free State (UFS) made an important breakthrough in the use of nanotechnology in medical and biological research. The UFS team’s research has been accepted for publication by the internationally accredited Canadian Journal of Microbiology.

The UFS study dissected yeast cells exposed to over-used cooking oil by peeling microscopically thin layers off the yeast cells through the use of nanotechnology.

The yeast cells were enlarged thousands of times to study what was going on inside the cells, whilst at the same time establishing the chemical elements the cells are composed of. This was done by making microscopically small surgical incisions into the cell walls.

This groundbreaking research opens up a host of new uses for nanotechnology, as it was the first study ever in which biological cells were surgically manipulated and at the same time elemental analysis performed through nanotechnology. According to Prof. Lodewyk Kock, head of the Division Lipid Biotechnology at the UFS, the study has far reaching implications for biological and medical research.

The research was the result of collaboration between the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, the Department of Physics (under the leadership of Prof. Hendrik Swart) and the Centre for Microscopy (under the leadership of Prof.Pieter van Wyk).

Two Ph.D. students, Chantel Swart and Ntsoaki Leeuw, overseen by professors Kock and Van Wyk, managed to successfully prepare yeast that was exposed to over-used cooking oil (used for deep frying of food) for this first ever method of nanotechnological research.

According to Prof. Kock, a single yeast cell is approximately 5 micrometres long. “A micrometre is one millionth of a metre – in laymen’s terms, even less than the diameter of a single hair – and completely invisible to the human eye.”

Through the use of nanotechnology, the chemical composition of the surface of the yeast cells could be established by making a surgical incision into the surface. The cells could be peeled off in layers of approximately three (3) nanometres at a time to establish the effect of the oil on the yeast cell’s composition. A nanometre is one thousandth of a micrometre.

Each cell was enlarged by between 40 000 and 50 000 times. This was done by using the Department of Physics’ PHI700 Scanning Auger Nanoprobe linked to a Scanning Electron Microscope and Argon-etching. Under the guidance of Prof. Swart, Mss. Swart en Leeuw could dissect the surfaces of yeast cells exposed to over-used cooking oil.

The study noted wart like outgrowths - some only a few nanometres in diameter – on the cell surfaces. Research concluded that these outgrowths were caused by the oil. The exposure to the oil also drastically hampered the growth of the yeast cells. (See figure 1)

Researchers worldwide have warned about the over-usage of cooking oil for deep frying of food, as it can be linked to the cause of diseases like cancer. The over-usage of cooking oil in the preparation of food is therefore strictly regulated by laws worldwide.

The UFS-research doesn’t only show that over-used cooking oil is harmful to micro-organisms like yeast, but also suggests how nanotechnology can be used in biological and medical research on, amongst others, cancer cells.

Figure 1. Yeast cells exposed to over-used cooking oil. Wart like protuberances/ outgrowths (WP) is clearly visible on the surfaces of the elongated yeast cells. With the use of nanotechnology, it is possible to peel off the warts – some with a diameter of only a few nanometres – in layers only a few nanometres thick. At the same time, the 3D-structure of the warts as well as its chemical composition can be established.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
18 August 2010

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept