Hva er Ultradian?
Ultradian is a EU funded project that aims to improve diagnostics and treatment of patients with endocrine disorders.
Hovedinnhold
The information below is mainly for those who are considering to to be a part of the Ultradian project, either as a patient of a healthy volunteer.
If you have further questions, do not hesitate to send us an e-mail.
Who are the Ultradian project partners and what do they do?
Ultradian partners have different roles in the project.
Designworks in Windsor UK is, as a creative product design consultancy, involved in designing and developing the technical equipment used to collect tissue fluid samples from study subjects over the 24 hour period. The sampler is called U-rhythm and we now use the third generation of development.
The collected samples are assayed for hormone levels enabling us to compile circadian hormone rhythms. The clinical studies involving sampling is done at one of our 4 study centers:
- Bristol University in UK,
- Karolinska Institutet in Sweden,
- Evangelismos Hospital in Greece and
- University of Bergen/Haukeland University Hospital in Norway.
In order to analyse the minute sample fractions for multiple hormones we use highly sensitive mass spectromery and proteomics techniques. The latter is performed by Olink Proteomics in Sweden, also a project partner.
What will I experience as a patient or volunteer?
The procedure is safe and painless. Below we have listed the steps that you go through as an Ultradian volunteer or patient.
- Contact one of our study centers to arrange a time that suits your schedule.
- You will come to one of our study center and talked through the procedure with our medical staff.
- We will use local anesthetics on you lower abdomen and then place a catheter under the skin, using a needle.
- The catheter is connected to the eqipment with thin and flexible tubes.
- You can then go home, carrying the equipment in a belt bag around your waist.
- The sampler will make some low noise every 20 minutes when a new sample is collected. You will not have to do anything except being attached to the equipment.
- After 27 hours you will return to the hospital and remove the equipment.
- We can reimburse travel cost and lost income to a certain limit.
- We can send you your results after the samples have been analysed.
Please see the film, which shows the procedure.
Who can join the Ultradian project?
Healthy volunteers:
- who does not use regular medication (except estrogens)
- between 18 and 68 of age
- body mass index (BMI) below 28 kg/m2
Patients with these diagnoses:
- Acromegaly
- Diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome
- Growth hormone deficiency
- Hyperaldosteronism
- Monitoring of adrenal insufficiency
- Monitoring of CAH