Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial.
From brain fluid surgery to a lunar-Earth flyby from the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), here is some quick-read news from across Imperial.
Spacecraft slingshot success
The European Space Agency (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), with Imperial kit on board, has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby.
The purpose of the flyby was to re-route JUICE's path through space, using the gravity of the Moon and the Earth to change the spacecraft's speed and direction, on a shortcut to Jupiter through the inner Solar System.
JUICE snapped images with its onboard monitoring cameras during the flyby and collected scientific data with eight of its ten instruments, including the Imperial-built magnetometer, J-MAG.
The flyby saved the mission around 100–150 kg of fuel, and, combined with a perfect launch in April 2023, means JUICE has a little extra propellant in its tanks to get closer to Jupiter's moon Ganymede than originally planned.
Catch up on the manoeuvre in ESA's story, and relive the Moon flyby on ESA's YouTube channel.
Brain fluid surgery
Shunt surgery to divert excess fluid away from the brain improves walking speed and disability in the short term in idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (iNPH) according to a Cochrane review led by Imperial experts.
iNPH is a condition where normal fluid-filled structures in the brain expand over time, leading to symptoms like the inability to walk and dementia.
Since 1965, there have been reports of patients improving when surgery is performed, but evidence to support this was of low quality, leading to conflicting views among medical practitioners about its benefits.
Dr Chris Carswell, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer from our Department of Brain Sciences, said: "iNPH is an extremely disabling condition but by analysing the highest quality trials, we can see that surgery can improve walking and disability levels. Both outcomes are important to patients. These results will give clinicians the confidence to consider iNPH as a treatable disease and allow them to have better informed discussions with patients."
