UW Bioengineer Deok-Ho Kim and team awarded Human Frontier Science Program Research Grant
University of Washington Bioengineering Associate Professor Deok-Ho Kim and a team of international collaborators were awarded a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) Research Grant to investigate the dynamics of collective cell migration on curved surfaces.
Their work aims to shed light on the mechanistic details underlying organism development and tissue repair, which could inform new and more effective approaches in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, according to a university article.
The HFSP Research Grants provide funding support to innovative, frontier research projects in life sciences that employ cutting-edge scientific and technological methodologies to study highly complex mechanisms in living organisms. The award specifically recognizes and encourages interdisciplinary research involving scientists from various countries to facilitate collaborations across borders and continents.
NIH awards $228,325 to advance development of magnetic resonance-compatible bio-recording system
A Purdue University-affiliated startup that is developing an affordable device to allow researchers and medical professionals to conduct MRI scans with increased efficiency, has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
MR-Link LLC of West Lafayette has secured the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant of $228,325. The goal of the program is to use federal funds to support scientific excellence and increase private sector commercialization of technological innovation, according to the university.
"This grant is validation for us that our idea is on the right track and there is a need for these kind of technologies that may help researchers to understand human physiology more accurately," said Ranajay Mandal, one of three MR-Link co-founders.
The coin-sized device works simultaneously with an MRI system to record electro-physiological signals and perform various imaging scans. The device allows researchers to record, stimulate and image the brain and other organs in synchronization the MRI system, allowing them and in the future, medical professionals, to understand patient's physiology more effectively.
Research at Case Western Reserve looks to accurately identify aggressive head and neck cancers
A Case Western Reserve-led research team will analyze computerized images of tissue samples for patterns which could become "biomarkers," or predictors, for determining relative risk for recurrence in one particularly common type of head and neck cancers, according to the university.
Those tumors, known as oropharyngeal cancers, occur primarily at the base of the tongue and in the tonsils, according to the announcement.
Currently, however, oncologists tend to treat all of these tumors with the same aggressive level of therapy. This is the case even though many of the oropharyngeal tumors which are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) tend to have favorable outcome-regardless of treatment-while another subset of the tumors progress and metastasize, or spread.
"Right now, it's a one-size-fits-all therapy for all of these patients with HPV head and neck cancers," said Anant Madabhushi said in the announcement. Madabhushi is the F. Alex Nason Professor II of Biomedical Engineering, founding director of the CCIPD at the Case School of Engineering and primary investigator in the new research and a BMES member.
Columbia engineers grow functional human cartilage in lab
Researchers at Columbia Engineering have successfully grown fully functional human cartilage in vitro from human stem cells derived from fat tissue, the university announced.
The study, which demonstrates new ways to better mimic the enormous complexity of tissue development, regeneration, and disease, is published in the April 28 Early Online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), according to the article.
"We've been able-for the first time-to generate fully functional human cartilage from mesenchymal stem cells by mimicking in vitro the developmental process of mesenchymal condensation," said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, who led the study and is the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia Engineering and professor of medical sciences. Vunjak-Novakovic is a BMES fellow.
"This could have clinical impact, as this cartilage can be used to repair a cartilage defect, or in combination with bone in a composite graft grown in lab for more complex tissue reconstruction," she said in the article.
Nano implants for the spine get FDA approval
Nano implant technology developed by BMES Fellow Thomas Webster and BMES member Chang Yao has been cleared by the FDA, according to Nanovis, the company producing the tehcnoloy.
Nanovis, announced the successful FDA clearance of its FortiCore TLIF and PLIF interbodies featuring a Nanosurface-enhanced deeply porous titanium scaffold intermolded with a PEEK core.
"Implant nano surface science has advanced from the early days when we simply created nanoroughness for implants because tissues have nanoroughness," Webster said. "Now we understand the mechanisms by which nanotopographies can interact with cellular signaling pathways. I'm delighted that with Nanovis' implants, patients can now benefit from a carefully designed and controlled nanotopography that harnesses this groundbreaking research." Webster is the Chemical Engineering Department Chair at Northeastern University.
Webster and Yao were early pioneers in the use of nanosurfaces to enhance bone growth.
Northwestern researchers develop 3D-printed vascular stents
Researchers at Northwestern University have designed a new 3D printer to create solid and biodegradable structures like vascular stents, according to a recent publication.
The technique, call Mircro-Continuous Liquid Interface Production (microClip), was highlighted in a recent Materials Today article.
The researchers also published a paper about their work in the journal Materials Today Chemistry.
While stents are effective at improving patients' lives, the devices do have issues such as causing inflammation or causing future blockage, according to the article.
"The need for improved manufacturing techniques and materials to create personalized medical devices to improve the outcome of medical procedures," was the stimulus leading to the development of the new technique, Guillermo Ameer said in the article. Ammeer is a BMES fellow and he worked with BMES member Cheng Sun.
Vanderbilt BME students repair medical devices at four Guatemala hospitals during spring break
Vanderbilt biomedical engineering undergraduates spent their 2018 break week in Guatemala, working alongside 30 engineering students and their professors from a Guatemala university repairing medical equipment at four hospitals, according to a university article.
It was the sixth trip with BME students since Associate Dean Cynthia Paschal began offering the service learning course in 2008, according to the article. Paschal is a BMES member.
The Vanderbilt students brought expertise in biomedical engineering and devices; the students from the School of Engineering at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) have a solid foundation in electronics and mechatronics.
In teams, they worked at four hospitals.
Prior to the trip, students were assigned to find manuals for equipment they knew they'd work on, assemble parts, and, for two students, devise a rigorous inventory system, according to the article.
As part of the Biomedical Engineering Society's 50
th Anniversary celebration, the Society is fabricating a time capsule which will be displayed in the National Museum of Health and Medicine until it is opened in 2068.
