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Florida International UniversityFIU Digital CommonsSTATS Biomedical Engineering4-1-2002BME STATS Spring 2002Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/bme_statsPart of the Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering CommonsThis work is brought to you for free and open access by the Biomedical Engineering at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion inSTATS by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact dcc@fiu.edu.Recommended CitationDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, "BME STATS Spring 2002" (2002). STATS. Book 10.http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/bme_stats/10DLBIOMEDICALENGINEERINGINSTITUTEBIOMEDICALENGINEERINGINSTITUTEIntegrating Academia, Clinical Medicine and the Biomedical IndustryHaving reached a majormilestone for theBMEI – our firstgraduate of the MS program– I thought that this wouldbe a good time to reflect on the mission of theBMEI in comparison to our recent activities thatyou will find detailed in this our second newsletter.The mission of the BMEI is to integrate academia, clinical medicine, and the biomedicalindustry in the education and training of the next gen-eration of biomedical engineers; and in research anddevelopment activities leading to innovations in med-ical technology.As you peruse through this edition of STATS, Ihope you will notice that our actions are derivedfrom this mission statement.  The Advisory Boardfor the Clinical and Industry Partnership Programcontinues to guide our research and education pro-grams.  You will see two programs in particular thathave been implemented (Research Initiation andInternship) that have been designed to serve asvehicles for integrating our research and education-al activities with the clinical and industry partners.In addition, our research activities display a stronginteraction with industry and clinical medicine,from medical device development (stents andvalves) to the prestigious Initial Investigatorshipthat was awarded to Dr. Anthony McGoron fromthe American Heart Association.  Finally, our spot-light student, Sophia Scipio, is one of the many stu-dents who interact with our partners on a dailybasis as she works at Miami Children’s Hospital.This mission statement, along with continuousinput and guidance from our Partnership AdvisoryBoard, will continue to direct and focus our activi-ties as we look to expand our programs to includemore degree offerings (BS and PhD) and value-added skills (such as entrepreneurship).  Be on thelookout for announcements on these activities inour next newsletter.Dr. Richard T. Schoephoerster, DirectorBMEIMessage from the DirectorBMEIS TAT S04Living up to its promise to assist and promoteresearch in the biomedical engineering field, theBMEI Partnership Program Research InitiationAwarding Committee announced on December 12,2001, the five recipients of this year’s grants fornew research:Ilker Yaylali, MD, PhD, (BMEI) andPrasanna Jayakar, MD, PhD (MCH), NonInvasive Functional Mapping in the BrainUsing Cerebral Oximeter James Moore, PhD, (BMEI) and BarryKatzen, MD (Miami Cardiac & VascularInstitute), Are Stresses in Abdominal AorticAneurisms Reduced with Stent GraftTreatment?Anthony McGoron, PhD, (BMEI) andWilliam Abraham, PhD, (Mount Sinai), In-Vivo Monitoring of Myocardial Retention ofSkeletal MyoblastsPartnership Program Awards Five GrantsDr. James Moore, Director of FIU’s CVEC,received a patent for a stent design in March2001. “It was very satisfying to get a patent num-ber after such a long wait,” Moore said of hisinvention, which was originally conceived in 1995. The device, which Moore and his team call the“Compliance Matching Stent” aims to reduceproblems with previous stent designs that causethe devices to fail in about one third of patientswho receive stents. Moore said, “Our designaims to minimize tissue buildup within the stentby minimizing stress in the artery wall.”Stents are tiny metallic tubes that are expand-ed into diseased arteries. The stent props openthe artery, and helps prevent further problemssuch as heart attacks and strokes. Stents offer amuch less invasive and less costly alternative toby-pass surgery. Director of Cardiovascular Engineering CenterReceives a U.S. Patentcontinued from page 1Biomedical Engineering Courses   Spring 2002Biomedical Engineering STATSContributors: Richard Schoephoerster, Adi Amit, Ofer Amit, Michael Anzelmo, Thomas Claiborne, Allison Einhorn,Amado Gonzalez, Oscar Negret, Kenneth Setzer, Bill Stahl,Michael Upright, Roselind Verona.Biomedical Engineering STATS, the Newsletter of the Biomedical Engineering Institute,is published biannually.To contribute, contact Adi Amit at 305-348-6950email: bmeinfo@eng.fiu.eduBiomedical Engineering InstituteCollege of Engineering10555 West Flagler Street EAS 2600Miami, Florida  33199http://www.eng.fiu.edu/bmeiBMEI office: 305-348-6950Email: bmeinfo@eng.fiu.eduPartnership Program Awards Five GrantsThe Research Initiation Program is a part ofBMEI’s Partnership Program with South Floridahospitals and biomedical industry leaders. Theprogram allows its members and FIU faculty tojointly seed pioneering projects, which presentpotential for discovery, innovation, invention,and future commercialization.Course Title Credits Instructor BME4011 Clinical Rotations for Biomedical Engineering 1 Dr. McGoronBME4090 Design Project Organization 1 Dr. Schoephoerster/AmitBME5702 Engineering Analysis of Biomedical Systems 3 Dr. McGoron BME5994C Radiological Engineering & Clinical Dosimetry 3 Dr. FranquizBME6994 Advanced Cardiovascular Engineering 3 Dr. SchoephoersterEEL5071 Bioelectrical Models 3 Dr. HeimerEGM4582 Engineering Hemodynamics 3 Dr. MooreEGM6586 Fluid Mechanics Applications in Physiological Systems 3 Dr. MooreEMA5584 Biomaterials Science 3 Dr. CrumplerB I O M E D I C A L  E N G I N E E R I N G  I N S T I T U T E  N E W S L E T T E RSpr ing  2002         Vo lume  2  •  Number  1STAT Shttp://www.eng.fiu.edu/bmeiDr. James Moore, Jr.C O L L E G E  O F  E N G I N E E R I N GJuan Franquiz, PhD, (BMEI) and SantiagoMedina, MD, (MCH), Three-DimensionalProbabilistic Integration of NeuroimagingModalities for Identification and Surgery ofSeizure FocusEric Crumpler, PhD, (BMEI) and HowardLeonhardt, (Bioheart), Myoblast Localizationvia Hydrogel Encapsulation/Deliverycontinued on page 4continued on page 4• BMEI Graduates First Student• Message from Biomedical Engineering Society President• Faculty Focus—Dr. Anthony McGoron• Student Spotlight—Sophia Scipio• Topics in Student Research Heart Valve Design & Material Testing• BMES Elects New Officers• Biomedical Engineering Class Schedule• Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board Convenes• BMEI Faculty Research GrantsI n s i d e  T h i s  I s s u eThe invention is shared by Dr. Joel Berry ofWake Forest University, a long time collaboratorof Dr. Moore, who proposed the original flowexperiments. It is currently undergoing furtherdevelopment in a series of in vivo tests inLondon, England and Marseille, France.continued from page 1Director of Cardiovascular Engineering CenterReceives a U.S. PatentT that will allow technology transfer, knowledgemarketing, and licensing. Such an office,according to board members, would attractbusiness enterprises to BMEI-based research.  In order to become a national leader in bio-medical education, board members alsostressed the importance of improving the mar-ketability of the program. “I think we (the BMEI)The Biomedical Engineering AdvisoryBoard’s third meeting took place on Feb. 26,2002. During the meeting, several plans wereintroduced in order to upgrade the BMEI pro-gram and its facilities to nationally and inter-nationally recognized levels. Board members suggested, among otherplans, to create a technology transfer officeBiomedical Engineering Advisory Board Convenesare heading in the right direction with theimprovement of our outgoing messages,”said Tecnix managing partner, MarioMartinez. “We need to attract more peopleto FIU and South Florida,” he concluded. For implementation in fall 2002 semes-ter, the advisory board also reviewed theBachelors Degree in BiomedicalEngineering proposal. The proposal hasalready been accepted by the university andawaits final approval by the university’sboard of trustees. With the implementationof this program, FIU will be the first Floridapublic university to offer an undergraduatedegree in biomedical engineering.  The university provost, Dr. MarkRosenberg joined in complementing BMEIfor its achievements in its short historyand stressed BMEI’s importance in follow-ing FIU’s vision to become a top U.S. pub-lic research university. BMEI Faculty Research GrantsThe BMEI faculty puts great emphasis onadvanced research that will benefit the knowl-edge pool in the field and is currently involved innumerous projects supported by biomedicalindustry partners and health agencies. Tony McGoron, Ph.D.Cerebral Perfusion and Quantitative GlucoseMetabolism Imaging in a Piglet Model of PediatricBrain Injury using Hybrid SPECT/PETSource: Initial Investigator Award fromAmerican Heart AssociationTotal Cost: $225,000James Moore, Ph.D.Flow Effects on Platelet Deposition in Stented Arteries  Source: NIH (SCORE program and NHLBI)Total Cost: $824,876 Richard Schoephoerster, Ph.D.In vitro performance characterization of a noveltrileaflet synthetic heart valveSource: Grant-in-Aid from American HeartAssociationTotal Cost: $120,000Juan Franquiz, Ph.D.Performance Assessment of a New, Hybrid X-Ray CT and SPECT System for MyocardialPerfusion ImagingSource: DuPont Pharmaceuiticals CompanyTotal Cost:  $12,000Advisory Board including Provost Rosenberg and Dean PrasadThe idea for the Compliance Matching Stentwas born in a series of flow experiments that tookplace in Moore’s lab at CVEC. “We noted thatother stents create problems with blood flow pat-terns and stress in the artery wall due to theabrupt change in mechanical properties at theends of the stent. Our design minimizes theseproblems by transitioning the mechanical proper-ties over a small distance.”TBMEIS TAT S03BMEIS TAT S02he Biomedical Engineering Society atFlorida International University is wellinto its second year of existence. This yearwe have organized and completed several suc-cessful events and have conducted general meet-ings and participated in collegiate societyfunctions organized by the student government.The BMES sent a delegation of students tolast year’s Annual Biomedical EngineeringSociety Meeting. The trip was sponsored bythe Biomedical Engineering Institute. Theconference was held in the Raleigh-Durhamarea of North Carolina. The students includ-ed seven graduate students and myself, one ofwho presented a research thesis at the meet-ing. The 850-mile drive was an adventure andgreat experience for all involved. The roadweary group managed to attend informativetalks from researchers around the country andforums with biotechnology industry leaders.We also paid a visit the Duke University cam-pus and enjoyed the nightlife in the ChapelHill area of Durham. We have conducted elections this SpringSemester and have a new Executive Staff.Many thanks to the outgoing Executives:Joseph, Siobhain, Hernan, Christian, andSara; and welcome to the new Executives.The BMES encourages all students interest-ed in biomedical engineering to join ourorganization for a richer and more fulfillingcollege experience. The BMES is dedicated toproviding its members with a better under-standing of the Biomedical Engineering pro-fession, industry exposure, and social andprofessional development. I also encouragestudents to seek leadership positions in theBMES and other organizations to make onemore marketable upon graduation. Thomas E. Claiborne, III, Founder BMES at FIUUndergraduate Mechanical/BiomedicalEngineering SeniorBiomedical Engineering SocietyMessage from the PresidentTTracer Kinetics Modeling using EmissionTomography. After a year at Fiu, his wife,Haiying He – a faculty member on sabbatical,joined him in Austin, Texas, where he is cur-rently pursuing a Ph.D. in Pharmacology atthe University of Texas.“I am very happy for Xuming for achiev-ing this important personal goal,” saidBMEI director, D. Richard Schoephoerster.“Mao’s graduation – the graduation of ourfirst student, is a milestone in the growth ofthe institute. It gratifies all of us who wereinvolved in the creation of this unique pro-gram,” he added.The Biomedical Engineering Institutegraduated its first student, Mao Xuming, lastsummer. “I am proud that Xuming is BMEI’sfirst graduate as well as my first graduatingstudent as an advisor,” said Xuming’s majoradvisor, Dr. Anthony McGoron.Xuming joined BMEI from Beijing UnionMedical College in China, where he hadearned a medical degree in Lab Medicine.Xuming’s father and sister still live in Shaxin,a small town in the northeastern province ofZhijang and hometown of both PrimeMinister of China and the president of theUniversity of Beijing.An internship at Beijing’s Union MedicalCollege sparked Xuming’s interest in biomed-ical engineering. “It was important for me tounderstand what the machine principles wereand how those machines worked,” he noted.“Medicine did not give me enough informa-tion on technology,” he concluded.Xuming joined BMEI in January 2000, andworked under Dr. McGoron in the area ofBMEI Graduates First Student Topics in Student Research >> Heart Valve Design and Material TestingBMES Elects New OfficersThe Biomedical Engineering Society, BMEI’s student organization, held elections for chapter officerpositions during the society’s last meeting in January. Jon DeDiego was elected as the new president andwill replace Ted Claiborne, founder of BMES, in the position. Agnieszka Sroka was elected vice presi-dent; Siobhain Gallocher remains as secretary; Ruta Kanitkar will be the new treasurer; Qing Hao willbe the webmaster; and Ruth Llanos will represent the students in the new board.    Most of us know Dr. Anthony McGoronas a professor in the Biomedical EngineeringInstitute. This interview gives both studentsand fellow faculty members an opportunityto look at a few different aspects in his life inhis own words.“My wife is Japanese and we have oneson,” Dr. McGoron states upfront. “I wentto Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.That school was very much like FIU in thatit was a commuter school that attractedmostly local students. Later I went toLouisiana Tech University in Ruston. There,I came across an entirely different experiencebecause it was a small college town, and lifesurrounded the university and its activities. Ifound it very interesting. It’s an experiencethat is less emphasized here, but FIU is alarge and important university in SouthFlorida with a significant impact on bothacademics and research.” “After I completed my graduate studies atLouisiana Tech University, I went back toCincinnati. There, while at the University ofCincinnati, I met my wife, Manami. Afriend of hers did a fellowship at the univer-sity and introduced us.”In his experience, living with someonefrom a different culture is definitely unique.“It’s quite a challenge; I often have to thinkabout what I am about to say – will Manamiunderstand me as intended, due to our cul-ture differences? I guess it is all a matter ofthe context you put things in,” he admitsand immediately summarizes: “At the endof the day, despite the few differences, it isvery rewarding.”Dr. Anthony McGoron joined the BMEI faculty as an Assistant Professor in Fall 1999.FACULTY FOCUSFA C U LT Y>>  Dr. Anthony McGoron STUDENT SPOTLIGHT>>  Sophia ScipioSophia Scipio is an international studentin her freshman year in the BiomedicalEngineering Institute. “I was born inScarborough, Tobago, which is in theCaribbean Sea,” says Sophia. “I came to FIUin the spring of 2001 because my sister,Patrice, goes to school here and she recom-mended it to me. I also love the weather inMiami; it is similar to the weather inTrinidad and Tobago and makes me feelright at home,” she adds.Sophia was not a biomedical engineeringmajor when she arrived. “I always wanted tobe a neurosurgeon. Naturally, I chose biolo-gy as my major,” she explains. “During myfirst semester, I visited some of my friendswho were studying at BMEI and I happenedto talk to faculty and staff here. Everybodywas very friendly and showed me how bio-medical engineering would fit in and benefitme with my premedical preparation; so Idecided to change my major.”In her spare time, Sophia enjoys dancingand singing. “My country is very cultural. Istarted dancing when I was little and I lovegoing to Latin dancing classes here; I go asmuch as I can.”As far as her experience with the BMEI sofar, Sophia has only high praises. “I loveBMEI; I have made it my home and, withthe devoted support I receive from the faculty,I intend to graduate with honors.”  Andres Aguirre, BMEI student andVladimir Kasyanov, Guest ScientistTThe aim of research performed in theCardiovascular Engineering Center under thesupervision of Dr. Richard Schoephoerster,is to manufacture and test an innovativepolymer-based heart valve prosthesis. Andres Aguirre, a BMEI graduate studentand Mariana Oliva, a Mechanical Engineeringundergrad, are the students in charge of thematerial testing. Dr. Vladimir Kasyanov, avisiting scientist from Latvia and inventor ofthe valve design, helps them with his closeknowledge and expertise in the field.Heart valve prostheses have been usedsuccessfully in heart procedures since 1960and more than often, result in overallimprovement in the quality of life of thepatients. Currently, there are two kinds ofvalves used: mechanical and bioprosthetic.Generally, mechanical valves are moredurable than bioprosthetic valves. However,they sometimes involve side effects withirregular blood flow and clotting of bloodaround them. Bioprosthetic valves have bet-ter hemodynamic (blood flow) properties,but are more susceptible to wear as a resultof material fatigue.  Polymer trileaflet valvesoffer natural hemodynamics with the poten-tial for better durability.In order to identify the better material fromwhich to manufacture valves, a certain propri-etary polymer is compared to an alreadyimplant-approved polyurethane. “We definite-ly expect the performance of the polymer wehave to show better durability,” says Aguirre. During the American Heart Association-sponsored research, the materials are goingthrough two phases of testing. “We are look-ing at the mechanical properties of the poly-mers, and testing their static and dynamicproperties,” he adds. The static test validatesthe ultimate stress of the different materialsby stretching them until they fail. Thedynamic test is designed to provide fatigueproperties of the material under tension andbending conditions.“We don’t have conclusive results yet,”says Aguirre, “ but eventually, we will findthe better material from which to makevalves. It will improve the quality of living forthose who need it.” Mao Xuming

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