Faculty News

"Improving Intraoperative Brain Mapping Through Neurochemical Sensing"

Daryl Kipke, PhD and Parag Patil, MD, PhD
2009 funding: $100,000

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) devices - 'brain pacemakers' - have emerged as a revolutionary new approach to the treatment of neurological disorders. Accurate targeting of deep brain regions is necessary to obtain an optimal treatment of DBS with minimal risk to the patient. Functional mapping in deep brain surgery involves penetrating the computed target structures with movable microelectrodes to identify the neuronal structure boundaries. At present, the microelectrode senses only neuronal electrical activity in the small region surrounding the electrode tip with inherent limitations in spatial resolution and specificity that often lead to uncertainties and delays in identifying structural boundaries. There is an unmet need to improve the spatial resolution, specificity, and speed of functional deep brain mapping.

Dr. Kipke's team will develop a clinical-grade, multi-modal deep brain mapping electrode providing concurrent neural recording and selective neurochemical sensing for intraoperative deep-brain mapping surgical procedures.

Using UM Coulter TP funds, they will further develop and translate this research-grade microelectrode multi-modal sensing technology into a clinical-grade device that will allow surgeons to identify neuronal structure boundaries with greater resolution and specificity and in less time. The outcome of this project will be an innovative clinical multi-modal mapping microelectrode, including validation data and IP.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on November 24, 2009, 4:33 pm

BME Professor Ann Marie Sastry Named to CNNMoney.com's Innovators in Detroit List

CNNMoney.com named Ann Marie Sastry, professor of mechanical, biomedical and materials science engineering, as one of seven innovators helping to bring jobs to the Detroit area. She is CEO of a company working to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Click the link to read the full article.

Posted on November 16, 2009, 2:13 pm

Zhen Xu, Ph.D., Joins U-M Biomedical Engineering Faculty

BME is pleased to announce that Zhen Xu, Ph.D., has joined the BME core faculty as an Assistant Professor this fall. Prof. Xu's most recent position was as an assistant research scientist in the BME department. In her training, she played an important role in development of a new technology based on pulsed ultrasound cavitational bubble therapy technique (known as histotripsy) and studied the mechanism for initiation and maintenance of the bubble cloud using high speed imaging, optical and acoustic monitoring, and impedance tomography. As a faculty member, she will be focusing on developing ultrasound therapy for non-invasive tissue removal in treatment of cardiovascular disease including thrombosis and congenital heart disease. Professor Xu received both her Ph.D. and Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Her undergraduate degree was from DongNan University in Nanjing, China.

Posted on November 9, 2009, 2:38 pm

BME Professors Arruda and Larkin Published in Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

An article posted on University of Michigan's News Service website on November 2 highlighted two BME faculty members new development that could lead to more complete recovery to anterior cruciate ligament injuries (ACL). Ellen Arruda, professor in Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Biomedical Engineering and in Macromolecular Science and Lisa Larkin, associate professor in the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering repaired knee ligaments in rats from bone marrow stem cells harvested from the rats' own bones. After examining the rats two months later, they found new, engineered composite ligaments had integrated with the surrounding bone. Arruda and Larkin have published their findings in the October 2009 edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. The paper is called, "Morphological and Functional Characteristics of Three-Dimensional Engineered Bone-Ligament-Bone Constructs Following Implantation." To read the full article on this story, please visit the U-M News Services site.

Posted on November 9, 2009, 2:25 pm

"Rapid Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Bacteria: 2009"

Alan Hunt, PhD, Duane Newton, PhD, and Brandon McNaughton, PhD
Second year of funding - 2009 funding: $100,000; funding to date $200,000

Emergent antimicrobial resistance in bacteria is one of the world's most pressing health problems, and a major contributor to patient morbidity and mortality. Both the generation of new resistant strains and adverse effects of existing strains are effectively combated through accurate diagnosis and susceptibility testing of the specific pathogen responsible for an infection. But this is impeded by the slow turnaround of existing tests, two-four days. The team is fine-tuning an instrument that can perform identification and rapid antimicrobial resistance measurements on the time-scale of hours, substantially outperforming existing diagnostics.

The development of new antibiotics provides one avenue to address resistance, but alone this has proven to be a partial and temporary remedy in the ongoing battle against increased antimicrobial resistance. Instead, both new antimicrobials and technologies that will allow physicians to quickly determine appropriate antimicrobial therapy need to be developed. With current clinical instruments requiring several days to obtain results, there is a clear need to develop rapid means of identifying bacteria and determining their respective susceptibility to antibiotics, on the time-scale of hours rather than days. Fast methods for identifying antibiotic susceptibility are thus needed both to improve the efficacy of therapy, and to impede the severe health problems caused by rising bacterial resistance.

This group has demonstrated technology based on asynchronous rotation of magnetic microbeads that enables rapid determination of antimicrobial susceptibility in minutes to hours. Building on the work completed in their first UM Coulter award, their second year objective is to design and validate a manufacture-ready antimicrobial susceptibility testing card that implements the asynchronous rotation method and that easily interfaces to an alpha prototype card reader.

As of April 2009, the team has developed and received a prototype and will soon move to clinical trials.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on October 20, 2009, 8:21 am

"Designed Bioactive Scaffolds for Mandibular Reconstruction"

Scott Hollister, PhD, and Stephen Feinberg, DDS, PhD
2009 funding: $100,000

Reconstruction of segmental mandibular defects resulting from trauma, tumor resection, and congenital defects is a significant challenge. The ability to design scaffolds to fill complex anatomic defects, provide load bearing and deliver osteogenic factors is needed to address these clinical issues, especially for children who cannot be treated with alloplastic materials.

Segmental mandibular defects often occur after tumor resection, infection, trauma or through abnormal skeletal development. Reconstruction of these defects is presently done with the use of bone grafting (autogenous and/or allogeneic) or through the use of alloplastic materials such as titanium. A significant difficulty in reconstructing these defects is the complex geometry that must be replicated in addition to the functional load bearing requirements. These methods carry the potential for immunologic rejection, foreign body reactions or infection. In addition, with the use of autogenous bone there is also the resultant potential of donor site morbidity and increase in operative time with limitations on the amount of bone one can harvest. For example, with vascularized fibular grafts taken from the leg, there is significant ambulation morbidity, including difficulty climbing stairs. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to fill complex 3D defects with bone grafts. With the use of either autogenous or allogeneic bone it is also difficult to form it into the desired shapes necessary for reconstruction, giving low patient satisfaction for these approaches.

Dr. Hollister's team has worked with Dr. William Murphy of the University of Wisconsin to develop the unique integration of designed scaffolds with bioactive coatings which deliver growth factors for bone regeneration and offer a promising solution for difficult mandibular reconstruction challenges. Designed, degradable scaffolds provide the ability to fill complex geometric defects with load bearing capability. This ability has not been previously achieved with any mandibular reconstruction approach.

Drs. Feinberg and Hollister have collaborated closely for the past 10 years on scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches for craniofacial reconstruction, during which they have had several joint papers and grants. Dr. Feinberg is a board certified Oral/Maxillofacial surgeon with a significant practice in craniofacial reconstruction. In addition to his work with Dr. Hollister, Dr. Feinberg has a significant research effort in craniofacial soft tissue reconstruction, and developed a cell based therapy for oral mucosal reconstruction, which is currently in a phase I clinical trial. They have collaborated on scaffold designs for mandibular reconstruction and have tested these designed scaffolds in pigs as large functional animal models.

The UM Coulter Program provides important funding allowing the team to engineer an integrated degradable polymer scaffold with a calcium coating and to test mandibular reconstruction using the scaffolds.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on September 29, 2009, 2:43 pm

James A. Ashton-Miller, PhD, Honored by the American Society of Biomechanics

James Ashton-Miller, PHD, the Albert Schultz Collegiate Research Professor and Distinguished Research Scientist in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and a Research Professor at the Institute of Gerontology in the Department of Internal Medicine, was honored in August, 2009 with the Borelli Award by the American Society of Biomechanics at its annual meeting. This is the most prestigious honor given by the American Society of Biomechanics and recognizes outstanding career accomplishment. It is awarded annually to an investigator who has conducted exemplary research in any area of biomechanics. The award is named after Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608-1679), a professor of mathematics from Naples, Italy, who is considered to be the father of modern biomechanics. Borelli's publications De Motu Animalium I and De Motu Animalium II detail numerous propositions on the movements of the limbs of man and animals.

The Borelli Award selection is based on originality, quality and depth of the research and the relevance of this work to the field of biomechanics. Dr. Ashton-Miller's early work addressed spine biomechanics, more specifically the pathomechanics of idiopathic scoliosis, low back and neck pain. This work included rediscovering the Hofmann ligaments, first described in the 19th century and then forgotten, and recognizing their significance in helping to explain why a lumbar disc protrusion can cause sciatica in one person but not another, and why sciatic symptoms often improve over the day. More recently, his work has combined computer simulations and experiments to obtain insights into the mechanisms underlying unintentional injuries in the population, so that they can better be prevented in the first place. His students and colleagues from obstetrics and gynecology have used MR imaging to identify which pelvic floor muscles can be injured during vaginal birth and the main risk factors for these injuries. They invented instrumentation to measure how much these injuries affect pelvic floor muscle function, then used computer simulations to demonstrate how and why these injuries occur, and why they can cause genital organ prolapse, a common cause of surgery in older women. In studying falls in the elderly he and his student proposed and tested a novel hypothesis that the brain uses an internal model of the body's interaction with its environment to detect the loss of balance as the instant when the magnitude of internal model-predicted and actual body accelerations diverge appreciably. He and his colleagues from geriatrics, physical medicine, physiology and neuropsychology have quantified how advancing age affects how humans negotiate obstacles and cross irregular surfaces in the presence and absence of divided attention, the significant gender differences in the ability of elderly to safely recover from a fall, how different forms of training affect leg strength and power, and have used computer models to predict optimal strategies for healthy elderly to break falls without injury. Lastly, he and colleagues from orthopedic surgery and physical medicine are studying the mechanisms of sports injuries in children and adults. One example is research identifying the mechanisms that cause rupture of the knee's anterior cruciate ligament during pivoting and landing maneuvers.

Professor Ashton-Miller directs the Biomechanics Research Laboratory and is Associate Director of the Bone and Joint Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Center at the University of Michigan. He has authored over 170 peer-reviewed papers, 15 book chapters and mentored 23 doctoral theses. He and his students have received over a dozen national and international awards for their research. He has served on NIH study sections, was elected president of the American Society of Biomechanics in 2001, served as Meeting Chair for the 4th North American Congress of Biomechanics held at the University of Michigan in 2008, and serves on the NCAA Baseball Research Panel.

Posted on September 23, 2009, 10:21 am

New BME Core Faculty Member: David Sept Ph.D.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. David Sept as an Associate Professor. Dr. Sept has a BS and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Alberta. His research covers four primary areas. The first focuses on the molecular interactions underlying cell migration, a process central to many aspects of development, differentiation and the cellular response to diseases such as cancer. Related to this is work characterizing and developing drugs that target sub-cellular filaments to treat parasitic diseases like toxoplasmosis, leishmaniasis and malaria. The third area of research is on channels that regulate the flow of ions in and out of the cell, how these channels are activated and how they malfunction in diseases such as epilepsy. The final research area is on nanoparticle based drug delivery and how these particle drug combinations are metabolized and distributed within the body. Prior to joining BME, Dr. Sept was a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis.

For more information on Dr. Sept's research please visit his lab website.

Posted on September 3, 2009, 8:50 am

Prof. Shuichi Takayama featured for cell culture discovery

An article posted, August 18, 2009, on the University of Michigan News Services website features BME core faculty member Shuichi Takayama Ph.D. The article, titled, "New method for gene expression experiments akin to watercolor painting in water" explains how Professor Takayama and his colleagues have demonstrated a method for "micropatterning" cell culture experiments. Some of the benefits of the new cell culturing method include better resource management, allowing more tests to be done per sample, and the ability to study cells in an environment that more closely mimics living organisms. Takayama, along with postdoctoral researcher Hossein Tavana, are published in the Aug. 16, 2009 edition of Nature Materials regarding their discoveries. For more information click the title above to read the full article online.

Posted on August 20, 2009, 10:35 am

"Development and Testing of Optic Probes for Transcutaneous Raman Spectroscopy Bone Diagnostic"

Steven Goldstein, PhD, Blake Roessler, MD, and Michael Morris, PhD
2009 funding: $75,000

This project is for the development and testing of optic probes to be used in a novel biomedical imaging device for bone diagnostics. The fundamental technology, Transcutaneous Raman Spectroscopy (TRS), has been developed over a decade of research at the UM, and has been shown to have commercial merit.

Raman spectroscopy is a branch of optical spectroscopy commonly practiced in industry and academia. Light is inelastically scattered by chemical components in the specimen. Over the past decade this group has demonstrated applicability of Raman spectroscopy for assessment of bone properties. Bone contains apatitic phosphate, which has a unique Raman signature. As a result, bone-related diagnostics using Raman spectroscopy are facilitated because the unique mineral-specific signal does not arise in any other tissues. This signal difference allows the signal to be detected even through overlying tissue.

Raman spectroscopy for transcutaneous bone measurements in vivo has only recently become feasible through innovations in the instrumentation and data processing methodology. The team has developed methods enabling TRS using specialized fiber-optical probes and multivariate reconstruction techniques.

Of the many potential applications, osteoporosis is the most prevalent disease. Osteoporosis is a major health threat to over 75 million people in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. (2008) It is estimated that approximately 10 million people in the U.S. suffer from osteoporosis and almost 34 million are at risk due to low bone mass. (2008) The TRS technology is uniquely capable of addressing the current limitations in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, and has the potential to enable early screening and detection for preventative treatments. If TRS is successfully adapted to clinical use, it will be possible to improve the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Treatments using more expensive drugs are able to improve outcomes for various failure mechanisms, but current osteoporosis diagnostics do not adequately triage patients for the various treatment options. Early screening and early detection would substantially reduce the incidence rate of fractures and related costs, as well as mortality.

In order to progress to commercialization, a proof-of-principle benchtop prototype must be completed. The Coulter Program funding will help this team to achieve two of the three goals it needs in order to complete the prototype.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on August 19, 2009, 10:33 am

New BME Core Faculty Member: Andy Putnam Ph.D.

BME is excited to announce Andrew Putnam, Ph.D. as an associate professor this July. His current research conducts both fundamental and applied research in the broad areas of cell and tissue engineering. The research addresses how the physical and chemical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) influence the development of tissue structures. He has a particular focus on the development of new blood vessels, bone, and tumors.

Dr. Putnam has a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and MS and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining BME, Dr. Putnam was a faculty member at the University of California- Irvine where his research focused on cell interactions in engineered tissues.

Posted on August 3, 2009, 8:26 am

BME Professor Featured in Newsweek

BME core faculty member Daryl Kipke PhD was featured in Newsweek for the July 13, 2009 issue. The article, titled,"How Science Will Enhance Your Brain" details his company's latest prototype state-of-the-art electronic chip that can be planted in your brain to deliver electronic signals to specific clusters of cells. Kipke and his firm, NeuroNexus Technologies, are testing this chip to see if it will relieve some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. For more information click the title above to read the full article online.

Posted on July 27, 2009, 4:17 pm

2009 Coulter Funded Projects: "Development of Targeted Polymeric Drug Conjugates for Treatment of Liver Cancer"

Mohamed El-Sayed, PhD, William Ensminger, MD, PhD and Donna Shewach, PhD
Second year of funding - 2009 funding: $146,870; funding to date $246,870

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is a predominant form of primary liver cancer that is increasing in incidence in the U.S. Currently, non-surgical treatment options for HCC patients have failed to improve their survival, which remains less than 12 months. These statistics indicate the urgent clinical need for alternative treatment options with improved therapeutic outcomes. In this project, the team is developing a novel drug delivery system for treatment of primary liver cancer particularly HCC. Specifically, the team will attach a chemotherapeutic agent to a series of water-soluble polymers via covalent, enzyme-sensitive, linkages to prepare nano-sized polymer-anticancer drug conjugates. These conjugates will selectively accumulate in the tumor tissue and produce tissue- and cell-specific release of the loaded chemotherapeutic agent leading to hepatic cancer cell death. Successful development of the proposed conjugates will provide a new treatment strategy with a significant commercial potential particularly with the increasing number of patients diagnosed with primary liver cancer each year. In addition, this strategy can be further exploited for delivery of other classes of drug molecules for treatment of hepatic cancer.

Funding for this research through the Coulter Program will allow the team to develop this innovative drug delivery system for treatment of HCC, which will provide sufficient proof-of-concept data that will be used for IP disclosure and support commercialization plans.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on July 16, 2009, 1:40 pm

2009 Coulter Funded Projects: "Non-invasive Ultrasonic Prostate Tissue Ablation using Histotripsy in Treatment of Prostate Cancer"

Charles Cain, PhD and William Roberts, MD
Fourth year of funding - 2009 funding: $125,000; funding to date $475,000

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common urologic condition among older men that frequently manifests as lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The increased frequency of symptoms with age, coupled with an associated decrease in quality of life prompted 4.5 million physician visits for a primary diagnosis of BPH in 2000. In that same year, direct costs for non-pharmacologic treatment of BPH were estimated to be $1.1 billion.

Current therapies for BPH are lacking. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) - long considered the gold standard - has a significant risk profile that may be less tolerable in older patients and those with co-morbidities. Minimally invasive treatments, although widely employed, are uniformly less effective than TURP due to their inability to provide sufficient tissue debulking. Although some patients with mild LUTS may derive durable benefit from minimally invasive thermal modalities, a significant portion will eventually fail and require definitive tissue debulking therapy when they are older, have increased co-morbidity, and thus are at greater risk of surgical complication. There is a need for development of new technologies that can replicate the anatomic effect and efficacy of TURP with an improved risk profile.

The team's goal is to develop a non-invasive ultrasound procedure for precise prostate tissue ablation and treatment of BPH and has already developed and tested a novel non-invasive ultrasonic technology that utilizes pulse, focused ultrasound to generate non-thermal mechanical effects within a targeted tissue volume. This technology is called soft tissue lithotripsy, or "histotripsy", and preliminary results of transcutaneuos ablation of normal prostate tissue in a canine model are very promising.

As a project that is now in its fourth year of funding, Dr. Cain's team will be focusing this year on establishing a new company, Histosonics LLC, and addressing IP and commercialization issues, as well as first round Venture Capital funding that will help propel this technology more quickly into a clinical setting.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on June 22, 2009, 9:03 am

Alan Hunt Ph.D. published in Current Biology

Intracellular nanosurgery using "ultrafast" lasers reveals the mechanics of chromosome distribution during cell division. Investigators Kevin Ke and Jun Cheng, working with Prof. Alan Hunt in the Cellular and Molecular Biomechanics Lab, have applied femtosecond pulsed lasers to precisely alter the size of chromosomes, thus perturbing the balance of forces that guide chromosome movements, and thereby demonstrating that chromosome segregation depends on the distribution of "polar ejection forces" within a cell. This work, appearing in the journal Current Biology, takes advantage of an extraordinarily sharp and small laser "scalpel" - this technology grows from earlier work in Hunt's group applying remarkably precise damage by femtosecond lasers to develop nanometer-scale machining and ablation. By establishing the role of polar ejection forces, this work is an important step forward in understanding mitosis and chromosome segregation, processes that are critical to life, and play a central role in aging, cancer, and genetic disease, and are amongst the most important targets for treating cancer.

Posted on May 19, 2009, 2:39 pm

BME Spring Faculty & Staff Award Winners

Chuck Nicholas, Systems Analyst Senior, will be awarded one of the College of Engineering Staff Service Excellence Awards on May 8, 2009. Recipients are chosen by the College of Engineering on their basis of their exemplary work and special achievement. The committee recognized Chuck, an employee in BME since 2003, for his excellent customer service to the BME faculty, staff, and students. The awards ceremony will be held on Friday, May 8 at 3 P.M. in the Chesesbrough Auditorium, Chrysler Center.

Shu Takayama PhD, is the recipient of the George J. Huebner, Jr. Research Excellence Award for his demonstrated sustained excellence in research and related scholarly activities.

Scott Hollister PhD, received the Department of Biomedical Engineering 2009 Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Posted on May 4, 2009, 1:29 pm

BME Professor Michael Mayer Featured in U-M News Regarding Alzheimer's Discovery

Core faculty member Michael Mayer PhD, is featured in an article published on the U-M News Services website. The article highlights the inclusion of a paper published in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Neurotoxicity Research. The paper is titled "Amyloid-beta-induced ion flux in artificial lipid bilayers and neuronal cells: Resolving a controversy." Professor Mayer, along with his colleagues', research moves to settle a longstanding debate about cell death and memory loss in Alzheimer's patients. Their research is being partially funded by the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Partnership Program. Visit the news services site for the rest of the article.

Posted on April 17, 2009, 2:47 pm

Lung-on-a-Chip Featured on the Cover of Lab Medicine

BME core faculty members Shuichi Takayama PhD and James Grotberg PhD received the cover feature in Laboratory Medicine for the April 2009 issue. The article, titled, "Microfluidics, Lung Surfactant, and Respiratory Disorders" details the microfluidic research being done at U-M BME nicknamed "lung-on-a-chip." For more information click the title above to read the full article online.

Posted on April 8, 2009, 9:15 am

BME Winter 2009 Newsletter

The Winter 2009 edition of the Biomedical Engineering Newsletter is now available. This gorgeous six-page newsletter features U-M BME highlights from the past six months. Inside this edition readers will be able to see a message from the Chair, find out about some of the discoveries BME professors are making, discover some of the Start Ups that have come out of U-M BME, review the recently funded grants, and see all the exciting faculty and student news and accomplishments of the year.

Posted on April 6, 2009, 11:40 am

U-M BME Hosts 2009 Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference (MBEC)

The University of Michigan Department of Biomedical Engineering is honored to host the 2009 Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference (MBEC) "Showcasing the Future of Biomedical Engineering" on Friday, April 3rd at the University's School of Public Health. Please visit the conference website to learn more about the experts and topics included on the agenda and to register. Early registration ends March 27 and all participants must register.

MBEC is a great opportunity to learn about industrial and academic careers for BMEs as well as current research in the areas of Biomaterials, Nanotech/MEMS and Imaging. The conference provides an opportunity to network with faculty, industry representatives, and other students from throughout the Midwest. The keynote speaker is Dr. Walt Olson, Vice President of CRDM Research at Medtronic. MBEC featured speakers are Dr. George Truskey, President of BMES, and Dr. James Baker, a physician entrepreneur from the University of Michigan. A Career Networking Session will be held at the conclusion of the conference.

Posted on February 16, 2009, 4:01 pm

Nick Kotov Ph.D. Featured for Two Research Papers

Professor Nicholas Kotov of the Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering departments is being featured in two recent publications for some of his research published in two separate papers. Creation of an artificial bone marrow that continuously can make red and white blood cells and a carbon nanotube-coated "smart yarn" that can be woven into soft fabrics to detect blood and monitor health are the two topics discussed. For more information on each topic please click the links above to be taken to the original article.

Posted on December 22, 2008, 9:19 am

University of Michigan: a Partner in the Network for Translational Research (ntr)

NIH has selected the University of Michigan to become a Center in the Network for Translational Research (NTR): Optical Imaging in Multimodal Platforms. This Center consists of the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, and the University of Washington as academic members. In addition, Olympus Medical Systems Corp and STI Medical Systems are industrial partners. The NTR has 3 other Centers, including Washington University at St Louis, University of Texas, and Stanford University. The 4 Centers form an international network that shares institutional resources to develop translational research programs for advancing innovative methods of multi-modality molecular imaging. The mission of the NTR is to develop consensus processes for optimization of novel optical imaging methods and to provide an informatics infrastructure to support multi-center validation.

The University of Michigan NTR team is led by Thomas D. Wang, MD,PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering. This Center is developing affinity peptides as molecular probes to identify over-expressed cell surface targets on the mucosa in the digestive tract. These peptides will then be either radio- or fluorescent-labeled, and used to localize the presence of pre-cancerous tissue using a multi-modal imaging platform that includes PET/SPECT, wide area endoscopy, and confocal microscopy. The ability to target subtle molecular rather than gross architectural changes in tissue represents a new paradigm for the early detection of cancer. The focus of the Michigan NTR Center is to advance a multi-modal molecular imaging platform to improve screening and surveillance methods for detection of cancer in the esophagus and colon.

The Michigan NTR Center represents a dynamic collaboration between the School of Medicine and the College of Engineering in an effort to integrate molecular biology with optical imaging. Eric Fearon, MD,PhD (Pathology), Brian Ross, PhD (Radiology), and Alwanaz Rehemtulla (Radiation Oncology) lead the core resources from Medicine, while Katsuo Kurabayashi, PhD, Albert Shih, PhD, and Kenn Oldham, PhD head technology development from Engineering. More information about the Michigan NTR Center can be found at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/ntr.

Posted on December 18, 2008, 11:04 am

Histosonics

Charles Cain Ph.D.
Brian Fowlkes Ph.D.
Timothy Hall Ph.D.
Zhen Xu Ph.D.
William Roberts M.D.

Many patients are faced with a difficult choice when considering surgery as a treatment option. Open surgery, which is the most invasive and has the highest likelihood of complications, also delivers the best long term outcomes. Less invasive procedures are attractive from a complications and recovery standpoint, however, they tend to yield less effective long-term outcomes. Until recently, a tool that is both non-invasive and as effective as open surgery has been nothing short of a dream. That changed approximately 10 years ago when Drs. Charles Cain and Brian Fowlkes discovered that they could use focused sound waves to non-invasively break up tumors and unwanted lesions. They named this tool "Histotripsy". Their early work enabled them to procure several millions of dollars in grant money to further study and develop this innovative and useful new tool. It also attracted several excellent graduate students including Zhen Xu and Timothy Hall, both of whom received their Ph.D.s and continue to work on histotripsy-related projects and grants. Additionally, Dr. William Roberts, a urologist at the U of M, joined the effort and uses his medical expertise to drive the clinical side of histotripsy. The next steps will be to create a clinical prototype, and to work on the FDA submission for the new product. To this end a company, Histosonics, has been formed to commercialize histotripsy. The first clinical application will be BPH (benign prostate hyperplasia). In the meantime, histotripsy's efficacy for additional applications is being explored and developed by Dr. Cain's research team. Potential applications include thrombolysis (clot breakup), kidney stones, uterine fibroids, breast lesions, and brain tumors - to name a few. Just last week, Histosonics was invited to present at the MichBio conference in the Emerging Bioscience Showcase.

Posted on November 24, 2008, 2:33 pm

"Rapid Sensor-Based Method to Detect S-Nitrosohemoglobin Deficiency/Stability in Red Blood Cells"

Shuichi Takayama, PhD; Robertson Davenport, MD; and Mark Meyerhoff, PhD
2008 funding: $100,000

Approximately 14 million units of blood are transfused yearly in the United States. While blood transfusion is widely regarded as life-saving, there is a growing concern that red blood cell (RBC) storage has a negative effect on this life saving oxygen delivery. Emerging evidence suggests that RBC infusion may actually harm some people. The loss of the RBC bioactivity that saves lives occurs very rapidly and is closely linked to the degradation of S-nitrosohemoglobin (HbSNO) in RBCs. A team of scientists, and clinicians are developing rapid HbSNO detection methods that will assess levels of RBC HbSNO in donated blood in a clinical setting where mortality or risk of blood transfusion is high. This device could be used to study, ultimately decrease loss of nitric oxide (NO) from HbSNO during storage, and also enhance transfusion effectiveness by prescreening RBC donors for HbSNO.

Recent studies suggest that HbSNO within erythrocytes plays a significant role in providing a source/reservoir of vasodilatory NO in microcirculation, especially in hypoxic tissue. Further, large donor-to-donor variability and continually decreasing levels of HbSNO within RBCs during storage in blood banks has been implicated in the observed increase of adverse reactions when transfusing patients with packed RBCs, especially those that have been stored even beyond 1 day. The ultimate goal of this UM Coulter funded project is to adapt a newly developed electrochemical sensor-based method for detecting S-nitrosothiols to a very simple microfluidic diagnostic test platform that will be capable of quantifying the levels of HbSNO in very small volumes of either packed RBCs or whole blood samples from blood donors. Such a system could ultimately be used to conveniently assess the initial levels of HbSNO in freshly donated/harvested RBCs, as well as to examine the stability of HbSNO within RBCs under various storage conditions in the hope of determining conditions where decreases of HbSNO are minimized.

Posted on October 28, 2008, 2:04 pm

Faculty Start-up Recieves 21st Century Capital

NeuroNexus Technologies Inc., founded by BME professor Daryl Kipke Ph.D, recently received nearly $1 million from the 21st Century Jobs Fund competition. The company designs microscale neural interface products for research and clinical treatment of chronic neurological disorders.

With the $999,709 the company expects to add seven jobs and is supplying $1 million in matching funds. Approved by the state Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board, the award is among nearly $29.7 million going to 17 companies throughout the state.

Posted on October 21, 2008, 10:51 am

BME Professor Honored As U-M Innovator

The Department of Biomedical Engineering Founding Chair, Professor Charles Cain, received recognition as one of the top innovators at The University of Michigan. Dr. Cain, along with his some of his colleagues in BME, is being honored for an invention that uses ultrasound technology to destroy prostate cancer tumors. The technique uses tightly focused ultrasound pulses to shred and liquefy tumors without damaging surrounding tissues. The process has been equated to using thousands of micro-scalpels to destroy diseased tissue.

Dr. Cain's research is partially being funded by the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, which seeks to fund biomedical innovations with the potential to help patients. This year Dr. Cain's group received $100,000 of the $1 million/year grant. To date The Coulter Foundation has awarded $350,000 to Professor Cain's lab. The Coulter partnership along with the Office of Technology Transfer is helping Dr. Cain's team launch and Ann Arbor-based startup named HistoSonics, to produce the non-invasive surgical tool.

Dr. Cain was honored along with a number of other U-M innovators at a ceremony held in the Michigan League Ballroom on October 1, 2008. To read more about this prestigious achievement see the featured article appearing in the September 29 issue of the University Record.

Posted on October 13, 2008, 9:01 am

Three New Grants Awarded to BME Faculty

Three BME faculty members received grants from NIH and NSF for recent proposals. The recipients include Zhen Xu Ph.D, Cheri Deng Ph.D, and Kate Barald Ph.D. See the faculty news section for more information and the titles of each grant.

Assistant Research Scientist, Zhen Xu, was awarded an NIH grant for her proposal titled "Image-Guided Non-invasive Ultrasonic Thrombolysis Using Histotripsy." Associate Professor, Cheri Deng, was also awarded an NIH grant for her proposal on "Advanced Ultrasound Ablation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation." Professor Kate Barald, received an NSF grant for her proposal, "University of Michigan Comprehensive Ethics Training Program in Basic and Social Sciences and Engineering."

Posted on September 30, 2008, 2:15 pm

"Functional Screening of Small Molecules for Inhibiting the Ion Channel Activity of Beta-Amyloid Peptides"

Michael Mayer, PhD and R. Scott Turner, MD, PhD
2008 funding: $150,000; funding to date: $367,000

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly, affects 4.5 million people in the US and 25 million people worldwide. AD is the fourth leading cause of death in industrialized societies and the third most expensive disease in the US. Current treatments provide only temporary and symptomatic benefits as AD invariably leads to progressive dementia, disability, and death. BME faculty member, Michael Mayer and Neurology clinician, Scott Turner are working together on an innovative approach to treating AD by focusing on a protein found in plaques in the brain, one of the hallmark characteristics of AD. It appears that these proteins "short circuit" neurons, disrupting normal brain activity. The project, now in its third year of funding from the Coulter Foundation, focuses on screening for molecules that can block the short circuit process.

It is the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain that is thought to distinguish AD from other neurodegenerative disorders. The major component of the amyloid plaques is a peptide, referred to as β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide, which aggregates into insoluble fibrillar structures. The Aβ peptide is a fragment of a transmembrane protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP), and the extracellular release of this peptide requires cleavage of APP by β- and ϒ-secretases in the membrane. Although the formation and removal of Aβ peptides are normal neurophysiological processes, accumulation of Aβ peptides in brain leads to deposition of Aβ plaques.

The team has already synthesized derivatives of nicotine and dopamine and showed that several of these patentable molecules bind strongly to Aβ fibrils. They have established cellular and toxicity assays with a human neuronal cell line and demonstrated that their optimized Aβ oligomer preparation is toxic. First results indicate that nicotine, bromonicotine, dopamine, morin, catechin, and tannic acid are able to reduce this Aβ toxicity. With the exception of tannic acid, these molecules are drug-like and were not toxic by themselves. Moreover, they established a functional assay to record ion channel activity of Aβ oligomers and showed that nicotine, dopamine, L-dopa, norepinephrine, tannic acid, and Congo red can inhibit the ion channel formation of Aβ peptides in planar lipid bilayers under certain conditions.

The research they have proposed for their third year of funding will be to continue to employ functional assays to investigate whether small molecules can effectively inhibit the neurotoxic ion channel activity of Aβ peptides in human neuronal cells and in reconstituted membrane bilayers. It will determine values for these molecules and it will test the toxicity and permeability through the blood brain barrier (BBB) of all promising molecules. The identified therapeutically-tolerable compounds with these characteristics will then be tested in primary neurons, and/or in behavioral studies with a mouse model of AD.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on September 30, 2008, 10:34 am

BME Translational Research Fellowship

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman's "President's Donor Challenge" is currently contributing one dollar for every two dollars donated to graduate student support.*

BME has established a new endowed fellowship that will support BME graduate students working on translational research. Visit the BME Graduate Translational Research page to see profiles of some of our students and their innovative projects.

Give Now - to support BME graduate students working on translational research.

*The President's Donor Challenge. The Challenge leverages your gift for graduate-student aid at Michigan, by contributing one dollar for every two dollars you give up to $1 million. The program continues until $40 million in gifts have been received or The Michigan Difference campaign ends on December 31, 2008, whichever comes first. Pledges must be made by December 31, 2008, to ensure a match and can be paid over a five-year period (by December 31, 2012).

Posted on September 4, 2008, 8:33 am

"Rapid Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Bacteria"

Alan Hunt, PhD; Duane Newton, PhD; Brandon McNaughton, PhD; Roy Clark, PhD; Raoul Kopelman, PhD; and Ran An, PhD
2008 funding: $100,000

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has characterized the rising resistance of bacteria to antibiotics as "One of the world's most pressing health problems." Bacterial infections cause 90,000 deaths per year in the U.S. while increased antimicrobial resistance is a pervasive problem that has spanned decades and many bacterial strains. The most effective way to prevent antimicrobial resistance from developing is accurate diagnosis and treatment of the specific pathogen responsible for an infection. Currently clinical antibiotic susceptibility tests require a total test time of 2-4 days. The current standard of care drives doctors to prescribe and administer broad spectrum antibiotics and ultimately increase the potential for antibiotic resistance. A ground-breaking approach being developed by University of Michigan researchers is to develop a faster diagnostic test, hours instead of days, to significantly reduce inappropriate antimicrobial therapy. The team led by BME faculty, Alan Hunt, is fine-tuning an instrument that can perform identification and rapid antimicrobial resistance measurements on the time-scale of hours, substantially outperforming existing diagnostics.

Using grant money received from the UM Coulter Translational Research Program the team plans to develop and clinically validate a micro-fabricated fluidic chip that will interface to an already developed stand-alone prototype device with the capability to rapidly identify bacterial strains and determine their susceptibility to antimicrobials. During the upcoming year they hope to develop and clinically validate a proof-of-principal prototype instrument based on magnetic nonlinear oscillators that can rapidly detect bacterial cells in vitro, and monitor responses to chemical agents. This will advance their long term goal as well as their short term goal (2-3 years) to develop a clinical diagnostic instrument that can detect and quantify bacteria at concentrations found in a clinical "broth culture" after ~12 hrs. Such an instrument will have a significant clinical impact, both in the identification of bacterial strains and in susceptibility tests.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on August 19, 2008, 2:42 pm

"Development of an Artificial Placenta: Effect of Pumpless Arteriovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation on Fetal Circulation"

James Grotberg, MD, PhD and George Mychaliska, MD
2008 funding: $100,000; funding to date $200,000

500,000 premature births occur each year in the United States and these are associated with substantial infant mortality and escalating costs. The complications of premature birth result in substantial respiratory, gastrointestinal, immune and central nervous system morbidity to the premie. Although incremental progress has been made in treating premature infants, effective treatment options don't exist. A major innovation in treatment of prematurity would be to recreate the fetal environment as part of the treatment strategy or in other words, create an artificial placenta. Scientists and doctors at the University of Michigan have now been able to master the technology and the expertise to comprehensively develop an artificial placenta.

The Grotberg/Mychaliska team has the experience and expertise in developing novel forms of Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS), including the facility and recourses to maintain animal models for many weeks of extracorporeal support. The team has developed a maternal-fetal sheep model with preliminary data demonstrating the feasibility to address this problem. Funding from the Coulter Foundation in 2007 allowed them to develop the complex fetal sheep model, characterize maternal and fetal physiology, and identify the limiting factors in establishing Arteriovenous Extracorporeal Life Support (AV-ECLS). Based on in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, they have established the need for a pump driven system and for cannulation of the aorta with the umbilical cannulas. Studies based on Coulter Foundation funding will be presented at a national meeting, and preliminary data is sufficient for competitive extramural funding.

In addition to their core team of bioengineers and clinicians experienced with this project, they have a pediatric surgeon and fetal echocardiographer joining the team. One of their main goals for this year is to perform 24 hours of support with AV-ECLS.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on August 4, 2008, 3:16 pm

Jan Stegemann PhD Joins BME Faculty

Jan Stegemann, PhD, is joining BME as an associate professor this July. Dr. Stegemann has BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to earning his doctoral degree, Dr. Stegemann spent five years at Boston-based W.R. Grace & Co. (later called Circe Biomedical), where his work focused on cell-based bioartificial organs. From 2002-2008 he was assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. His current research focuses on the use of extracellular environments to control cell function and the development of engineered tissues. In particular, his laboratory develops matrices for tissue engineering and biosensing applications by creating composite materials of natural polymers and nanoparticles, with application in the cardiovascular, neural, and orthopedic areas.

Posted on July 21, 2008, 11:29 am

James Ashton-Miller Ph.D. featured in the Journal of Biomechanics

BME professor James Ashton-Miller is featured for his most recent paper published in the Journal of Biomechanics. Professor Ashton-Miller conducted research to determine the most effective way to fall. "A hip fracture can mark the beginning of a downward spiral. If you fall and break a hip and you're over 65, you have a 20 percent chance of not surviving another year and another 20 percent chance of not regaining your mobility," says Professor Ashton-Miller. The study explains that falling like a skydiver can reduce the risk of a hip fracture by nearly 70 percent in senior citizens.
For the full article with pictures and video please see: Learn how to fall like a skydiver to reduce risk of hip fracture.

Posted on July 10, 2008, 7:57 pm

"Development of Targeted Polymeric Pro-drugs for Treatment of Liver Cancer"

Mohamed El-Sayed, PhD; William Ensminger, MD; and Donna Shewach, PhD
2008 funding: $100,000

Though liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world accounting for approximately one million new cases per year, the treatment options that exist are either highly invasive, or have limited specificity towards cancer cells and in all cases they fail to improve the survival of liver cancer patients. Being able to target liver tumors with a innovative drug delivery system, which can selectively shuttle a high dose of anticancer drug molecules into hepatic cancer cells and achieve the desired cancer cell death, would be an ideal solution to dealing with this deadly disease. In this early-stage project, the team is developing a drug delivery system using novel polymer-drug conjugates for treatment of primary liver cancer particularly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Using funds provided by the U-M's Coulter Program, the project team proposes to conjugate a chemotherapeutic agent to water-soluble polymers, namely poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers via covalent hydrolysable linkages to prepare nano-sized, water-soluble conjugates for treatment of HCC. These polymer-drug conjugates will target the "leaky" blood vessels supplying the tumor structure to preferentially diffuse and accumulate in cancer tissue. Once inside the tumor tissue, the targeting ligands displayed on the surface of polymer-drug conjugates will trigger individual cancer cells to draw these conjugates inside the cell. Once inside the cell, enzymes specific to liver cancer cells will break the linkage between the polymeric carrier and the chemotherapeutic drug. The free drug will kill the cancer cell and the carrier will be eventually excreted in urine. This is cell-specific delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Currently, non-surgical treatment options for HCC patients have failed to improve their survival, which remains less than 12 months. These statistics indicate the urgent clinical need for alternative treatment options with improved therapeutic outcomes. Successful development of the proposed conjugates will provide a new treatment strategy with a significant commercial potential particularly with the increasing number of patients diagnosed with primary liver cancer each year. In addition, this strategy can be further exploited for delivery of other classes of drug molecules for treatment of hepatic cancer.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on July 7, 2008, 9:03 am

Professor Kipke Featured in IEEE Publication

Biomedical Engineering professor Daryl Kipke Ph.D is featured in an article published by IEEE in June 2008. The article, titled "A Chip to Better Control Brain Stimulators for Parkinson's," explains how Dr. Kipke and his colleagues from Michigan Engineering are working on the development of a closed-loop deep-brain stimulation device for Parkinson's disease that would listen to the brain while stimulating it. To read the full article please see it featured on the IEEE website: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6381.

Posted on July 4, 2008, 9:24 am

BME Award for Outstanding Achievement Recipient: Professor Michael Mayer

Professor Michael Mayer has been awarded the Department of Biomedical Engineering Award for Outstanding Achievement. Professor Mayer has had a tremendous impact in the department in the short time he has been with us. His high profile publications average over five per year. Additionally, Professor Mayer has an excellent funding record, having received an NSF Career Award, a Michigan Technology Tricorridor Grant, a difficult to get NIH R01 grant, as well as industry and foundation support.

As a teacher, Professor Mayer has developed two completely new courses. As a testament to his excellence in teaching, Professor Mayer's Ph.D. student has received the Rackham Dissertation Award. He is also active in departmental activities, including chairing the graduate admissions committee. Professor Mayer also started the Biomembrane Lab at Michigan. The Department of Biomedical Engineering is pleased and proud to count Professor Mayer as a member of our faculty.

Posted on June 9, 2008, 9:19 am

Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award

Dr. Aileen Huang-Saad has been awarded the first place prize for the first Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award for her course "Biomedical Engineering Graduate Innovative Design." Sponsored by IBM Corporation with additional support from the Sakai Foundation, this award was designed to promote faculty best practices and innovation in using Sakai for teaching and learning. Although there are many ways in which technology can make the teaching process more efficient or productive, innovative applications of both pedagogy and technology can truly transform the educational experience. The intent of this award is to highlight examples of educational applications of Sakai, which fall into this innovative or transformative category.

The panel of judges, consisting of Dr. Paul Elsner, Dr. Karen Swan, and Dr. Ken Bain, reviewed the finalists' applications and participated in a course demonstration and interview via live web conference. The judges were very enthusiastic about Dr. Huang-Saad's course, with Dr. Swan noting that her course was "a really innovative course that fosters collaboration and uses real work problems." Dr. Bain stated that it provided the ability to "visualize and utilize a team enhanced environment", and Dr. Elsner declared that the course "was very adaptive and self-organizing."

Dr. Huang-Saad will be awarded travel expenses to attend the Sakai Conference in Paris, France on July 2. She will be a featured presenter during the conference. Congratulations to Dr. Huang-Saad!

Posted on June 9, 2008, 9:11 am

"Non-invasive Ultrasonic Prostate Tissue Ablation using Histotripsy in treatment of Prostate Cancer"

Charles Cain, PhD and Will Roberts, MD
Third year of funding- 2008 funding: $100,000; funding to date $350,000

Invasive therapies for treating cases of enlarged prostate in older men are often painful and costly. Non-invasive therapies also tend to be painful and/or ineffective, while drugs tend to be only marginally effective. A non-invasive soft tissue ablation therapy called Histotripsy has been developed by scientists at the University of Michigan under the leadership of Charles Cain, PhD. Histotripsy employs high intensity focused ultrasound that is pulsed to induce cavitation, resulting in cellular breakdown of the target tissue. Live ultrasound imaging is used to monitor the process which is very precise because it is non-thermal and is controlled in real time.

The potential for this ablation technique to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) non-invasively and provide immediate relief of symptoms was suggested by early experiments that were part of two previous Coulter grants. The project team hypothesized that targeting the urethra and adjacent prostate tissue would result in an enlargement of the urethral channel. The debris from cavitation has been shown to be extremely fine such that disrupted tissue could be voided from the newly enlarged channel providing immediate relief of symptoms.

BPH is a common pathological finding in older men. The incidence of BPH increases from 50% of the male population at age 50 to 80% by age 80. The prostate is a reproductive organ located in the male pelvis that encircles the urethra just distal to the bladder. Prostatic enlargement often causes compression of the urethra and results in difficulty voiding urine (weak stream, straining to void, incomplete emptying, and frequent urination). To better assess the clinical impact of BPH, the American Urological Association (AUA) developed the AUA symptom score, an instrument that quantifies lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Moderate to severe LUTS were found to occur on 29%, 40%, and 56% of men in their 50s, 60s, and 70s respectively. BPH induced LUTS can have a dramatic effect on quality of life and lead to more severe complications including urinary retention, recurrent urinary tract infections, bladder stones, bladder decompensation, and kidney damage.

In 1986, approximately 350,000 Medicare patients underwent transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). In the past 10 years alternatives to TURP including pharmacologic therapy and less invasive transurethral ablative technologies have been developed. Medical therapy, designed to shrink the prostate and decrease the smooth muscle tone within the prostate to promote better urine flow, is commonly employed early in the disease for men with mild LUTS.

Although effective in some patients, 20% - 40% of patients at 12 months and 50% at 3 years had discontinued therapy either due to disease progression or the difficulties associated with a long-term commitment to expensive pharmacologic therapy. Less invasive transurethral ablative technologies (e.g. radiofrequency ablation, microwave therapy, and thermotherapy) deliver energy to the prostate to induce a coagulative necrosis of prostatic tissue. Although less morbid than TURP, less invasive modalities can only be utilized for select patients with favorable prostate anatomy. Furthermore these technologies produce a lesser degree of relief than TURP. The disappointing results achieved with currently available less invasive modalities may be secondary to the manner in which tissue is destroyed. With TURP the BPH tissue is removed leaving a cavity for improved urinary flow. With less invasive modalities the prostate tissue is thermally treated resulting in coagulative necrosis which is left in-situ and experiences variable degrees of reabsorption. As a result, TURP (a major surgical procedure) is still considered the gold standard treatment for BPH today.

It is believed that non-invasive prostate debulking can be achieved with acoustic cavitation that produces mechanical tissue ablation (histotripsy). Acoustic cavitation is a phenomenon where rapid cycling from compression to rarefaction results in formation of microbubbles within the tissue. These bubbles have been observed to oscillate and violently collapse releasing tremendous energy. The net effect of cavitation is localized stresses and pressures that can mechanically fragment and subdivide the tissue resulting in cellular destruction. Histotripsy, though non-invasive and likely less morbid than TURP, also debulks the prostate and may produce equivalent outcomes. Prostatic histotripsy may also provide a more effective alternative treatment for patients who currently are pursuing pharmacologic management or less-invasive modalities.

Posted on May 27, 2008, 10:02 am

BME Spring 2008 Newsletter

The Spring 2008 editions of the Biomedical Engineering Newsletter and Alumni/Student Updates are here! These publications feature ten full pages chronicling the years notable BME related news and events. Inside this issue readers will be able to view a message from the Chair, meet our ever-growing faculty, learn about the Coulter Translational Research Program and the BME design courses, and review all the exciting faculty and student news and accomplishments of the year.

Posted on May 13, 2008, 4:22 pm

2008 Implantable Neuroprosthetics Training Course

Biomedical Engineering would like to welcome the attendees and instructors for the 2008 Implantable Neuroprosthetics Training Course taking place May 12 - 17. This week-long course, offered by the Center for Neural Communication Technology (NIBIB P41 Resource Center EB002030) covers the design, use, and analysis of microscale neural probes for neural recording and stimulation and associated applications. The course provides a hands-on, laboratory-based program covering topics in Electrophysiology, focusing on device design, neural recording & stimulation, and signal analysis; and Tissue Assessment, focusing on immunohistochemistry, imaging and quantitative tissue analysis.

Posted on May 12, 2008, 4:35 pm

U of M Coulter Translational Partnership Program Funds Six New Projects for 2008-2009

On March 26, 2008 the UM Coulter Translational Partnership Program hosted a day-long meeting with its Oversight Committee to make funding decisions for the 2008-2009 cycle. This year marks the third year of funding provided by a grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. A Call for Proposals went out in late 2007 and 13 proposed projects were reviewed at a proposal pre-review meeting in February 2008. Eight finalists were invited to make an oral presentation on their projects to the eight-member oversight committee in March and six were selected to receive funding.

"We are so pleased with the excellent proposals selected for funding this year," commented Mara Neal of the Coulter Foundation. "It really shows the high level of collaboration between the BME faculty and their clinical collaborators from the School of Medicine at the University of Michigan."

Funding for the new projects began April 1, 2008. A list of those projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site. Congratulations to all awardees!

Posted on April 30, 2008, 9:27 am

James R. Baker Jr. M.D. Named Distinguished University Innovator

Biomedical Engineering jointly appointed professor, James R. Baker Jr. M.D. has been named the University of Michigan Distinguished University Innovator for 2008. Dr. Baker is a Ruth Dow Doan Professor of Biologic Nanotechnology, Chief of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Director of the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences (M-NIMBS). He has conducted breakthrough research in nanotechnology materials and launched two startup companies based on the results.

On Monday April 21, 2008 Dr. Baker presented a lecture titled "Taking Nanotechnology from the Bench to the Bedside" as part of the award ceremony.

Posted on April 25, 2008, 9:44 am

New Faculty Member Brian Love Ph.D.

Brian Love, PhD, joined the faculty as a professor in Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Dentistry at U-M in January 2008. He is a polymer scientist by training, and was funded by an NIH post-doctoral fellowship before joining Virginia Tech where he taught for more than 14 years. Dr. Love's current research interests include aspects of polymer structure and behavior in vivo. He has published 50 refereed journal publications and five book chapters in his career. His work is focused on three concepts related to BME. They include one target of developing photopolymers and reversible polymers which could be used as either temporary or permanent embolic fluids, a second focus on bone tissue engineering using stem cells derived from viable teeth, and a third theme relating to proteins as polymers evaluating their driving force for aggregation and subsequent solidification. The equipment needed to perform this work includes rheometers, thermodynamic diagnostic determination components, and functional systems primarily based on dynamic light scattering, which can be adapted to evaluate clustering.

Posted on April 18, 2008, 8:44 am

2008 Outstanding Professor and Student Instructor Award

Aileen Y. Huang-Saad Ph.D., of BME, is the top honors recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Professor and Student Instructor Award. The award is sponsored by The UM Student Chapter of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Dr. Huang-Saad delivered the keynote speech at the award ceremony held on April 16, 2008 at the Lurie Engineering Center.

Dr. Huang-Saad just finished the semester as instructor for BME 599 - Graduate Biomedical Innovative Design Team. BME 599 is a two-semester course that encourages innovative design in biomedical engineering. It is an interactive course that stimulates students to explore their own solutions to biomedical challenges. Students experience the entire spectrum of innovative design, from concept inception to prototype design. The course challenges students to learn about the current state of the art, explore technical need for current challenges, and brainstorm new solutions with members of the medical community.

Posted on April 17, 2008, 4:37 pm

2007 Class Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award

Charles A. Cain Ph.D., BME founding Chair and the Richard A. Auhll Professor of Engineering, is a recipient of the 2007 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award for his work with, co-investigator and BME Assistant Research Scientist, Zhen Xu Ph.D. on "Non-invasive Ultrasonic Tissue Erosion for Congenital Heart Disease Therapy." There were 12 winners in all hailing from The Hartwell Foundation's list of the "Top Ten Centers of Biomedical Research" across the country. The Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards offer support for three years at $100,000 direct cost per year.

In 2007 competition for awards was incredible. Nominees possessed ideas with innovative and cutting-edge science with high relevance in terms of potential benefit to children. "The Hartwell Foundation took into account the nature of the proposed innovation, the extent to which translational approaches might promote rapid clinical application of research results, the supportive role of collaboration in the proposed research, and the institutional commitment to provide encouragement and technical support to the investigator." In the end, final selection was very difficult.

Posted on April 9, 2008, 9:04 am

Biomembrane Lab Receives Two Important Grants

Professor Michael Mayer and the Biomembrane lab received a National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Grant and a Thermo Fisher - CCG Collaborative Pilot Project Initiative Grant.

This past June Professor Michael Mayer was awarded a 5 year NIH-R01 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for the project "Chip-based and Single Transporter Assays of Multidrug Resistance Transporters." Dr. Suresh Ambudkar from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a collaborator on the grant.

In February the Biomembrane Lab received a one year grant for the project "Electrophysiology on Arrays of Human Biomembranes." from the Thermo Fisher - CCG Collaborative Pilot Project Initiative. The goal of the project, with PI Michael Mayer, is to carry out electrophysiology on an array of human biomembranes.

Posted on March 24, 2008, 12:12 pm

BME Professor Receives NSF CAREER Award

Professor Mohamed E.H. El-Sayed, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, which is one of the most prestigious awards that support the early career development of young investigators. This award supports Dr. El-Sayed's research focusing on the development of "smart" polymeric drug delivery systems for treatment of solid tumors and his educational plans in the areas of polymer therapeutics and bio-nanotechnology.

CAREER: Development of Enzyme-Activated Nano-Conjugates for Targeted Drug Delivery

Posted on March 13, 2008, 9:12 am

BME Faculty David Kohn Invited to Give Talks on Biomineralization

Professor David Kohn, BME faculty member, was invited to talk at two events. The Hunter Distinguished Lecture in the Dept. of Bioengineering at Clemson University (The role of mineral in bone adaptation and regeneration; 3/07); and a talk on tissue engineering at the upcoming Gordon Research Conference on Biomineralization (Cellular controls on mineralization: towards tissue engineering; 8/08)

Posted on March 12, 2008, 11:23 am

BME Professor invited to speak at "Promise of the Prairie" Symposium

University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering Professor Scott Hollister was invited to speak at a symposium regarding translation of research hosted by the University of Illinois entitled "Promise of the Prairie". The event is set to be held at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago on April 11 and 12, 2008. This Symposium will bring together leading academics, policy makers, and industry participants to discuss both the challenges and promises of university-industry interactions. This Symposium is sponsored by the Institute for Genomic Biology, an interdisciplinary research center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign which was established to advance life science research and stimulate bio-economic development in the state of Illinois. Approximately 40 people from across the Midwest region will participate in the symposium with the discussion organized around six-eight specific topics on the continuum from research teams to commercialization success.

Professor Hollister is also invited as a keynote speaker at the 8th World Biomaterials Congress, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 28-31 2008 and a speaker at the NIH Biomedical Imaging Research Opportunities Workshop, January 17-19, 2008 in Bethesda, Maryland.

Posted on March 11, 2008, 9:07 pm

BME Professor Daryl Kipke receives IEEE paper award

Dr. Kipke's publication "Silicon-substrate Intracortical Microelectrode Arrays for Long-term Recording of Neuronal Spike Activity in Cerebral Cortex" co-authored with Rio. J. Vetter, Justin C. Williams and Jamille F. Hetke, was selected by the IEEE Transaction on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering for the 2007 Outstanding Paper Award.

Posted on January 2, 2008, 12:00 am

Lung-on-a-Chip paper published

BME Faculty Shu Takayama and Jim Grotberg have published a paper in the Nov.12 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on a new "lung-on-a-chip" device that mimics the fluid mechanics in the human lung.

Posted on November 12, 2007, 12:00 am

Two BME Professors Honored at IEEE Ultrasound Symposium

Drs. Zhen Xu and Charles Cain received the Outstanding Paper Award from the "IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society (UFFC)" at the International IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Ultrasound Sy The Outstanding Paper Award is presented to the authors of a paper published in the UFFC-S Transactions which exemplifies excellent technical contributions. IEEE UFFC transection is a prominent journal in the acoustic field. Drs. Xu and Cain's award winning paper was on an ultrasonic tissue fractionation technique for non-invasive surgery (Histotripsy), which has been funded by the NIH and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.

Posted on November 7, 2007, 12:00 am

BME Core Faculty Member Receives Outstanding Paper Award

Zhen Xu received the Outstanding Paper Award 2006 from IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

"New Strategy to Enhance Cavitational Tissue Erosion Using aHigh-Intensity, Initiating Sequence" by Zhen Xu, Member, IEEE, J. Brian Fowlkes, Member, IEEE, and Charles A. Cain, Fellow, IEEE. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, vol.53, no. 8, August 2006, 1412-1424.

Posted on January 1, 2007, 12:00 am

"Method for Optical Detection of Pancreatic Cancer"

Mary-Ann Mycek, PhD, James Scheiman, MD, Barbara McKenna, MD, and Diane Simeone, MD
2009 funding: $100,000

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma has the worst prognosis of all malignancies and currently, no methods for early detection of pancreatic cancer exist. This translational research project seeks to fill the gap between a highly significant unmet clinical need and the promise of break-through technologies for the optical detection of disease in the pancreas.

Mycek and her colleagues are working to develop for the first time a method to detect pancreatic cancer using tissue optical spectroscopy. The method will consist of prototype optical biosensing technology (device hardware) coupled with diagnostic algorithms (analytical models for tissue classification).

The long-term goal of this research program is to deploy the technology during minimally-invasive endoscopic diagnostic procedures to test whether it will be capable of enabling early cancer detection in the pancreas by distinguishing malignant from inflammatory pancreatic mass lesions in situ or by guiding pancreatic tissue sampling via fine-needle aspiration.

A list of all the U-M Coulter funded projects is found on the UM BME Coulter Site.

Posted on December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm