Author: College of Engineering

Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Jingfeng Jiang is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $450,187 research and development grant from the National Institutes of Health. Zhengfu Xu (Math), assistant professor of mathematical sciences, is co-pi. This is a three-year project.

Bruce Lee (Bio Med) attended the 2018 Annual Meeting for the Society for Biomaterials in Atlanta to give an invited talk in the session entitled “Thought Leader: Mussel and Plant Polyphenol Inspired Biomaterials.” Lee also served as one of the moderators in this session.

Research by biomedical engineers at Michigan Tech was featured in the article “SME’s Humans of Manufacturing — Developing Hearts,” in Additive Manufacturing. The article focuses on Dr. Martin Bocks’ efforts to solve cardiology problems in small children.

Developing Hearts

Dr. Martin Bocks Seeks to Solve Big Cardiology Problems in Small Children

“Right now, we use stents that are FDA approved for adult indications such as coronary or peripheral vascular disease, or stents for the biliary tract,” said Dr. Martin Bocks, a pediatric cardiology specialist at the Cleveland Ohio’s UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.

Working with biomedical engineers from Michigan Tech University and Case Western Reserve University, he has developed a new type of stent made of a special zinc alloy that safely degrades over time and is gradually taken up by the body. It is not permanent like those made of Nitinol, stainless steel, or other bare metals, but shares many of the same properties.

Dr. Bocks explains that the manufacturing process is much the same as any other metal stent, except that the zinc is much harder to work with. “We start with the raw material provided by the team at Michigan Tech, have it cast into rods, and extruded into tubes or a cannulae, which are then laser cut according to our stent design. It’s electro-polished, crimped onto a balloon, and delivered. So far, it looks like an excellent alternative for pediatric patients.”

Read more at SME, Smart Manufacturing Experience, by SME Media.

Bruce Lee (Bio Med), Rupak Rajachar (Bio Med) and Ameya Narkar attended the 6th World Congress on Adhesion and Related Phenomena, organized in conjunction with the 41st Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society in San Diego.

Lee chaired a session entitled “Biomedical Adhesives and Clinical Applications.” Lee also served as the elected vice chair of the Bioadhesion Division within the Adhesion Society and will serve as the chair of the division in the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society in 2019.

Rajachar gave an oral presentation entitled “Optimization of Novel Fibrin-polydopamine Adhesive Hydrogels for Use in Marine Wound Healing.”

Narkar gave an oral presentation entitled “Effect of Ionic Functional Groups on the Oxidation State and Interfacial Binding Property of Catechol-based Adhesive,” a project directed by Lee. Narkar also co-chaired a session entitled “Bioadhesive Chemistry.”

Jeremy Goldman (Bio Med/IMP) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $217,791 research and development grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. Jaroslaw Drelich (MSE) is Co-PI on the project, “Exploratory Research to Suppress Intimal Hyperplasia by Controlling Zinc Implant Biodegradation.”

This is a one-year project.

Home Health Care News published an article about FM Wound Care, a start-up company that is awaiting FDA approval to market a product designed to prevent infection, based on technology developed by Megan Frost (Bio Med).

Wound Care Startup Could Reduce Home Health Time

A biomedical engineer and a health care entrepreneur have teamed up to improve wound care with a product designed to prevent infection and reduce the need for some post-acute care, including home health.

FM Wound Care, LLC, based in Trenary, Michigan, is awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval on a nitric-oxide-infused, self-sterilizing wound dressing designed to kill bacteria following surgery. The post-op bandage could potentially reduce the need for some care performed by home health care providers, and lower overall wound care costs.

Megan C. Frost, PhD, and entrepreneur Jeff Millin believe their product—the Sentry Wound Dressing—prevents infections by slowly releasing nitric oxide (N.O.) over the course of seven days, allowing patients to wear the same wound dressing for a week.

Read more at Home Health Care News, by Jack Silverstein.

Vice President for Research David Reed has awarded the following Century II Campaign Endowed Equipment Fund (C2E2) awards at the recommendation of the C2E2 Committee.

• Mary Raber (Pavlis Honors College) – MakerSpace: Facilitating the Development of a Maker Culture at Michigan Tech
• Jingfeng Jiang (Biomedical Engineering) – Building Mechanical Testing Infrastructure Toward Enhancement of Human Healthcare Research and Education on Campus

Reed thanks the review committee members for their participation in this internal award process. For additional information on the C2E2 opportunity, visit C2E2.

By Vice President for Research.