Supervisor: Carlo Menon

Background:

Diseases of the heart are the leading cause of death in North America, with higher mortality rate than cancer. Over 7 million men and 6 million women are living with some form of coronary heart disease. Over a million people suffer a (new or recurrent) coronary attack every year, and about 40% of them die as a result of the attack.

Myocardial Infarction (MI) or heart attack is most often caused by a blood clot, also known as thrombus, in the arterial vasculature surrounding the heart. MI refers to myocardial cell death and occurs due to a complete coronary obstruction which results in a profound blood flow impairment causing inadequate oxygen delivery to the heart muscle. Once such an obstruction begins, cell death can occur in as little as 20 minutes. Complete death of all myocardial cells at risk can occur in, at the earliest, 2 to 4 hours. Various methods have been developed to treat thrombus before MI occurs. The techniques vary from surgical procedures, such as coronary artery bypass grafting to minimally invasive procedures such as angioplasty, atherectomy, thrombectomy, and intra-arterial thrombolysis.

In Menon’s research laboratory, a new method that could be safely applied by unspecialized personnel on-site or during patient transportation to the hospital has been proposed. The method consists in applying low frequency mechanical vibrations synchronized with heart cycle of the patient, preferably along with injection of thrombus dissolving drugs.

Research done so far in Menon’s research laboratory:

Research is summarized in the following paper:

Zaidi, S.A., Marzencki, M., Menon, C., and Kaminska, B. (2010) Non-invasive method for pre-hospitalization treatment of heart attack patients, The 3^rd International Multi-Conference on Engineering and Technological Innovation (IMETI), Orlando, USA.

Research to be performed:

We plan to perform in-vitro tests to identify vibration patterns, which optimally disrupt clots. An experimental setup is to be prepared in order to perform the in-vitro tests. The student will work with the assistance of graduate students and Post doctorate fellows. There is a strong possibility to be involved on the publication of a scientific article.  Tasks to be performed include:

1)             Familiarize with LabVIEW software.

2)             Develop a hydrostatic system with pressure controlled through LabVIEW software.

3)             Familiarize with a power supply to be controlled from a personal computer (LabView software).

4)             Connect the power supply to control a hand-held vibrator.

5)             Develop a control LabView VI to make the vibrator reliably oscillate at different constant frequencies or sweep frequencies in the range 40-60Hz.

6)             Modify the hand-held vibrator to hold vials.

7)             Test the system with material simulating blood clots.

Required skills:

Prerequisite: at least 100 credit hours.

Experience with electrical test equipment (DMM, oscilloscope).

The ideal candidate would like to contribute in applied research and be willing to work on an applied biomedical project.