CAREER: In Vivo Quantification of Tissue Deformation and Growth from Medical Image Data

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

0134503 Weiss Under this CAREER Award, methods from theoretical and computational mechanics will be combined with pattern theory to directly incorporate medical image data into the analysis of deforming biological tissues. Results will provide new finite-element based tools that use image data to track three-dimensional kinematics and nonlinear strain in deforming tissues and to register anatomical structures appearing in image data sets. Two applications would be targeted: in vivo measurement of strains in the beating human heart and in situ measurement of strains in ligaments. The techniques and resulting software, which will be made available to the public, are expected to be applicable in numerous other areas including geophysics, manufacturing engineering design, biology and computational medicine. The educational component focuses on three areas: bioengineering outreach to Utah high school students through a summer institute; developing an integrated biomechanics curriculum built around three core courses, and training undergraduate and graduate students in conjunction with research objectives.