COBRE: UVT: BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING CORE: PULMONARY VASCULAR & RESPIRATORY SYST

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Biomedical engineering is a burgeoning interdisciplinary field that involves adapting methods from the physical, chemical, mathematical and engineering sciences for application to physiology, medicine, behavior or health. It is characterized by the range of scientific and engineering tools it brings to bear on biomedical problems. All research projects within the VLC-COBRE have requirements for instrumentation, computation and quantitative methods. Accordingly, the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Core will serve a vital and unifying role for the VLC-COBRE research program. Three specific aims are required to meet the needs of specific projects and the overall program. The first is to work with VLC-COBRE investigators to develop novel, state-of-the-art engineering tools for research. This complex aim has four components: 1) design and construction of instrumentation hardware, 2) development and implementation of digital signal and image processing software, 3) assembly of tools for quantitatively assessing respiratory system dynamics in small animals, and 4) development of numerical and analytical tools for modeling the pulmonary vascular and respiratory systems. Achieving this first aim will allow VLC-COBRE investigators to perform scientifically sophisticated experiments under rigorous control, interpret results with complex time and frequency information, measure respiratory mechanics in vivo and develop predictive models of physiological and pathological processes. The second specific aim of the BME Core is to educate VLC-COBRE investigators in the appropriate use of instrumentation hardware, quantitative data analysis techniques and mathematical modeling. A combination of theoretical and practical tutorials is planned. Investigators who clearly understand the advantages and limitations of their equipment will use it more efficiently and effectively. In addition, the BME Core will encourage and facilitate collaborative research between engineers and biomedical scientists to enhance the Biomedical Engineering environment at UVM.