Research Laboratories
Advanced Imaging Methods Laboratory
This laboratory is involved in the development of a variety of advanced imaging techniques especially in the area of ultrasonic imaging and bioinstrumentation. Facilities include workstations, computers, array processors, supercomputer access, advanced ultrasonic scanner and image display facilities.
Analytical Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory
This campus-wide research facility sponsors collaborative activities among the Department of Chemistry, the College of Engineering, and the School of Medicine. The laboratory is equipped with an inventory of about $1 million in laser instrumentation with capability for ultratrace level, optically-based detection and sensing, and spectroscopic studies of interfacial phenomena.
This laboratory is involved in the development and testing of medical devices for use during anesthesia and intensive care. The lab has facilities for simulation, animal testing and clinical studies. Through close interaction between bioengineers, anesthesiologists and critical care physicians, numerous drug delivery systems and monitoring devices are being developed for patient care.
Artificial Heart Research Laboratory
Engineering facilities include mock circulation and durability test equipment, computer aided device design, performance simulation, and device documentation. Manufacturing is provided by a complete machine shop, prosthetics laboratory, and electronics shop. Animal implantation testing involves two fully equipped operating rooms, a fluoroscopy laboratory, an animal intensive care unit; and clinical chemistry, hematology, pathology and immunology laboratories.
Biomedical Polymers Laboratory
The laboratory is dedicated to the design, synthesis, analysis, and characterization of biorecognizable synthetic macromolecules and polymer networks. Such systems are being evaluated, for example, for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs, and the oral delivery of peptides/proteins. The laboratory contains equipment for polymer synthesis and characterization techniques, including fast protein liquid chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography, multiangle laser light scattering for direct determination of absolute molecular weights, electrophoresis, automatic titration, membrane and tissue diffusion, freeze-drying, and UV spectroscopy. In addition to a detailed analysis of biomedical polymers by physicochemical methods, a number of biochemical and biological assays are being used to evaluate the relationship between the structure of biomedical polymers and their biological properties in vitro and in vivo.
Bone and Joint Laboratory
This laboratory has a precision, diamond blade bone saw, and other equipment for preparing bone/implant specimens. Also included are a sophisticated optical microscope and a computer system for quantitative digital storage and analysis of both optical and SEM histologist images. The lab is also equipped for high-resolution X-ray microradiography.
The CVRTI is a multidisciplinary institute dedicated to research into all aspects of cardiovascular electrophysiology. The three main areas of study are the behavior of cardiac cells and membranes, the processes that determine the electrical events in heart tissue and the whole heart, and the study of electrocardiographic fields and high resolution ECG. The CVRTI now consists of 11 faculty members and a total staff of 35. Facilities at the CVRTI for electrophysiology research represent the state of the art in experimental labs, multichannel data acquisition systems, and computer analysis, simulation, and visualization. Recent improvements are additional labs and office space, 1024-channel systems for continuous bioelectric signal acquisition, a complete confocal optics system for cellular and tissue physiology, and a computer lab consisting of multiprocessor Unix workstations and large scale data storage capacity. Preparation techniques available in the CVRTI include cell isolation, intracellular electrode measurements, patch clamp, fluorescent dye methods, imaging of cardiac cells, multielectrode cardiac surface and volume recordings, human shaped, instrumented electrolytic tanks, and noninvasive patient studies using electrocardiographic mapping.
Ergonomics and Safety Laboratory
The laboratory is equipped with a force plate with computer based data acquisition system, a computer based position detection system, load cells, video equipment and still camera equipment. Several PC compatible and Macintosh computers, printers, and plotters are dedicated to the students and lab use. Areas of research emphasis are: 1) Quantification of the physical trauma to the upper extremity resulting from manual work, 2) Low back stresses and overexertion hazards during static and dynamic manual handling activities, 3) Slip/fall hazards during gait and dynamic material handling activities, 4) Therapeutic and assist devices for handicapped and senior citizens, 5) Computer modeling of manual material handling activities, and 6) Development of ergonomic expert systems for process design.
Institute for Sports Science and Medicine
This research group, located at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, is dedicated to the application of sport science technology to performance enhancement, athlete assessment, development, education, medical care and injury prevention. The institute is the official sports medicine provider for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard teams and the U.S. Speedskating team. Over 700 athletes in the Salt Lake Valley have increased their speed and power through the Acceleration training program at the Institute.
This facility contains equipment for the design, the fabrication and the characterization of cell transplantation devices and novel drug delivery systems. Included is a tissue culture facility, a histology laboratory, an organic wet-chemistry and polymer fabrication laboratory and a small animal surgical facility.
Laboratory for Monitoring, Measurement, and Management of the Metabolome (4M Lab)
The study and development of ChemWare (enzyme-based analytical chemistry for specific metabolites and other analytes), ChipWare (microfabricated devices, ChemChips, to collect and distribute analytical samples for multichannel analytical measurements), and InfoWare (means to present many channels of analytical chemistry data in an easily visualized and interpretable icon-like manner). The Lab's activities are focused on pediatric biochemical diseases.
Medical Imaging Research Laboratory
Facilities include X-ray, magnetic resonance and nuclear medicine instrumentation. A small bore 2 Tesla magnet is located in the laboratory for animal magnetic resonance experiments. The laboratory has state-of-the-art image processing facilities, consisting of a network of 15 SUN workstations which are available for image reconstruction, processing, and display. A computationally fast SPARC station 2 is available to simulate the physics of the imaging detection process. All computers are networked to clinical SPECT, X-ray CT, and MRI patient systems for easy data transfer and processing on laboratory computers. Research is actively pursued in 2-D and 3-D imaging, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) and non-ionizing medical imaging.
The research goals of this laboratory are to develop molecular solutions for complex medical and technical problems. Both natural and synthetic macromolecules, and hybrid combinations of both are employed. Current projects have a common theme of interfacial adhesion: the development of biocompatible adhesives for hard tissue repair, and the development of crosslinking chemistry for precise surface adhesion of active proteins in arrayed biosensors.
The mission of these laboratories is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries. We incorporate biomechanical, histological and biochemical methods to study injury and healing in ligament, tendon, meniscus, and cartilage. The principles of mechanics and computational modeling are used to study mechanotransduction, injury mechanisms, and surgical repair/reconstruction.
This laboratory combines intracellular electrophysiology and computational approaches to identify cellular neuronal mechanism of information acquisition and storage in simple systems. The laboratory is equipped with several set-ups for intracellular current-clamp and voltage-clamp experiments, and computers for experimental control, data analysis, and neuronal simulations.
This facility is designed for studies of interfacing with or repair of the nervous system. Included are two complete mammalian neurophysiology setups, instruments and equipment for performing microsurgery; basic histological equipment and supplies, several laboratory computers, a darkroom, and an equipment fabrication and repair area.
Optical Bioinstrumentation Laboratory
This laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art optical and spectroscopic instrumentation including ISS photon-counting spectrofluorometers and multi-frequency phase and modulation lifetime instruments, total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) spectrometers , a variety of CW laser light sources (Ar-ion, He-Cd and He-Ne), ellipsometer and several optical microscopes.
Orthopedic Bioengineering Laboratory
This laboratory is dedicated to the development of new orthopedic implants, devices and surgical techniques and to the determination of the mechanical properties of musculoskeletal tissues. It is equipped with mechanical testing machines and strain gauge instrumentation for determining the mechanical properties of implants and bone. Equipment is available for fabrication of test specimens and prototype implants from metals, polymers and micro-fiber reinforced composites, and for acute toxicity testing of biomaterial degradation products.
Orthopedic Biomechanics Institute
This facility is committed to conducting basic science, sports medicine, and clinical orthopedic research. Activities include development of diagnostic and treatment procedures, musculoskeletal implants, sports protective equipment and rehabilitative procedures. The laboratory is equipped for testing biomaterials, analyzing joint biomechanics, evaluating normal and pathologic human gait, and quantifying sports performance.
Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory
This laboratory is used to develop instrumentation and prostheses for persons with handicaps due to spinal cord injury, brain trauma, stroke or other neurological diseases. Projects include development of (1) a microprocessor based Electromyographic (EMG) recorder for recording 24 hours of EMG records in mobile subjects: (2) a 3-D pulsed ultrasonic ranging system for tracking the movement of limbs in real time: (3) a voice recognition system useful to persons without limb movement for commanding a limited number of control functions: (4) light weight and easy to assemble leg brace system for use with electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles: (5) an EMG sensing and display device to allow persons with no hand function and very little head movement to control switches. The laboratory contains electronic test equipment, four computers, a microprocessor development system, and various instruments for bio-mechanical and bioelectric measurements.
The mission of this laboratory is focused on the discovery and quantification of fundamental biophysical, biomechanical and electrophysiological mechanisms underlying sensation of sound and motion by the vestibular and auditory end organs. Scientific findings are reported in the primary/secondary literature, new technologies are invented and disclosed, and novel techniques are applied to problems impacting health and the human condition. Senior personnel are devoted to the continued advancement of human knowledge through education of students in bioengineering, mathematical physiology and vestibular/auditory science.
This laboratory hosts two Scanning Force Microscopes (Nanoscope II and Topometrix Explorer), and custom-built, data-acquisition systems for adhesion force mapping. The SFMs operate in a variety of modes including contact, contact elasticity and friction, tapping, and non-contact modes and are capable of imaging under solution. Contact-angle instrumentation is also available.
Research in the Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory at the University of Utah is dedicated to increasing our fundamental understanding of the role of hemodynamics in the normal and pathological physiology of the vasculature. Our long-term goals are to improve clinical treatment and prevention of vascular diseases and develop tissue-engineered cardiovascular devices.
Vision Research Laboratory
Part of the laboratory is devoted to anatomical and electrophysiological studies of information processing in the vertebrate retina using single cell techniques. Equipment includes an intracellular electrophysiological recording system, microelectrode pullers, photostimulators, computers and microsurgery systems. The balance of the lab is devoted to the development and production of silicon electrode arrays and circuitry for electrical stimulation of the central nervous system as part of the neuroprostheses program.
