Research-related News
June 2008
Paul Iaizzo and Nick Skadsberg
(PhD, 2004) attended the Heart Rhythm Society Annual Meeting (May
14-16, 2008); at the meeting, they facilitated a hands-on demonstration
promoting research from the Visible Heart Lab and Medtronic, Inc.
June 2008
Congratulations to Sara Overgaard who successfully
defended her Masters thesis (Design and Use of an Isolated Heart-mounting
Fixture for the Visible Heart Apparatus) on May 21st.
May 2008
Paul Iaizzo was recently featured on ReachMD (Radio
XM157) in relation to his research on opioids, fish oils, and hibernating
bears. Program Description: How do opioids, fish oils and hibernating
bears relate to the study of heart disease? It’s a fascinating
correlation, currently under the meticulous study of Paul Iaizzo,
PhD, professor of anesthesiology, physiology, and surgery, and the
principal investigator in the Visible Heart Laboratory at the Medical
School at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Iaizzo joins host Dr.
Matthew Sorrentino to detail the remarkable cardioprotective possibilities
of an array of hormones found in hibernating bears, and the hormonal
interactions with morphine, as well as a separate but related investigation
into targeted deliveries of omega-3s. (http://www.reachmd.com/xmsegment.aspx?sid=2953)
May 2008
The manuscript "Venous valves within left coronary veins"
was accepted for publication by the Journal of Interventional Cardiac
Electrophysiology. Congrats to co-authors Sara Anderson,
Jason Quill, and Paul Iaizzo.
May 2008
Paul Iaizzo and Nick Skadsberg (PhD,
2004) represented the Visible Heart Lab and Medtronic at the Heart
Rhythm Society Conference (May 14-17, 2008) in San Francisco, where
they facilitated an interactive demonstration for attendees.
May 2008
Eric Richardson was awarded with the University
of Minnesota Graduate School Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for
his translational research on evaluating drugs, delivery systems,
and conditions that combine to make promising new therapies available
for patients with heart rhythm disorders. Terrific job, Eric!
May 2008
Sara Anderson accepted a position with Covidien
in Boulder, Colorado as a R&D Engineer. She will begin in late
May or early June. Congratulations Sara!
May 2008
Sara Overgaard accepted a position as Reliability
Engineer in the CRDM Division of Medtronic, Inc. Congrats Sara!
April 2008
Congratulations to Sara Anderson, Alex
Hill (PhD, 2003), and Paul Iaizzo who
just learned that their manuscript "Microanatomy of human left
ventricular coronary veins" was accepted for publication in
Anatomical Record! Great news!!
April 2008
Sara Anderson successfully defended her PhD thesis
"Effects of pacing lead position and cardiac anatomy on left
ventricular venous pacing" on Friday, April 11, 2008. Well
done, Sara!
April 2008
Paul Iaizzo and Alex Hill (PhD,
2003) represented the Visible Heart Laboratory and Medtronic, Inc.
at the ACC Annual Meeting in Chicago (March 29-April 1, 2008), where
they facilitated an interactive display for ACC attendees.
March 5, 2008
Kudos to Yong-Fu Xiao, Daniel Sigg
(post-doc, 1999), Mike Ujhelyi, Josh Wilhelm, Eric Richardson,
and Paul Iaizzo on the acceptance of their manuscript
"Pericardial delivery of Omega-3 fatty acid: A novel approach
to reduce myocardial infarct sizes and arrhythmias" for publication
in AJP: Heart and Circulatory Physiology.
February 5, 2008
Paul Iaizzo recently accepted a position in the
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS); effective immediately,
he is the new IEEE Chair of the Technical Committee on Cardiopulmonary
Systems. Congrats Paul!
February 5, 2008
Congratulations to Tim Laske (PhD, 2004) and Alex
Hill (PhD, 2003) who were approved as Adjunct Professors
in the Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, in January.
February 5, 2008
Paul Iaizzo traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
for the Society for Thoracic Surgeons Conference last month (January
27-30, 2008). While there, he represented the Visible Heart lab
at an interactive display for conference participants.
February 5, 2008
Mike Eggen passed his oral prelims with flying
colors on Friday, February 1st. Congrats and good luck, Mike!
December 2007
Our lab hosted the 1st Annual Bakken Surgical Device Symposium
on December 13th, 2007 at the Mayo Auditorium. The scientific program,
entitled "The Pacemaker: Past, Present, and Future"
featured several speakers including: Earl Bakken
(founder of Medtronic, Inc. and inventor of the battery-powered
pacemaker), Vincent Gott MD (Johns Hopkins Medical
Institute), David Rhees PhD (Bakken Museum), Samuel
Hunter MD (retired cardiac surgeon), Walter Olson
(VP Research, CRDM Medtronic, Inc.), David Benditt MD
(Cardiology, U of MN), Dusan Kocovic MD (Lankenau
Hospital), Mike Hess (VP Product Planning, CRDM
Medtronic, Inc.), Kenneth Liao MD (Cardiac Surgery,
U of MN), Bin He PhD (Biomedical Engineering, U
of MN), and Eduardo Marban (Cedars-Sinai Heart
Institute). The second annual Bakken Surgical Device Symposium is
scheduled for December 2008 and will focus on heart valves.
November 19, 2007
Congratulations to co-authors Paul Iaizzo, Alex
Hill (PhD, 2003), and Tim Laske (PhD,
2004) on the acceptance of their manuscript "Cardiac device
testing enhanced by simultaneous imaging modalities: the Visible
Heart®, fluoroscopy, and echocardiography" to the Expert
Review of Medical Devices.
November 19, 2007
At the 2007 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions,
Paul Iaizzo and Sara Anderson guided
an interactive display allowing interested participants to see and
feel real human and animal hearts in various disease stages.
This was part of Medtronic's Mobile Education
Unit, a highlight at AHA's Emerging Technologies/Hands-On Learning
Showcase.
November 7, 2007
The manuscript "Estimation of global ventricular activation
sequences by noninvasive 3-dimensional electrical imaging: validation
studies in a swine model during pacing" was accepted for publication
in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology. Co-authors include:
Chenguang Liu, Nick Skadsberg (PhD, 2004), Sarah
Ahlberg (PhD, 2007), Cory Swingen, Paul Iaizzo
and Bin He. Congratulations!
November 7, 2007
Paul Iaizzo and Sara Anderson attended the American
Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Florida (November
4-6). Medtronic's Mobile Education Unit was
one of the major highlights of AHA's Emerging Technologies/Hands-On
Learning Showcase (see picture below). Paul and Sara guided an interactive
display allowing interested participants to see and feel real human
and animal hearts in various disease stages.
October 3, 2007
Congratulations to co-authors Sarah Ahlberg (PhD,
2007), Arthur Yue. Nick Skadsberg (PhD, 2004),
Paul Roberts, Paul Iaizzo, and John Morgan on the
acceptance of their manuscript "Investigation of pacing site-related
changes in global restitution dynamics by noncontact mapping"
to Europace.
September 11, 2007
Kudos to Eric Richardson who passed his oral preliminary
examination on September 11th. His presentation was entitled "Intrapericardial
delivery of omega-3 fatty acids."
September 11, 2007
Co-authors Jason Quill, Tim Laske (PhD, 2004),
Alexander Hill (PhD, 2003), Philipp Bonhoeffer
MD, and Paul Iaizzo just learned that
their manuscript "Direct visualization of a transcatheter pulmonary
valve implantation within the Visible Heart®--A Glimpse into
the Future" will be published in the Images section of Circulation.
Terrific work!
September 11, 2007
The manuscript "Single-site ventricular and biventricular pacing:
investigation of latest depolarization strategy" was accepted
for publication in Europace. Congrats to the co-authors Mike
Kimmel (PhD, 2007), Nick Skadsberg (PhD,
2004), Charles Byrd MD, Jay Wright MD, Tim Laske
(PhD, 2004), and Paul Iaizzo!
September 10, 2007
Vince Splett successfully defended his master's
thesis (Dual-chamber coupled pacing in a pig model effects on sympathetic
tone and plasma renin activity and effects of RV extrastimulus site)
on Friday, September 7th. Great job, Vince!!
September 5, 2007
Paul Iaizzo was named the Associate Director of
Education for the Institute for Engineering in Medicine (formerly
Biomedical Engineering Institute) at the University of Minnesota.
This institute unites Medical School and Engineering faculty and
community counterparts in creating new medical devices, solving
clinical problems, and promoting collaboration between the University
and industry. Congratulations Paul!
September 5, 2007
Congratulations to Jason Quill who passed his oral
preliminary examination (Structural heart disease investigations
using the Visible Heart) on August 28th!
August 21, 2007
The manuscript "Venous Valves: Unseen Obstructions to Coronary
Access" was accepted for publication in Journal of Interventional
Cardiac Electrophysiology. Great job co-authors Sara Anderson,
Alex Hill (PhD, 2003) and Paul Iaizzo!
July 23, 2007
Paul Iaizzo facilitated a workshop, The Visible
Heart: Functional Human Cardiac Anatomy, in the Josephson and Wellens
How to Approach Complex Arrhythmias for EP Fellows program on Friday,
July 20th in Boston, MA. Sara Anderson was a TA
for the anatomy demonstration as well.
July 19, 2007
Congratulations to co-authors Sarah Ahlberg (PhD
2007), Nathan Grenz, Daniel Ewert, Paul Iaizzo,
and Dr. Lawrence Mulligan on the acceptance of their manuscript
to Cardiovascular Engineering: Effect of pacing site on systolic
mechanical restitution curves in the in vivo canine model, in press
2007.
June 7, 2007
PACE accepted the manuscript "Variation in pacing impedance:
impact of implant site and measurement method" for publication.
Congratulations to co-authors Sara Anderson, Nick
Skadsberg (PhD, 2004), Tim Laske (PhD,
2004), Dr. David Benditt, and Paul Iaizzo!
June 7, 2007
Maneesh Shrivastav's (PhD, 2007) paper entitled
"Discrimination of ischemia and normal sinus rhythm for cardiac
signals using a modified k means clustering algorithm" was
accepted for presentation at the 29th International Conference of
the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in conjunction
with the Biennial Conference of the French Society of Biological
and Medical Engineering (SFGBM) to be held in Lyon, France from
August 23-26, 2007. Great work, Maneesh!
March 17, 2007
Co-authors Hans Ginz, Paul Iaizzo, Albert Urwyler,
and Hans Pargger recently learned that their manuscript "Use
of non-invasive stimulated muscle force assessment in long-term
critically ill patients: a future standard in the intensive care
unit?" will be published in Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica.
Congratulations to all!
April 27, 2007
Congrats to Maneesh Shrivastav who topped off a
wonderful week in the lab (three PhD degrees this week!!) by successfully
defending his PhD thesis "The cardiac potential: applications
in myocardial ischemia" on Friday, April 27th. Wonderful accomplishment,
Maneesh!
April 27, 2007
Kudos to Sarah Ahlberg who earned her PhD degree
after defending her thesis "Investigation of the influence
of long- and short-term cardiac pacing from alternate sites on the
electrical and mechanical performance of the heart in the in vivo
animal model" on Wednesday, April 25th. Great job, Sarah!
April 24, 2007
Michael Kimmel successfully defended his PhD thesis
"Swine models for study and optimization of biventricular pacing
therapies as treatments for heart failure" on Tuesday, April
24th. Congratulations Mike!
April 19, 2007
Paul Iaizzo was presented with a commemorative
silver plate on April 19th, 2007 to acknowledge his many years of
leadership in co-directing the Design of Medical Devices conference
at the University of Minnesota. Thanks for all your hard work, Paul!
March 26, 2007
Congratulations to Sarah Frommer who successfully
defended her PhD thesis "Investigating the use of multipotent
adult progenitor cells for treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy:
a translational approach" on Friday, March 23rd. Way to go,
Sarah!
March 2007
Jason Johnson will present a poster on perioperative
hypothermia and the Hot Dog Warming System at the International
Anesthesia Research Society 81st Clinical & Scientific Congress
in Orlando, Florida (March 23-27, 2007).
March 2007
Paul Iaizzo was invited to present at the Annual
Conference of the Idaho Society of Anesthesiologists in Sun Valley,
Idaho (March 3-4, 2007). His presentations were "Malignant
Hyperthermia: a current view” and “Translational research:
from bear den to bedside.”
January 17, 2007
Congratulations to Tom Bischoff, Marty Martens, Matt Adams
(Masters, 2005), Bill Gallagher, and Paul
Iaizzo on the acceptance of their manuscript "Measurement
of impact loads applied to an implant drug pump connector in a porcine
cadaver specimen" for publication in the Journal of Medical
Devices.
January 2007
Hats off to course director and lecturer, Paul Iaizzo,
for yet another successful Advanced Cardiac Physiology and Anatomy
course in January. Feedback from students has been very positive.
Also participating in the course were lecturers Daniel Sigg
(post-doc, 1999), George Bojanov (post-doc, 2000),
Alex Hill (PhD, 2003), Tim Laske
(PhD, 2004), Sarah Ahlberg (current PhD candidate),
as well as teaching assistants Jason Quill and
Eric Richardson.
December 12, 2006
Paul Iaizzo and several graduate students participated
in the annual LifeScience Alley (previously Medical Alley) Conference
at the River Centre (St. Paul) on Wednesday, December 6th. Thanks
to everyone who presented posters, and CONGRATULATIONS to Sara
Anderson who won the Lillehei Heart Institute Award for
her poster entitled "Microanatomy of the Left Ventricular Coronary
Veins" (Cellular Bioengineering category).
December 7, 2006
The Visible Heart Laboratory was honored to host a visit by Earl
Bakken on Thursday, December 7th. During the visit, Mr.
Bakken was able to observe an in vitro swine experiment and discuss
research projects with various investigators and clinicians.
October 24, 2006
Paul Iaizzo is making a presentation at the Transcatheter
Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Washington DC on Thursday,
October 26th.
October 24, 2006
Sara Anderson successfully passed her oral preliminary
examination on Friday, October 20th. The title of Sara's presentation
was "Device-Tissue Interactions: The Relationship Between Pacing
Lead Orientations and Cardiac Anatomy." Good job, Sara--we're
proud of you!!
October 23, 2006
Visible Heart staff and students, along with Alex Hill
(PhD, 2003) from Medtronic, Inc., manned a table at the 42nd annual
Nobel Conference hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter,
Minnesota (October 3-4, 2006). The topic of the conference was "Medicine:
Prescription for Tomorrow." Representing the Visible Heart
Lab were Paul Iaizzo, Eric Richardson,
and Sarah Ahlberg.
October 23, 2006
Sara Anderson recently presented her research on
"Micro-Anatomy of the Left Ventricular Coronary Veins"
at the 25th Medtronic Science and Technology internal conference.
Approximately 40 abstracts were chosen to be presented as one minute
orals during this conference. Congrats Sara!
October 18, 2006
The manuscript "Dynamic obstruction to coronary sinus access:
The Thebesian Valve" was published in the October 2006 issue
of Heart Rhythm (Image section). One of the figures was prominently
featured on the cover of the journal! Great job, Alex Hill
(PhD, 2003), Sarah Ahlberg, Dr. Bruce Wilkoff,
and Paul Iaizzo (co-authors).
October 18, 2006
Jason Quill attended the BMES Annual Meeting (October
11-14, 2006) in Chicago with representatives from the University's
Biomedical Engineering Institute. While there, he promoted the Visible
Heart lab and our resesarch collaboration with Medtronic, Inc.
September 28, 2006
Paul Iaizzo will be recognized tomorrow at the
Scholars Walk Dedication (between McNamara Alumni Center and Church
Street on the East Bank). Paul was a recipient of the Award for
Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education
in 2001-02; this award earned Paul the distinction as "Distinguished
Teacher" at the University of Minnesota. The Scholars Walk
honors great research and academic accomplishments of the U's faculty
and students; individual monuments recognize Nobel and Pulitzer
Prize winners, Rhodes, Truman, and Marshall Scholars, members of
top academic academies, as well as Distinguished Teachers. Congratulations
Paul!!
September 19, 2006
Maneesh Shrivastav's paper "In vivo cardiac
monophasic action potential recording using electromyogram needles"
was recently accepted for lecture presentation at the IEEE Biomedical
Circuits and Systems conference featuring healthcare technology
(November 29-December 1, 2006; The British Library, London). Congrats
Maneesh!
September 18, 2006
Jason Quill recently returned from the HFSA conference
(Seattle, September 10-13, 2006) where he presented a poster entitled
"Comparative anatomy of aortic and mitral valves in human,
ovine, canine and swine hearts." Co-authors included Alex
Hill (PhD, 2003) and Paul Iaizzo.
September 8, 2006
Kudos to Sarah Ahlberg, Crystal Ripplinger, Nick
Skadsberg (PhD, 2004), Paul Iaizzo, and
Larry Mulligan! Their manuscript entitled "Effects of pacing
rate on mechanical restitution within the in vivo canine heart:
Study of the force-frequency relationship" was just accepted
for publication in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.
Good work, team!
August 22, 2006
Justin Schaffer (BMEn, 2006) successfully defended
his Plan B masters research project entitled "Potential benefits
of DHA on Ischemic Preconditioning of Isolated Myocardial Tissue"
on Friday, August 18th. Best wishes to Justin as he begins medical
school at Johns Hopkins later this month.
August 15, 2006
Congrats to Kate Chromy (DPT, 2002), Mike
Carey (DPT, 2002), Kristopher Balgaard
(DPT, 2002), and Paul Iaizzo on the publication
of their article entitled "The potential use of axial spinal
unloading in the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A
case series." This article will be published in the Archives
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation later in 2006.
July 25, 2006
The Biomedical Engineering Institute of the University of Minnesota
has awarded funding to three projects in our lab: 1) Paul
Iaizzo's Cardiovascular Physiology Interest Group ($45,000);
2) Sarah Ahlberg's research on "Global and
regional investigation of pacing site on electrical restitution
in the intact swine heart" ($16,000); and Mike Eggen's
"MRI compatible Langendorff perfusion apparatus"
project ($6,000). Congratulations to all!
June 23, 2006
The lab was honored to host a visit from Mr. Earl Bakken
on Friday, June 23rd. Visible Heart students and staff had the opportunity
to showcase their research. Their presentations were followed by
a brief ceremony to commemorate the unique collaboration between
Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Earl Bakken, a collaboration that gave
birth to the cardiac pacemaker, helped to create the field of biomedical
engineering, and spawned the medical device industry in the state
of Minnesota.
June 2006
Daniel Sigg (PhD, 2001) and Paul Iaizzo
had a manuscript accepted by the European Journal of Pharmacology:
In vivo versus in vitro comparison of swine cardiac performance:
Induction of cardiodepression with halothane. Kudos to Daniel and
Paul for their persistent efforts in resubmitting this manuscript!
April 2006
Students in the Visible Heart lab presented nine posters at the
Design of Medical Devices conference in Minneapolis (April 19-21,
2006). Judges awarded cash prizes to the following students in the
lab: 1) Sarah Ahlberg (Effects of Pacing Rate on
Mechanical Restitution within the In Vivo Canine Heart: Study of
the Force-Frequency Relationship), 3rd place in the cardiac category;
2) Sarah Frommer (A Novel In Vivo Force Assessment
Device to Detect Differences in Normal and Injured Murine Hindlimb
Force), 1st place in the devices category; and 3) Sarah
Ahlberg (Determination of Pacing Site Effects on Ventricular
Repolarization by Non-Contact Mapping), 3rd place in devices category.
Thanks to all the students who presented posters, and congratulations
to the first and third place finishers!
April 2006
Congratulations to Dan Geoffrion and Andy
McCullough (student volunteers from Breck High School,
2005) who competed at the Minnesota State Science Fair with their
research project "Objective tests of gastocnemius muscle response
for Duchene's Muscular Dystrophy." They took 1st place for
their paper/PowerPoint presentation and were invited to national
competition. In addition, they were chosen as the alternate to participate
in the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the
poster competition. Great work, Team Dandy!
April 2006
The abstract "Voltage-dependent hysteresis of human pacemaker
channels expressed in HEK293 cells" was accepted for presentation
at the 28th Annual International Society for Heart Research American
Section Meeting in Toronto (June 14-16, 2006). Authors are: Yong-Fu
Xiao, Joshua Wilhelm, Erica TenBroek, Paul Iaizzo,
and Daniel Sigg (PhD, 2001). Congratulations!
April 2006
Yong-Fu Xiao reported that the manuscript "Electrophysiological
Characterization of Murine HL-5 Atrial Cardiomyocytes" was
accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physiology-Cell
Physiology. Additional co-authors include: Erica TenBroek, Joshua
Wilhelm, Paul Iaizzo, and Daniel
Sigg (PhD, 2001). Great work!
April 2006
The manuscript "Dynamic Obstruction to Coronary Sinus Access:
The Thebesian Valve" was accepted for publication in Heart
Rhythm's IMAGES section. Congrats to Alex Hill
(PhD, 2003), Sarah Ahlberg, Dr. Bruce Wilkoff,
and Paul Iaizzo!
February 2006
Congratulations to Sara Anderson who earned her
Masters degree on February 28th after successfully defending her
thesis "Variation in pacing impedance: Impact of implant site,
measurement method, morphology and time post-implant."
Paul Iaizzo just learned that three manuscripts
have been accepted for publication in 2006, including:
* Snedeker JG, Barnstuble BB (MS, 2002), Iaizzo
PA, Farshad M, Niederer P, Schmidlin FR: A comprehensive
renal injury concept based on a validated finite element model of
the human abdomen. Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical
Care (in press) 2006.
* Lohuis T, Harlow HJ, Beck TdI, Iaizzo PA: Hibernating
bears conserve muscle strength and maintain fatigue resistance.
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (in press) 2006.
* Sola S, Garshelis DL, Amaral JD, Noyce KV, Coy PL, Steer CJ, Iaizzo
PA, Rodrigues CMP: Plasma levels of ursodeoxycholic acid
in black bears, Ursus americanus: seasonal changes. Comparative
Biochemistry and Physiology (in press) 2006.
AWESOME!
The Heart Rhythm Society accepted abstracts that our researchers
will present at the upcoming annual scientific meeting in Boston,
MA (May 17-20, 2006):
1. Global changes of restitution dynamics during right ventricular
apical and septal pacing (oral presentation). Co-authors are Sarah
Ahlberg, Nick Skadsberg (PhD, 2004), Arthur
Yue, Paul Roberts, John Morgan, and Paul Iaizzo.
2. Pacing induced dysynchrony of left-right interventricular coupling
in the normal heart (poster presentation). Co-authors include Trent
Fischer, Mike Kimmel, Paul Iaizzo,
and Dan Kaiser.
3. The effects of temperature modulation on cardiac pacing stimulation
threshold (poster presentation). Co-authors include
Mark Marshall, Theresa Rosendahl, Kenneth Liao,
Michael Loushin (1993-8 volunteer/research assistant, 2001-2
post doc), and Paul Iaizzo.
Congratulations and good luck to all the authors!!
The manuscript "Anatomical Dependence of Intracardiac Stimulation
Electrodes on HIS Bundle and Interventricular Septal Pacing"
has been accepted for publication by PACE. Congrats to co-authors
Tim Laske (PhD, 2004), Nick Skadsberg
(PhD, 2004), Alex Hill (PhD, 2003) and Paul
Iaizzo!
On January 29, 2006, Paul Iaizzo and Tim
Laske (PhD, 2004) will be featured on TechTalk in a segment
about Medical Technology and Devices. This interview will air at
9:00pm on TPT MN Channel 17 Twin Cities (see http://techtalk.umn.edu/schedule).
In December 2005, Tim Laske (PhD, 2004) was honored
by induction into the Bakken Society, a prestigious honorary fellowship
dedicated to recognizing individuals who have distinguished themselves
in furthering the technical and scientific progress of Medtronic,
Inc. The Visible Heart Laboratory celebrated Tim's accomplishment
with a "surprise" dinner on December 10th. Congratulations,
Tim!
Paul Iaizzo coauthored an article "Decreased
isometric skeletal muscle force in critically ill patients"
with several research colleagues at University Hospital in Basel,
Switzerland. The article was published in Swiss Medical Weekly (135:
555-561, 2005). Nice going, Paul!
Tim Laske (PhD 2004), Hank Harlow, John Werder,
Mark Marshall and Paul Iaizzo
recently had a manuscript accepted in the Journal of Biomechanical
Engineering: "High capacity implantable data recorders: System
design and experience in canines and denning black bears."
Congrats to all the co-authors!
Sara Anderson won a $500 cash award for the poster
she submitted to the Medical Alley conference on October 6, 2005.
The poster "Comparison of Measurement Methods in Pacing Lead-Tissue
Interactions: Effect on Impedance Measurements" competed in
the "modeling and simulation" category. Congratulations
Sara!
Paul Iaizzo was recently awarded a Nash Avery
grant in the amount of $15,000 for the proposal "Opioid preconditioning
in normal and dystrophic heart muscle." The goal of this research
is to better define the potential benefits of specific opioid-based
anesthesia so it may be best appleid to patients with Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy.
"Novel visualization of lead extraction using various approaches
performed on three chronically implanted isolated canine hearts,"
an abstract poster, will be presented at the AHA 2005 Annual Meeting
(Dallas, November 13-16, 2005). Co-authors are Charles Love (Ohio
State University), Sarah Ahlberg, Prasanga Hiniduma-Lukuge,
and Paul Iaizzo.
The abstract "Early Regional Electrical Activation of the
LV Myocardium is Associated with Prolonged Electrical-Mechanical
Delay in vivo" was accepted as an oral presentation at the
AHA 2005 Annual Meeting (Dallas, November 13-16, 2005). Co-authors
include: Trent Fischer, Nicholas Skadsberg (PhD,
2004), Daniel Kaiser, Jodi Koehler, and Paul Iaizzo.
Congratulations and good luck!
"A novel ex vivo heart model for the assessment of cardiac
pacing systems" was recently accepted by the Journal of Biomechanical
Engineering for publication in the November 2005 issue. Co-authors
include: Tim Laske (PhD, 2004), Nick Skadsberg
(PhD, 2004), and Paul Iaizzo.
The manuscript "High pacing impedances: Are you overtorquing
your leads?" has been accepted for publication in Pacing and
Clinical Electrophysiology (September 2005 issue). Congrats to co-authors
Tim Laske (PhD, 2004), Sarah (Vincent)
Vieau (MS, 2004), Nick Skadsberg (PhD,
2004), and Paul Iaizzo!
Charles Soule earned his masters degree (CBS)
on June 20, 2005 after successfully defending his thesis "Comparison
of the protective effects of glucose metabolism and opioid preconditioning
against hypoxic damage in swine skeletal muscle." WAY TO GO,
CHARLES!! Congrats!
Congratulations to Matt Adams who successfully
defended his masters thesis in Biomedical Engineering on June 16,
2005. His thesis was titled "Complications and design recommendations
associated with chronic implant of intrathecal catheters."
Great job, Matt!!
Sarah Handahl successfully defended her master's
thesis on May 19, 2005. Her Plan B project was titled "Effect
of pacing site on systolic and diastolic mechanical restitution
curves." Congratulations, Sarah!
"The potential benefits of 1.5% hetastarch as a cardioplegia
additive" has been published in Biochemical Pharmacology (69:
1553-1558, 2005). Congratulations to co-authors James Coles
Jr (PhD, 2002), Daniel Sigg (PhD, 2001)
and Paul Iaizzo!
Congratulations to Neda Shahghasemi (undergraduate,
Directed Research) who won FIRST PLACE in the poster competition
(devices category) at the Design of Medical Devices annual conference
(April 13-15, 2005)! Neda's colorful poster, entitled "Muscle
force assessment device," reported on the research, design
and manufacture of a device that measures the amount of force generated
by the tibialis anterior muscle of mice (in conjunction with Sarah
Frommer's study related to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy). Great job,
Neda!
Congratulations to Charles Soule, Jinback
Hong, Daniel Sigg, James Coles,
Peter Oeltgen, Hank Harlow and Paul Iaizzo! Their
manuscript "Hibernation induction trigger reduces hypoxic damage
of swine skeletal muscle" was accepted for publication in Muscle
& Nerve.
The Visible Heart lab was represented at the 2005 Heart Fair at
the Science Museum on Saturday, March 5th. Staff and students displayed
human hearts, along with various pacemakers and a defibrillator.
They also fielded questions about the Visible Heart CD which was
available for participants to explore at the event. Pictured left
to right: Jackie Youtsos, Sara Street,
Sarah Handahl, Monica Mahre, Mike
Kimmel, and Neda Shahghasemi.
Jackie Youtsos, an undergraduate conducting directed
research in our lab, was recently accepted to present her research
at the 19th Annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research
meeting, held in Lexington, VA on April 21-23, 2005. Congratulations
Jackie!
An article about the Visible Heart Laboratory, titled Device
and Conquer, appeared in the Winter 2004 issue of Pictures of
Health, published by the Academic Health Center at the University
of Minnesota.
The Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology and Devices, edited
by Paul Iaizzo, will be released in early 2005
by Humana Press. This 33-chapter book features chapters on anatomy
of the heart, cardiac physiology and assessment, and devices and
therapies for treating heart disease. Thanks to Paul for all his
hard work and faith in bringing this ambitious project to reality!!
Mike Kimmel and Sarah Handahl
are currently interning at the CRM division at Medtronic, Inc. in
addition to their RA responsibilities here at the U of MN (Spring
2005).
Congratulations to Mike Kimmel who passed his
preliminary orals in BME on December 15, 2004. The title of Mike's
Oral Prelim Presentation was "Swine models for optimization
of biventricular pacing therapies as treatments for heart failure."
Congratulations to Tony Dupre who earned his
MS degree in Biomedical Engineering with his thesis titled "The
development of an in vitro swine heart model for the evaluation
of an epicardial radiofrequency ablation device" on December
8, 2004. Tony has recently accepted a job at Boston-Scientific SciMed.
Congratulations to Nick Skadsberg who provided
an excellent public defense of his PhD project in December 2004.
The title of Nick's PhD Thesis is "Single site cardiac pacing:
Influence of pacing site on electrophysiology and performance in
the normal swine heart."
(November 17, 2004) At
the recent Biomedical Engineering Institute Medical Alley poster
sessions, Nick
Skadsberg was the recipient of the LHI Award and Mike
Kimmel was the recipient of the Medtronic Award.
Congratulations!
Paul Iaizzo and Nick Skadsberg
traveled to New Orleans for the AHA Annual Scientific Sessions (November
7-10, 2004). Two abstracts were accepted for presentation:
Iaizzo PA, Laske TG, Skadsberg
ND, Vincent SA, Padeletti L. Right ventricular
septal lead placement-Are you really on the anterior wall?
Skadsberg ND, Coles Jr. JA,
Iaizzo PA. Ventricular outflow tract pacing preserves
left ventricular activation pattern thereby optimizing hemodynamic
function.
On October 19, 2004 we hosted Earl Bakken for a tour of our labs.
During his 2-hour visit, Mr. Bakken observed a Visible Heart experiment
and asked many relevant questions about our research, before graciously
posing for pictures with our lab staff, graduate students and Medtronic
collaborators. Mr. Bakken's visit was planned in conjunction with
the Lillehei Heart Institute's 50th Anniversary of Open-Heart Surgery
using Cross-Circulation event (October 19-20, 2004), a special celebration
attracting numerous U of MN research pioneers/clinicians (i.e.,
DeBakey, Varco, Lillehei family) as well as families of patients
who benefited from their innovative techniques.
Our laboratory had a poster and an oral presentation accepted for
the 2004 XI International Symposium on Progress in Clinical Pacing
conference in Rome, Italy, November 30-December 3. The two abstracts
accepted were:
Skadsberg ND, Kaiser DR, Fischer TM, Iaizzo
PA. Single site pacing induced electrical dyssynchrony
and the hemodynamic results. XI International Symposium on Progress
in Clinical Pacing, Rome, Italy, 2004. (Oral Presentation)
Kimmel MK, Skadsberg ND, Kaiser
DR, Fischer TM, Iaizzo, PA. Effects of latest
depolarization biventricular pacing on the acutely infarcted swine
heart. XI International Symposium on Progress in Clinical Pacing,
Rome, Italy, 2004. (Poster)
We presented a poster at the 8th Annual Scientific Meeting of the
Heart Failure Society of America:
Kimmel MW, Skadsberg ND, Byrd
CL, Wright JD, Laske TG, Iaizzo PA.
Comparison of latest depolarization biventricular pacing with
single-site pacing in healthy swine hearts. Heart Failure Society
of America, 8th Annual Scientific Meeting, Category: Electrophysiology,
Arrhythmias, Sept. 13, 2004, Toronto, Canada. Supplement to J
of Cardiac Failure. Vol. 10(4): Pg. S71, August 2004. (Poster)
(July 26, 2004) Margaret Nelson, Erika Sandell,
and Sonja Lukas did an excellent job presenting
their Doctorate in Physical Therapy research project titled "Quantitative
analyses of dorsiflexor forces in marathon runners: A pilot study."
Paul Iaizzo, Tim Laske and Woohyek
Choi recently received approval for their
patent application on a "system and method for determining
tissue contact of
an implantable medical device within a body" (US
Patent 6,714,806). This patent is licensed to the University
of Minnesota and Medtronic, and is jointly held by Medtronic, Inc.
and Paul Iaizzo.
Paul Iaizzo and Tim Laske also
received patent approval for a "system and
method for determining location and tissue contact of an implantable
medical
device within a body" (US
Patent 6,671,550). This patent is licensed to the University
of Minnesota and Medtronic, and again is jointly held by Medtronic,
Inc. and Paul Iaizzo.
(June 15, 2004) Sarah Vincent successfully completed
her MS degree in Biomedical Engineering. The title of her project
was "The use of opioids as a means to induce preconditioning
in diseased human left ventricular trabeculae." Great job,
Sarah!
Two abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the 14th World
Congress
in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Techniques Cardiostim 2004
conference in Nice, France (June 16-19, 2004):
Nicholas D. Skadsberg, MS, James A.
Coles, Jr., PhD, Timothy G. Laske, MS,
Paul A. Iaizzo, PhD. "Optimal right ventricular
pacing: an anatomical perspective." (University of Minnesota
and Medtronic, Inc.)
Sanjeev Saksena, MD, Hygriv B. Rao, Nicholas Skadsberg,
Paul Iaizzo, PhD and Sina Zaim, MD. "Do
underlying disease states affect the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation
in humans?" (University of Minnesota, RWJ Medical School,
UMD NJ Medical School, and Passaic General Hospital, Warren, NJ)
(May 11, 2004) Kevin Fitzgerald successfully completed
his MS degree in Biomedical Engineering, he gave an excellent presentation
on his project entitled "The use of an implantable epidural
spinal cord stimulation device as a means to induce opioid preconditioning
of the swine heart." Super job, Kevin!
Tim Laske (PhD in Biomedical Engineering, 2000-2004),
Paul Iaizzo, and Nick Skadsberg (current
PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering) will travel to San Francisco
in May 2004 to present an abstract at the 25th Annual NASPE Scientific
Sessions. The abstract, "Analysis of atrial pacing impedance variations
using an isolated heart model," highlights a study to recreate clinical
situations that result in unusually high pacing impedances in order
to provide insight into the clinical consequences of these situations.
Co-authors also include Alex Hill (PhD in Biomedical
Engineering, 1999-2003) and Sarah Vincent (current
MS candidate in Biomedical Engineering).
Paul Iaizzo is the Program Chair of The President's
Commissioned Inderdisciplinary Conference on Medical Devices/Design
of Medical Devices Conference that will be held at the McNamara
Alumni Center (April 7, 2004) and Radisson Hotel Metrodome (April
8-9, 2004). This conference brings device designers, entrepreneurs
and researchers together to share perspectives on medical device
design and successful production of new devices to solve health
care needs.
Paul Iaizzo just received $10,000 from the Nash
Avery Search for Hope Research Fund (Paul & Sheila Wellstone
Muscular Dystrophy Center) to fund research to target preconditioning
drugs (delta-opioid agonists) and evaluate their level of protection
in both normal and dystrophic heart muscle (left ventricular trabeculae)
and skeletal muscle. In addition, the maximum force production and
onset of fatigue in the dorsiflexor muscles will be evaluated in
both normal and dystrophic dogs. Both Sarah Vincent (current
MS candidate in Biomedical Engineering) and Sarah Frommer
(graduate student) will be working on this project in the upcoming
months.
In March 2004, Paul Iaizzo and Tim Laske (PhD
in Biomedical Engineering, 2000-2004) completed a number of bear
studies in Grand Rapids and Ripley, in collaboration with the Department
of Natural Resources.
Sarah Vincent, Tony Dupre, Kevin Fitzgerald (all
current MS candidates in Biomedical Engineering) and Mike
Kimmel (current PhD candidate in BiomedicalEngineering)
represented our lab at the Lillehei Heart Institute Heart Fair at
the Minnesota Science Museum on March 6, 2004.
Tim Laske (PhD in Biomedical Engineering, 2000-2004)
successfully defended his doctoral thesis in February 2004. The
title of his thesis was "The application of an isolated perfused
working heart model to the design of endocardial pacing systems."
Tim's thesis focused on the use of an isolated perfused large mammalian
heart preparation as a tool for studying several aspects of cardiac
stimulation and sensing. Tim is currently the Senior Director of
Cardiac Rhythm Management-Therapy Delivery at Medtronic, Inc. (MN).
As the leader of the Cardiovascular Physiology Interest Group that
is funded by the Biomedical Engineering Institute, Paul
Iaizzo has organized various lab tours and presentations
in the last several months. Group members were introduced to research
in our labs in October 2003. Subsequent meetings have featured Dick
Bianco's labs (February 2004) and a presentation by Dr. H. Fred
Downey from the University of Texas, Fort Worth (also in February
2004). The upcoming April meeting will hopefully highlight Dr. Zhang's
laboratory at the University of Minnesota.
Alex Hill (PhD in Biomedical Engineering, 1999-2003)
submitted the manuscript, "In vitro studies of human hearts," to
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery in February 2004. The objective
of this research was to describe a unique isolated heart preparation,
utilizing human hearts not viable for transplant, which allows for
physiological perfusion and endocardial imaging. Staff members as
well as current and past graduate students are co-authors including:
Tim Laske, James Coles Jr., Daniel Sigg, Nick Skadsberg,
Sarah Vincent, Charles Soule, Bill Gallagher and Paul Iaizzo.
Paul Iaizzo served as a co-course director of
the Advanced Cardiac Physiology and Anatomy course again in January
2004. Attending the course were approximately 80 people representing
3M, Data Sciences International, Guidant, MedAmicus, Medtronic,
St. Jude and the University of Minnesota. The course was very well
received by students. In addition to Paul, lecturers included current
and past graduate students: George Bojanov, James Coles
Jr., Kevin Fitzgerald, Alex Hill, Tim Laske, Michael Loushin, Daniel
Sigg, and Nick Skadsberg.
Paul Iaizzo edited a 33-chapter book entitled
"Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology and Devices for the Biomedical
Engineer" that was submitted to Humana Press in December 2003. Several
current and past graduate students contributed chapters to the book
including: Ed Chinchoy, James Coles Jr., Tony Dupre, Kevin
Fitzgerald, Alex Hill, Ryan Lahm, Tim Laske, Anna Lindlief, Michael
Loushin, Daniel Sigg, Nick Skadsberg and Sarah Vincent.
We expect the book will be ready for release in October 2004.
Alex Hill (PhD in Biomedical Engineering, 1999-2003)
earned his doctoral degree in December 2003. Alex's thesis, entitled
"Large mammalian comparative cardiac anatomy," summarized his research
on the use of animal models in understanding cardiovascular physiology
and designing new therapeutics for cardiovascular disease. Alex
is currently a Senior Scientist at Medtronic, Inc. (MN).
Current UROP students for Spring 2004 semester are: David
Choi (Project title: "Characteristics of cardiac electrical
conduction patterns associated with alternate site pacing of the
heart") and Laura Skadsberg (Project title: "Hemodynamic
assessment of alternate site pacing study").
Nick Skadsberg (current PhD candidate in Biomedical
Engineering) passed his oral exams in September 2003. Nick's continuing
research centers around alternative site pacing methodologies both
in situ and in vitro on the Visible Heart® apparatus. His research
investigates the electrophysiological, hemodynamic and mechanical
effects that result from pacing various atrial and ventricular anatomical
locations. This research employs a high-resolution, non-contact
mapping system (ESI, Inc., St. Paul, MN) that reconstructs the three-dimensionality
of the chamber of interest and accurately records the heart's electrical
depolarization activity.
Jerome Socha (MS in Biomedical Engineering, 2003)
earned his masters degree in March 2003. In his thesis, Jerome described
a prototype mobile unit that can be used for future patient studies
on preventing pressure ulcers using focal cooling. Jerome is employed
by Lockheed Martin, and currently works and resides in Texas.
Lina Alzate (MD, MS in Biomedical Engineering,
2001-2003) successfully defended her masters Plan B thesis in 2003.
Project title: "Focal warming during induction of hypothermia
by surface cooling: Feet warming experiments and analysis of mean
skin temperature and shivering response. Lina is currently employed
by Medtronic, Inc. (MN).
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