The group focuses on several research problems centered on system modeling and assist devices in cardiovascular engineering and the development of wireless biomedical sensors.

Current research themes:

1. Myocardial recovery has been reported in a few cases during mechanical ventricular assist, but has some limitations that may inhibit remodeling in the large number of patients that do not exhibit signs of recovering cardiac function.  We believe a better approach toward promoting myocardial recovery is afterload (input impedance) reduction using an artificial vasculature.  By adopting this new approach, the limitations associated with ventricular assist may be remedied to hopefully increase the incidence of myocardial recovery in congestive heart failure patients, thereby alleviating the large demand for a limited supply of donor organs.
2. We have proposed cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) pacemakers using a network of leadless cardiac electrodes that acquire their necessary energy to operate from radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and newly emerging metamaterial antennae techniques. These electrodes form a self-organizing network that can minimize a measure of dyssynchrony and hopefully improve cardiac performance and reach the non-responders to CRT. Finally, pediatric heart patients with small cardiac anatomy may be benefitted because of the leadless operation.

Group members: Daniel Ewert