Mechanical engineering graduate student Brad Traeger received the Toshiba Young Investigator Award for his presentation at the Annual Scientific Meeting of Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography held in Denver July 14-17. The award supports professional and clinical development of students within five years of completing a training program.
Traeger presented "Characterization of Anatomic Versus Effective Orifice Areas and Pressure Recovery of Native Aortic Valve Stenosis Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Computed Tomography Derived In Vivo Aortic Valve-Root Geometry." He worked on the research with Sanjay Srivatsa (MD), Yildirim B. Suzen and Yechun Wang.
Two students were awarded out of five finalists selected from worldwide contestants for the Young Investigator Award. Each submitted a mini-manuscript of 1,000 words, concerning research related to the technical and clinical advancement of cardiovascular computed tomography, and presented at the annual meeting.
As a winner, Traeger's manuscript will be eligible for priority peer-reviewed publication in the prestigious Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.
"Brad's work quantitatively reveals inaccuracies of Gorlin formula used in aortic stenosis diagnosis for decades. His work points out the need to recalibrate existing diagnostic foundations using modern medical resources, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computed Tomography, together with Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations. This work is a great example on how engineering approaches, like Computational Fluid Dynamics, contribute in biomedical development. To my knowledge, this is the first time that an NDSU student has won the prestigious Young Investigator Award," said Yechun Wang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and Traeger's adviser. "This is a result of close collaborations between NDSU researchers and clinical physicians, as well as the development of biomedical engineering at NDSU."
Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography is a professional society devoted exclusively to cardiovascular computed tomography. With a worldwide membership of approximately 3,500, it represents and advocates for research, education and clinical excellence in the use of cardiovascular computed tomography.