Biomedical Imaging
Research in the BME Functional Imaging Program focuses on development of improved techniques for investigating brain function, including high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, and methods for combining information from functional MRI (fMRI) and other sources of functional data, including electrophysiological recordings. Research projects range from technical MRI development to study of visual systems in the brain and functional investigations of the mechanisms by which the brain recovers function after stroke.
Student research advisors for these projects are UAB faculty in the vision sciences, psychology, radiology, neurology and the neurosciences, as well as Biomedical Engineering.
Functional MRI of the brain, introduced in 1992, works by imaging changes in local blood oxygenation, blood flow and volume accompanying local activation of the brain. Development of improved methods involves challenges in signal processing, radio frequency design, data collection and archiving, graphics and visualization methods, biophysical modeling, NMR physics, and a host of other cross-disciplinary areas. There are many exciting opportunities for students to become involved in important research questions and to make fundamental contributions to this new and growing field of medical imaging.
Students completing the M.S. or Ph.D. degree in functional imaging will be well prepared to seek a job in an industrial or academic research lab or in the medical imaging industry. In addition to training in engineering and medical imaging techniques, students in this program also take a year of neuroscience courses. This balanced curriculum prepares graduates to work with colleagues from the life sciences as well as from engineering.
The Functional Imaging Program was launched by means of a Whitaker Foundation Special Opportunity Award to initiate an innovative interdisciplinary training program in brain imaging.
Biomedical Imaging Faculty
Biomedical Implants and Devices
 Biomaterials
Biomaterials research spans the breadth of projects from materials and implantable device development/characterization to the host response to such implantable devices.
Biosurfaces: A basic understanding of the surface morphology, and surface and/or bulk composition and chemistry, is the focus of the surfaces research group. Scanning electron and probe microscopy, Auger electron-spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy are used to achieve the aforesaid goal.
Biocorrosion & Degradation: Metallic implantable devices are susceptible to mechanical-electrochemical interactions that can result in accelerated corrosion. Ceramic and polymeric biomaterials are subject to degradation. Both processes can result in dissemination of ions, by-products, and particulate debris in periprosthetic tissue. Various DC and AC corrosion techniques and constant composition/chemistry titration systems are used independently and also in symbiosis to investigate these corrosion and degradation processes.
Biocompatibility: Research in this area seeks to understand the molecular basis for tissue reactions to biomaterials. The work is focused on the following topics: mechanisms of toxicity of ions leached from metallic implant materials; interaction of extracellular matrix molecules with material surfaces; effects of mechanical strain on bone cells cultured on implant surfaces; protein biosynthesis by cells cultured on different surfaces. Information gained from these studies will be used to develop cell cultures and animal models for evaluating new surface treatments for biomedical implants.
Implant Biomechanics
Efforts in this area are focused towards minimizing the loosening of joint replacements and implants caused by mechanical wear, interfacial debonding, and mechanical interaction between the implant and the surrounding host material. A combination of experimental, analytical, and computational methods are used to address these issues. For examples, engineering fracture mechanics is used to understand the initiation and propogation of flaws within polyethylene (UHMWPE) which generate debris. Similar approaches are used to evaluate debonding at stem-cement and cement-bone interfaces which may lead to loosening of cemented joint replacements. The long term goals of these projects are to predict the mechanical response of implants in their environment so that designs can be optimized to improve the longevity of implant systems.
Tissue regeneration
Biomaterial enhanced tissue regeneration applies advanced biomaterials approaches to promote healing and regeneration in pressure ulcers, burns, blood vessels, nerves, bone, cartilage, and vascular anastomosis. The research is aimed at understanding how biomaterials can be used to help in the restorative repair process.
Biomedical Implants and Devices Faculty
Implants and Devices Facilities
Cardiac Electrophysiology
Each beat of the heart is triggered by an electrical impulse that propagates through the heart muscle in a well-ordered sequence. Cardiac electrophysiology is the study of this process and the ways in which it can go wrong. Cardiac arrhythmias kill on the order of 400,000 people in North America each year.
Cardiac electrophysiology research in UAB’s Biomedical Engineering Department is centered at the Cardiac Rhythm Management Laboratory (CRML). CRML is a 20,000 square foot facility that houses researchers from Biomedical Engineering, Medicine and Physiology. Using an interdisciplinary approach, CRML researchers study cardiac electrophysiology from the molecular to the whole-organ level with the goal of preventing and improving the management of cardiac rhythm disorders.
 Much electrophysiology work involves recording electrical potentials. CRML is equipped to record such potentials from single cells, cultured cell monolayers, isolated heart preparations, and in situ hearts. Cardiac mapping is the process of recording from many spatially distributed sites simultaneously. CRML has electrical mapping systems that can record signals from over 1000 extracellular electrodes. Optical mapping uses voltage-sensitive dyes to transduce electrical potentials into fluorescence. CRML is equipped to record this information with both photodiode arrays and high-speed video cameras. CRML is also equipped to record from intracellular and extracellular microelectrodes.
To help interpret large volumes of experimental data and to suggest new experiments, CRML researchers employ high-performance computing and advanced algorithms to model cardiac propagation and to analyze mapping data.
Because the CRML research team includes engineers, computer scientists, physiologists, physicians, and veterinarians, students at CRML are exposed to many different approaches to the study of cardiac electrophysiology. Additional training opportunities are available through close collaborations with clinical electrophysiologists and scientists from industry.
CRML research funding comes from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, American Heart Association, The Whitaker Foundation, and medical device manufacturers.
Cardiac Electrophysiology Faculty
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine is an interdisciplinary research and development program focusing on development of tissue constructs, regenerative matrices, and novel technologies and therapies to replace or repair both soft and mineralized tissues. Current research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering includes development of nanostructured biomimetic biomaterials to guide tissue development and regeneration and for targeted delivery of therapeutics; computational biology and multiscale modeling of tissue and tissue components; hard and soft tissue biomechanics and biomechanical measurements; tissue engineering for cardiovascular, orthopaedic and dental applications; bioreactor development and bioprocess engineering.
Many BME faculty members are involved in UAB’s newly established BioMatrix Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (BERM) research center. The major focus of the BERM Center is to facilitate development of interdisciplinary research and training programs in the areas of tissue regeneration and repair by development of scientific expertise in the biology of the cellular microenvironment, adult stem cells and their niches, nanostructured matrix scaffolds, 3-D tissue construct development, and bioreactors and translation of these approaches to novel therapies, cell-based treatments, tissue replacement products and technologies. The BERM Center occupies two floors of the newly completed Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research building.
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Faculty
The BioMatrix Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (BERM) Center
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