Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in cooperation with faculty from North Carolina State University and the staff of the Microelectronics Center at North Carolina, will initiate an Engineering Research Center for Emerging Cardiovascular Technologies. The Center will combine NSF and NIH support with funds from industry, private foundations, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The Center will incorporate the lastest VLSI design concepts, biosensors, systems design and simulation to explore the design of a new generation of cardiac interventional and medical imaging systems. This interdisciplinary center will bring together active university research programs of well- established engineering and biomedical researchers with industrial investigators. The research will focus on Cardiac Interventional Systems. Cardiovascular Imaging, Microelectronic Systems and Biosensor Systems to create the fundamental knowledge required to design advanced biomedical systems, devices, and instruments. Performance and quality are key to the leadership of the U.S. in developing and marketing cardiac interventional and imaging systems. The U.S. possesses and excellent base of basic biomedical research, which the ERC will combine with the latest developments in high technology in order to create, build, and assess prototypes of new interventional and imaging systems which will be competitive in world markets. Integral to the ERC will be the active participation of industrial personnel through advisory boards, research affiliate and visiting fellow programs, and a seminar series. Students, faculty, and industrial personnel will collaborate in research, an optimum way to speed the flow of research to technology. The Education program will focus on the involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in multidisciplinary teams made up of faculty and industrial researchers from diverse technical backgrounds. Industrial personnel will be active members of the faculty in designing educational programs and advising student research projects. The Duke ERC was approved by the National Science Board as one of the FY 1987 ERCs in March of 1987, provided that the ERC receive one-third support from the National Institutes of Health. This action initiates the first year of the ERC through partial funding of NSF's commitment. Completion of NSF's commitment will await approval by the NIH of an award to support the ERC. The Division of Cross-Disciplinary research recommends the Duke ERC because it provides an excellent opportunity to combine engineering and medical skills to advance a basic field of engineering. The ERC's contribution will be critical for the development of a new generation of interventional imaging systems which will directly enhance international competitiveness through new products and indirectly reduce the costs of healthcare.
