This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goals of this project are to develop access devices, imaging techniques and safety measures through robotic instrument control and soft tissue mechanics to enable beating heart intracardiac surgical procedures. Specifically, in the area of soft tissue mechanics, we aim to characterize the mechanical properties of both normal and diseased atria to better understand the tolerance of these tissues to trans-atrial surgery inside a beating heart. The database of porcine atrial anatomy developed by Prof. McCulloch will serve as a basis for our characterization of the atria in terms of both macroscopic and microscopic anatomic features. Furthermore, the Continuity modeling software developed by his group and the support afforded in the use of this tool will allow us to develop this model and validate our physical measurements of the soft tissue properties.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 270 publications
