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A new machine developed at North Carolina State University makes an animal heart pump much like a live heart after it has been removed from the animal’s body, allowing researchers to expedite the development of new tools and techniques for heart surgery. The machine saves researchers time and money by allowing them to test and refine their technologies in a realistic surgical environment, without the cost and time associated with animal or clinical trials.

Currently, most medical device prototypes designed for use in heart surgery are tested on live pigs, which have heart valves that are anatomically similar to human heart valves. However, these tests are both expensive and time-consuming, and involve a lengthy permission process to ensure that the use of live animals is necessary. So, researchers at NC State have developed a “dynamic heart system” – a machine that pumps fluid through a pig heart so that it functions in a very realistic way. “Researchers can obtain pig hearts from a pork processing facility and use the system to test their prototypes or practice new surgical procedures,” says Andrew Richards, a Ph. D. student in mechanical engineering at NC State who designed the heart machine.

The computer-controlled machine, which operates using pressurized saline solution, also allows researchers to film the interior workings of the pumping heart – enabling them to ascertain exactly which surgical technologies and techniques perform best for repairing heart valves.

By using the machine, researchers can determine if concepts for new surgical tools are viable before evaluating them on live animals. They can also identify and address any functional problems with new technological tools. “There will still be a need for testing in live animal models,” says Dr. Greg Buckner, who directed the project, “but this system creates an intermediate stage of testing that did not exist before. It allows researchers to do ‘proof of concept’ evaluations, and refine the designs, before operating on live animals.” Buckner is an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State.

Using the system could also save researchers a great deal of money. Once the machine is purchased and set up, the cost of running experiments is orders of magnitude less expensive than using live animals. “It costs approximately $25 to run an experiment on the machine,” says Richards, “whereas a similar experiment using a live animal costs approximately $2,500.”

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health funded the development of the heart machine system.

The Annals of Biomedical Engineering published the research, “A Dynamic Heart System to Facilitate the Development of Mitral Valve Repair Techniques,” in late April. Richards is the lead author. Co-authors are Buckner, and surgeons Richard Cook of the University of British Columbia and Gil Bolotin of the Rambam Medical Center in Israel.

- shipman -

Note to editors: The study abstract follows.

“A Dynamic Heart System to Facilitate the Development of Mitral Valve Repair Techniques”

Authors: Andrew L. Richards, Gregory D. Buckner, North Carolina State University; Richard C. Cook, University of British Columbia; Gil Bolotin, Rambam Medical Center.

Published: April 2009, Annals of Biomedical Engineering

Abstract: Objective: The development of a novel surgical tool or technique for mitral valve repair can be hampered by cost, complexity, and time associated with performing animal trials. A dynamically pressurized model was developed to control pressure and flowrate profiles in intact porcine hearts in order to quantify mitral regurgitation and evaluate the quality of mitral valve repair. Methods: A pulse duplication system was designed to replicate physiological conditions in explanted hearts. To test the capabilities of this system in measuring varying degrees of mitral regurgitation, the output of eight porcine hearts was measured for two different pressure waveforms before and after induced mitral valve failure. Four hearts were further repaired and tested. Measurements were compared with echocardiographic images. Results: For all trials, cardiac output decreased as left ventricular pressure was increased. After induction of mitral valve insufficiencies, cardiac output decreased, with a peak regurgitant fraction of 71.8%. Echocardiography clearly showed increases in regurgitant severity from post-valve failure and with increased pressure. Conclusions: The dynamic heart model consistently and reliably quantifies mitral regurgitation across a range of severities. Advantages include low experimental cost and time associated with each trial, while still allowing for surgical evaluations in an intact heart.

Researchers at North Carolina State University are working to solve a nearly century-old problem – what to do with those skimpy, derriere-exposing hospital gowns.

They are filmy, uncomfortable – and if you happen to catch a draft, you’re in trouble.

“The fact is, when patients are in a hospital they are already feeling vulnerable – the last thing they need to deal with is a garment that intensifies that feeling by leaving them uncovered and overexposed,” says Dr. Traci Lamar, associate professor of textile and apparel technology and management at NC State.

In November 2006, Lamar and her team in the College of Textiles received a $236,110 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio to design a patient garment that would allow patients to feel more dignified, while still providing easy access to medical personnel.

NC State’s research suggests that patients and caregivers alike hate the current gown. If a more dignified, respectful patient garment can be designed and taken up widely in the patient-care market, this seemingly subtle but innovative change may have far-reaching effects on patient engagement and the quality and safety of patient care.

“This garment almost needs to be all things to all people,” Lamar says. “We obviously want patients to feel comfortable during their hospital stay, but doctors and nurses still need to have easy access to check a patient’s heart rate, administer an IV or monitor blood pressure.”

Lamar’s team recently finished the first phase of the study in which they conducted patient and caregiver surveys, held focus groups with nurses and spoke with various medical personnel and stakeholders in the supply network about their needs in a gown.

Would they prefer something with pants? Do they have color preferences? Does wearing the traditional gown influence how patients feel and behave in the hospital environment? These are among the hundreds of questions Lamar and her colleagues asked.

“We learned so much from these responses,” Lamar says. “One major thing we took away from interviews with medical personnel is that in order for this redesigned garment to be a success, it first has to be feasible for a hospital to implement it.”

A handful of hospitals across the country have tried to implement a higher quality gown – but the challenges such as high cost and demands of required maintenance have kept them from widespread adoption.

“Within the College of Textiles, we have expertise in product areas from fiber to finished product – as well as sourcing, product development and marketing,” Lamar says. “This, combined with an in-depth understanding of the requirements for a successful patient garment, makes us feel confident that we will be able to design a patient garment that is dignified, affordable and accessible.”

Several concept samples of the gown were displayed at a reception prior to NC State’s annual “Art to Wear” fashion show. The concept gowns not only illustrated potential features of innovative patient garments, they were constructed of fabrics that had been printed or knitted within the college. All samples were derived from original textile designs by Kelly Roth, a College of Textiles graduate student. The fabrics were used to illustrate NC State’s capabilities from fabrication to end product design, and for the aesthetic value they brought to each sample.

“The textile design work we do in the College of Textiles is far ranging and includes everything for designing new firefighter turnout suits with thermal, chemical and biological protection; to hospital scrubs that protect doctors and nurses; to concept designs for the first landing on Mars,” says A. Blanton Godfrey, dean of the College of Textiles. “Medical textiles are a fast growing area of research and student work including new sutures, stents, vascular graphs, arteries and tissue engineering.”

Lamar says with the new technologies available, NC State could potentially design hospital garments that provide added value such as antimicrobial properties – to prevent spread or growth of viruses – or built-in sensors to monitor blood pressure.

The research phase of this effort, covered by the current grant, has just ended. The project has been successful to date, giving the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation a more comprehensive understanding of the market opportunity and requirements to introduce effective, affordable, feasible new patient garment designs. The next phase – when actual prototypes will be designed, developed and evaluated – has not been initiated at this point.

Alien creatures are the least of NASA’s worries when it comes to moon travel. There are several potential threats to future missions – with space radiation at the top of the list. Now, a group of students at North Carolina State University has developed a “blanket” of sorts that covers lunar outposts – the astronauts’ living quarters – to provide astronauts protection against radiation while also generating and storing power.

Astronauts who previously traveled to the moon had little protection against radiation, but were only exposed to it for a short amount of time. NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 – and to potentially keep them there for several months at a time – could be stymied by space radiation.

The surface of the moon is exposed to cosmic rays and solar flares – making radiation hard to stop with shielding. When these rays hit matter, they produce a dangerous spray of secondary particles which, when penetrating human flesh, can damage DNA, boosting the risk of cancer and other maladies.

Groups all over the globe are trying to determine ways to combat space radiation – including Michael Sieber, Ryan Boyle and Anne Tomasevich, all recent graduates of the textile engineering program at NC State. Their design of a lunar radiation shield with the ability to protect its inhabitants from radiation was reviewed by a panel of industry experts and chosen as one of 10 undergraduate abstract finalists in the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition.

Sponsored by NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace, the RASC-AL competition challenges university students to think about what sorts of conditions astronauts will face when returning to the moon, then design projects that might become part of actual lunar exploration.

“We had many factors to consider in developing this outpost cover – not just being able to protect against radiation,” Sieber says. “The product needed to be as lightweight as possible to feasibly fit on the transportation module, and have the ability to be easily erected by a minimum number of astronauts for immediate use once landing on the moon.”

“These obstacles are where our knowledge of textile properties will give us an advantage,” adds Dr. Warren Jasper, professor of textile engineering and advisor for the project. “This is a competition aimed at aerospace engineering students, but we understand the properties associated with different textile materials, and that gives us unique insight on how to troubleshoot some of these issues.”

The “lunar texshield” is made from a lightweight polymer material that has a layer of radiation shielding that deflects or absorbs the radiation so astronauts are only exposed to a safe amount. The outermost surface of the shield includes a layer of solar cells to generate electricity, backed up by layers of radiation-absorbing materials. The advantages of the materials used in the design include flexibility, large surface area, ease of transportation, ease of construction and the ability to have multiple layers of independent functional fabrics.

The students will present their lunar texshield at the 2009 RASC-AL Forum held June 1-3 in Cocoa Beach, Fla. The project will be judged by a steering committee made up of experts from NASA, industry and universities.

“We aren’t even sure what the prize is for being named first place – but that wasn’t what was important to us,” Sieber says. “We used what we’ve learned throughout our college careers and were able to apply that logic to provide a solution a real-world problem. That is what is cool to us.”

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Jack Cozort has been appointed to a four-year term on the North Carolina State University Board of Trustees by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

Cozort, of Raleigh, earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from NC State in 1972, and his Juris Doctorate degree from Wake Forest University. He is an attorney with Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice (WCSR). Prior to joining WCSR, Cozort served as a N.C. Court of Appeals judge for 12 years. Cozort took a leave of absence from the bench and served as acting director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. Prior to his tenure as judge, Cozort served as legal counsel to N.C. Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. for eight years. Cozort also worked as an associate attorney general with the N.C. Department of Justice.

Cozort is considered to be one of North Carolina’s top government affairs professionals, with extensive experience representing clients before members of Congress and state legislatures, as well as federal and state executive branches of government. Currently, Cozort serves as legal counsel to the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation board of directors, the business community’s political research organization. He also currently chairs the NC State Board of Visitors.

The board of trustees is composed of 13 members: eight elected by the UNC Board of Governors, four appointed by the governor and the president of the student body.

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Outstanding achievement by North Carolina State University students and faculty will be recognized at the University Honors Baccalaureate and Celebration of Academic Excellence, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, in the McKimmon Center. Continue Reading »

North Carolina State University will confer more than 4,000 degrees on graduating students during its spring commencement exercises, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 9, in the RBC Center in Raleigh. Media coverage is welcomed. Continue Reading »

A North Carolina State University study shows that using integrated pest management (IPM) to control pests in public schools – monitoring closely for signs of pests and then utilizing baits and traps in areas where pests are located – reduces pests and their allergens more effectively than the conventional method of spraying pesticides on a predetermined schedule, whether there are cockroaches present or not.

IPM dramatically controls German cockroaches – common school pests – and reduces their allergens, resulting in a healthier environment for students, teachers and staff. Cockroach allergens are associated with allergies and asthma problems, particularly among inner-city children.

A study showing the results of tests comparing the two methods in several North Carolina schools appears in the May issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology.

The results are good news for the 70 North Carolina school districts that have already converted – or are currently converting – to IPM, say Dr. Godfrey Nalyanya, extension specialist in entomology, and Dr. Coby Schal, Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor of Entomology, two of the NC State researchers involved in the study. It’s also good news for schools that haven’t made the switch.

“North Carolina schools are mandated to convert to IPM by 2011, so these findings give credibility that IPM has superior and longer-lasting results than pesticide use alone,” Nalyanya says.

The study examined the number of cockroaches caught in traps, as well as the concentrations of cockroach allergens in two school districts using the conventional method and one school district using IPM. Schools using IPM had no cockroaches caught in traps, and much lower concentrations of cockroach allergen Bla g 1 – the most common cockroach allergen – than schools using conventional pest control.

The study was so convincing that the two school districts using conventional pest control quickly made the switch to IPM, Nalyanya says.

IPM has been used in agricultural settings for many years, but is just starting to be used more heavily in buildings or structures, the researchers say.

While this study and others conducted by NC State scientists show that IPM is more effective and ecologically superior to conventional pest control methods, Nalyanya and Schal say that there’s long-term economic benefit as well. Setting up the IPM infrastructure and changing existing contracts with pest control providers takes time and money, but the results are worth it.

“The monetary costs for IPM might be higher initially, but it pays for itself down the road and provides a healthier school environment,” Nalyanya says.

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Note: An abstract of the paper follows.

“German Cockroach Allergen Levels in North Carolina Schools: Comparison of Integrated Pest Management and Conventional Cockroach Control”

Authors: Godfrey Nalyanya, J. Chad Gore, H. Michael Linker and Coby Schal, North Carolina State University

Published: May 2009 Journal of Medical Entomology

Abstract: Cockroach suppression is fundamental to cockroach allergen mitigation in infested homes. The effects of various cockroach control strategies on cockroach populations and allergen concentration have not been examined in schools. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of integrated pest management (IPM) and conventional pest control in controlling German cockroach (Blattella germanica L.) infestations and concentrations of the cockroach allergen Bla g 1 in public school buildings. Two school districts included six schools that used conventional pest control and one district included seven schools that used IPM to control pests. Cockroach traps were deployed to assess the level of infestation, settled dust samples were collected in food service areas, classrooms, and other school areas, and the Bla g 1 allergen was quantified by ELISA. Both cockroach counts and Bla g 1 concentrations were dependent on the pest control approach, with highly significant differences between IPM-treated schools and conventionally treated schools in both the cockroach mean trap counts (0 versus 82.6 ±17.3 cockroaches/trap/wk, respectively) and in the amount of Bla g 1 in dust samples (2.8 ± 0.3 versus 30.6 ± 3.4 U/g dust). Cockroaches and Bla g 1 were primarily associated with food preparation and food service areas and much less with classrooms and offices. Our data extend recent findings from studies in homes, showing that cockroach allergens can be reduced by cockroach elimination alone or by integrating several tactics including education, cleaning, and pest control. IPM is not only effective at controlling cockroaches but also can lead to long-term reductions in cockroach allergen concentrations, resulting in a healthier environment for students and school personnel.