After being selected by IBM from a field of research institutions, the University will receive a $1.5 million grant that will fund biomedical engineering research in the fields of vascular disease, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound technology, and replacement tissue growth.
IBM's Shared University Research grant program is designed to promote research in areas that will benefit both universities and IBM. The grant comes in the form of a 48-server Linux computer cluster, along with advanced videotape archive and workstations with sophisticated graphics capabilities.
Different fields of research within the department of biomedical engineering will use the equipment specific to their discipline.
Department Chairman Thomas Skalak leads the research in tissue assembly and remodeling. He and his team will use the grant primarily to simulate biological processes with software and technology, he said.
Being chosen for the grant "signifies that the research at U.Va has the potential to lead the way in these areas that advance and benefit human health."
The data storage and analytical capabilities of the equipment will allow his team to simulate how cells build blood vessels and how networks of blood vessels interact.
Skalak explained that his research closely relates to vascular disease. Brian Helmke, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, said he hopes to use the new equipment to capture multi-dimensional images of the endothelial cells that change their behavior when blood vessel walls harden and thicken.
"We are trying to understand how cells sense changes in blood flow," Helmke said. "The grant will fund the infrastructure of data storage."
Imaging files can easily reach two gigabytes in size, he said, and the equipment provided will help to store the files.
His research will try to discover why cells change and how their behavior affects the development of vascular disease and arterial deterioration, Helmke said.
Craig Meyer, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, heads the research in magnetic resonance imaging technology. His department will use computer equipment from the grant to develop faster MRIs.
Currently, technology only allows for still imaging, but research seeks to allow real-time imaging of the heart. This could make stress testing, the process of watching the heart beat very rapidly to analyze effects, a less harmful process for the patient, Meyer said.
"If we're successful in our research, it will create MRI scanning that gives immediate feedback to the cardiologist or radiologist," he said.
According to Skalak, this research is likely to produce immediate benefits for the medical community.
Bill Walker, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, leads ultrasound research at the University. Walker and his team, with the help of such groups as the National Science Foundation, have developed a process that will capture ultrasound data in streams, but the huge amount of data is difficult to manage. Researchers hope storage and analysis potential of the new computer clusters will help fix this problem.
Walker said he would like to work with the electrical engineering department to put this technology into circuit boards so it could be implemented in current ultrasound technology.
IBM has consistently supported the University in the past. The company has given over $10 million in support for research at the University in business, engineering and the humanities since 1992.
"We're extremely pleased that an internationally prominent company like IBM, leading informational technology, would partner with the department of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia," Skalak said.
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