CU Student’s Undergraduate Research Focuses on Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics

In Professor Jean Hertzberg's laboratory in CU-Boulder’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, two glass models of the aorta are being prepared for a study of cardiovascular blood flow. The aorta is the artery that carries blood from the left side of the heart to all four limbs and most of the organs in the human body.

Paul Miller says the candy cane-shaped sculptures, which were hand-blown by a local glassmaker according to the research team’s specifications, will help researchers to better understand the fluid dynamics that occur in diseased and healthy arteries.

As an undergraduate research assistant working in the lab for more than two years, Paul is somewhat of an expert on flow visualization. He presented the team’s research to-date at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ 2005 Summer Bioengineering Conference and was named a finalist in the B.S. level student paper competition. 

He also is preparing a paper to submit to a technical journal describing the techniques the group has developed for measuring cardiovascular flows. The key to the group's research is its development of a low-viscosity fluid, which will mimic blood in the model, is inexpensive and non-toxic, and has a high index of refraction to minimize distortion when viewing it through glass.

Ultimately, the researchers hope to improve understanding of arteriosclerosis, a cardiovascular disease that results in the build-up of plaque, constraining blood flow in an artery. One of the aortic models has a narrow section that simulates plaque build-up, while the other model represents a healthy artery.

As a fifth-year senior at CU-Boulder, Paul is still undecided on his plans after graduation and whether he wants to get a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in bioengineering or attend medical school.  “I’m not sure yet what I want to do after graduation, but ultimately I see myself working in the medical field as an engineer, doctor, or maybe both,” Paul says. “I like the creative aspect of engineering that entails coming up with different solutions to difficult problems.”

As a freshman from Littleton, Colorado, Paul wasn’t sure what he wanted to study, so he sampled the engineering disciplines while also taking some business courses to in case he decided to look for a position in industry. After working a part-time job in the mechanical engineering departmental office, he decided on a mechanical engineering major with the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Option, a certificate awarded for the completion of several technical electives on biomedical topics.

Paul’s undergraduate research position, which is funded through the NIH/HHMI Scholars Program for Diversity in Biosciences, complements his academic work.

Paul says another great experience related to his program involved doing some design work for the medical device company, Valleylab, during the senior design course sequence in mechanical engineering. Paul was on a team of five students, who worked to improve a laparoscopic surgical device manufactured by the company. The students met weekly with an advisor from Valleylab, created design drawings for an improved device, and continually developed and tested prototypes, which were presented to the company throughout the year.

For more information on biomedical engineering options in the college, visit http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/BioEngineering/programs.htm.

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