Thursday, July 29, 2010
Rabin Awarded Three NIH Grants $1.26M
Please join ME in congratulating Professor Yoed Rabin, who has been awarded three NIH grants totaling $1.26M:
Developing a device for visualization of large-scale cryopreservation
PI: Yoed Rabin; $430k, NCRR, R21
Preservation of tissues and organs at very low temperatures—cryopreservation—is the only alternative for providing high quality biomaterials for transplantation medicine. While ice crystallization is the cornerstone of injury at the cellular level, thermo-mechanical stress may cause structural damage at the tissue level, with fracture formation as its most dramatic effect. This project concerns the development of a new device for visualization of physical effects at cryogenic temperatures, such as ice crystallization and fracture formation. The new device is aimed at developing new cryoprotective compounds, cooling protocols, and basic knowledge on how to improve the outcome of cryopreservation.
Thermal expansion of cryoprotective agents combined with synthetic ice blockers
PI: Yoed Rabin, co-Investigator: Michael Taylor; $400k, NIBIB, R21
Synthetic Ice blockers (SIB) are compounds that interact directly with ice nuclei or crystals to modify their structure and/or rate of growth. The application of SIB represents cutting-edge technology in effort to control the lethal effects of crystallization during cryopreservation. The objective of this project is to measure thermal expansion of recently discovered cryoprotective agents combined with SIB, where thermal expansion is the driving mechanism of structural damage in large-scale cryopreservation. Measured data will be integrated into computer simulations in effort to predict the likelihood of fracture formation.
Developing implantable miniature temperature sensors for cryosurgery control
PI: Yoed Rabin, co-Investigators: Jeyanandh Paramesh and Garry Fedder; $430k, NIBIB, R21
The objective of this project is to develop a wireless implantable temperature sensor for the purpose of feedback and control of thermal surgery. Two key elements are being developed: a miniature wireless temperature sensor to be administered through a hypodermic needle, and a method to collect data from multiple sensors, for temperature-field reconstruction. This project uses cryosurgery (i.e., the destruction of tissue by freezing) of the prostate as a research model. The outcome of this project is translational to high-temperature thermal-surgery applications such as high-frequency ultrasound, radio frequency heating, and laser probes.