Research Project
10263336
Core B: Bioengineering Core 7. Project Summary/Abstract The overall objectives of the Bioengineering Core are 1) to provide the biomechanical expertise and resources to the university and hospital communities and establish a regional presence in New England, and 2) to become a financially independent center in Phase III. The Bioengineering Core was initially founded by combining the expertise and equipment available in the Bioengineering Laboratories of the Department of Orthopaedics at Rhode Island Hospital, the Atomic Force Microscopy Laboratory in the Division of Biomedical Engineering at Brown University, and the biomechanical testing facility of the Rhode Island Hospital Orthopaedic Foundation (RIHOF). Since the inception of the Bioengineering Core, the number of projects utilizing the Core has increased each year, and the resources available through the core have been expanded through the acquisition and development of new equipment. The Bioengineering Core is a state-of- the-art facility that will continue to be available to all of COBRE projects, and to researchers in the hospital and university communities, both locally and nationally. The Core has an array of equipment that will allow material testing of musculoskeletal tissues, motion analysis (standard motion capture and biplane videoradiograph) and imaging (X-ray, microCT, CT and MRI). To date, 58 publications have resulted from studies that utilized the personnel and resources of the Bioengineering Core that range in scale from bench top laboratory work to in vivo assessment of whole body motion. The projects presented in these publications demonstrate that the Core will continue to play a key role in supporting regional projects and to facilitate the translation of novel therapeutic approaches to prevent and/or treat musculoskeletal disease.
