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MECH_ENG 495: Mechanophysiology of Organs for Disease Diagnosis and Classification- Selected Topics in Mechanical Engg


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Description

Mechanophysiology is the study of the mechanics of the functioning (physiology) of organs. The goal of this course is to teach how to translate mechanophysiology into clinical practice. The main focus of this course is on organs where mechanics is the key determinant of its function. The primary hypothesis is that it should be possible to classify normal and disease groups for such organs in a mechanical parameter space. To develop the ideas mechanics-based governing equations for “tubular organs” will be developed. Specifically, the focus will be on the esophagus, aorta, lungs, uterus, ureter, and urethra. Furthermore, the course will focus on combining mechanics models together with clinical data and AI tools to develop quantitative measures (physiomarkers) to classify and diagnose diseases. Long term goals pertaining to correlating information in the mechanics-based parameter space to transcriptomics data and developing a transcription/gene to function mapping for organs will be discussed. Mechanics-informed imaging analysis tools will be introduced. For example, Fluoro-Mech technology that uses fluoroscopy data together with mechanics simulations to analyze the “mechanical health” of an esophagus. Foundational questions pertaining to a few pathologies will be taught as sample cases, including: 

  1. Can mechanical signatures be identified and used in diagnosing eosinophilic esophagitis (a disease identified only since early ‘90s but now one of the major causes of digestive system dysfunction)? 
  2. Can emergent solutions of neuromechanical dynamics explain some of the motility disorders of the esophagus? 
  3. Is it possible to predict the onset of an aortic aneurysm (“the silent killer” that took the life of Grant Wahl – an American soccer sportswriter – during 2022 FIFA world cup)? The current standard of care has no predictive capability - aneurysms only get diagnosed, if at all, after the fact.