国产伦理 engineers research predictors of successful surgeries for people living with Chiari malformation
Chiari malformation type 1. Chances are, these words are completely unfamiliar to you. It may surprise you to hear that this term is the name of a disorder that has a prevalence of 1 in 1,000 births, nearly as high as multiple sclerosis. Chiari is a devastating neurological disorder with no known cure.
In September, the at The University of Akron received a $468,779 Academic Research Enhancement Award from the National Institute of Health.
The research team includes (back row from left) Dr. Phil Allen, Blaise Simplice Talla Nwoutchang, Alaaddin Ibrahimy, (front row from left) Richard Simcic, Sara Salem, Maggie Eppelheimer, and Dr. Francis Loth.
“This is an important milestone because it validates the importance of our research in Chiari malformation and augments the large amount of funding that our research center has received from the Chiari community - which is over $3.2 million in the past seven years,” says Dr. Francis Loth, co-creator and Executive Director of the Conquer Chiari Research Center and Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering.
The funding will go towards developing an objective diagnostic test for people living with this condition. CM is difficult to diagnose and patients often go years before receiving an accurate diagnosis and treatment.
The research team uses a special imaging technique to measure peak brain tissue motion of the cerebellum and brain stem on a person with CM. Photo A is before surgery, photo B is after surgery. Chiari patients seem to have increased cerebellar and brainstem tissue motion compared to healthy individuals. The team is also investigating how this motion changes following decompression surgery.
People living with CM experience a range of symptoms including severe headaches, neck pain, balance problems, and cognitive issues. These symptoms are thought to be a result of a crowding at the base of the brain, which disrupts the natural flow of cerebrospinal fluid.
Surgery is the most common way to treat the disorder. While the majority of CM patients have reported improvement in quality of life after surgery, not all patients reap these benefits.
For this reason, Dr. Loth and his team are working to understand how certain characteristics of CM brains lead to successful surgery outcomes while others will not. This information will predict how well certain patients will respond to surgery, whereas other patients without this predictor may be treated by other methods and not have to endure a highly invasive and often expensive surgical procedure.
Dr. Loth’s interdisciplinary team consists of students and faculty in mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, radiology, neurosurgery, and psychology. Engineers play a critical role in using their knowledge of fluid and solid mechanics to determine how fluid moves through the spinal canal.
Neurosurgeons connect the team to actual patients, and a University of Akron professor and psychologist, Dr. Phil Allen, is researching the cognitive effects of living with Chiari malformation – such as how quickly you remember something. Radiologists interpret the results of the brain scans used to detect CM.
“We are grateful for this funding and hope it is a sign to come for more attention on this disorder in the future,” says Dr. Allen. “Having a team made up experts and the chance to make a difference…what more can you ask for in science?”
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