the robotic system to position an ultrasound probe in the brain and attack otherwise inoperable brain tumors. "Our key contribution, I believe," Fischer says, "is that
we have built a modular system, one that can be rapidly assembled and configured for a variety of applications so the clinical team can focus on treating the patient and not worry about the devices being MRI compatible."
Research That Tugs at the Heartstrings Once confined to the realm of science fiction, tissue regen- eration is among the most rapidly emerging areas of basic and applied biomedical research. Despite that awe-inspiring reality, the notion of literally stringing together cells to grow a beating human heart seems incredible, indeed. But that is exactly what Glenn Gaudette, associate professor of biomed- ical engineering at WPI, will be attempting to do in the year ahead with a colleague at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Gaudette is collaborating with Harald Ott, MD, a car- diothoracic surgeon and a world leader in the field of whole organ regeneration. "This is an exciting partnership," Gaud- ette says. "The technologies in our laboratories complement each other nicely." Ott has broken new scientific ground with a pro- cess to strip away the cells from cadaveric hearts, leaving ghostly shells made of the collagen and elastin framework that shapes the heart's walls, chambers, and vasculature. In theory, this decellularized heart should make a perfect scaf- fold for engineered stem cells, which can repopulate the framework and regenerate a functional organ. In practice, successfully seeding the decellularized heart with new cells has proven to be a serious challenge. Gaudette, an expert on the mechanical aspects of
cardiac function, is well acquainted with the difficulty of placing stem cells where you want them. For several years, his lab has been using stem cells derived from bone marrow
Greg Fischer, right, and PhD student Gregory Cole work on a modular control system designed for use with surgical robots that can operate inside an MRI scanner. Fischer's MRI Compatible robots allow surgeons to perform activities that require high precision while guided by real-time imagery.
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