| Affiliations: | Michael E. DeBakey Institute Undergraduate Research Program |
| Project Leader: | Cole Nipper cnipper@tamu.edu Biomedical Sciences |
| Faculty Mentor: | Ranjeet Dongaonkar, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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Summer 2016 (complete) |
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Team Size:
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4 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Team Needs:
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Description:
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The heart is very sensitive to its loading conditions, making it difficult to study rigorously in vivo. A Langendorff system can be used to characterize cardiac function by using retrograde perfusion to maintain a heart beating in vitro. The classical Langendorff system has been used to study changes in cardiac function under a great number of conditions, including the response to ischemia, antiarrhythmic drugs, and myocardial stem-cell therapy. However, a standard Langendorff setup is limited, because it does not typically control the volume of the left ventricle dynamically. Previously reported modifications that rely on mechanical pistons to control ventricular volume are expensive and are not fully customizable. We therefore modified a Langendorff system to include a user-friendly, computer-driven piston to control left-ventricular volume. The purpose of this project is to refine this device and begin isolated cardiac experiments. |