Biomechanics of the Heart

Peter Bovendeerd is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, research group Cardiovascular Biomechanics. Peter Bovendeerd studied Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), where he obtained his MSc degree in 1985 with the distinction cum laude. In 1985 and

1986, he was employed at Philips Industrial & Electro Acoustic Systems. In 1986, he started PhD research at Maastricht University where he obtained his PhD in 1990 for his numerical and experimental study of the mechanical behavior of the left ventricle, both normal and ischemic. He then returned to Eindhoven, where he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2002, he moved to the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research focuses on improving the interpretation of clinical patient data by using mathematical models. The models are based on fundamental physical and physiological principles, and can be used to predict how (pathologic) tissue or organ properties are manifested in patient data.

When used in an inverse mode, the models provide a tool to transform these patient data back into an estimate of the underlying pathology. This model assisted diagnosis may be complemented by model assisted treatment selection and long-term prognosis.

Patrick Clarysse is research director at CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and Deputy Director of CREATIS Lab, Lyon France. His primary research interests are in the bioengineering and medical image analysis fields, including medical image processing workflows, multidimensional/multimodal image segmentation and registration, motion estimation and biomechanical modeling with applications to the 3D analysis and modeling of the heart function and thoracic structures. Dr. Clarysse is one of the contributors to the inTag plugin for the integrated analysis of cardiac tagged Magnetic Resonance Images (Tagged-MRI), and further of a suite of tools within the Osirix DICOM viewer for analyzing cardiac MR images. Dr. Clarysse has coauthored more than 150 papers in international journals and conferences and three books. He has been involved in several national and European projects (notably joint projects with Finland, the VPH NoE, EGEE grid related programs, Marie-Curie Programs) and has collaborated with several European and international groups. He supervised many engineering and clinical PhD students and acted as a regular reviewer for several international journals in the field. He is one of the initiators of the Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart (FIMH) biannual international conference. He is a member of IEEE, EMBS and of the French Society of BioEngineering (SFGBM).

Pierre Croisille is Professor of Radiology, Chairman of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, Chief of Radiology, University Hospital Saint-Etienne. He is also Deputy Directory, CREATIS Research Lab, CNRS, INSERM, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, INSA Lyon. Pierre is leading the IDM4 transversal project at CREATIS.

Martyn Nash is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Deputy Director of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The primary focus of his research career has been on bioengineering analyses of the heart in order to understand mechanisms underlying electromechanical cardiac muscle activity in health and disease. Dr. Nash is also engaged in the design and refinement of experimental techniques, bioinstrumentation and medical devices, and model-based approaches to medical image analysis to deepen understanding of biological systems. He strives to improve diagnostic techniques, and aid in the discovery and monitoring of therapies for prevention and treatment of disease, to ultimately improve patient management and care. Dr. Nash is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and Senior Member of IEEE and EMBS. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Functional Imaging and Modelling of the Heart (FIMH) biannual international conference, and editorial boards of the international journals Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, and Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Nash has supervised 34 PhD, 16 Masters and 64 Honours dissertation students, and has authored more than 150 international journals articles and 40 book chapters, which have collectively attracted more than 8000 Google Scholar citations to-date.