Charles C. Jones Seminar

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Tissue Engineering: Promises and Challenges with Dr. Mrignayani Kotecha, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago

January 27, 2017
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location
Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall
Sponsored by
Thayer School of Engineering
Audience
Public
More information
Jessica Widdicombe

Abstract- Tissue engineering is an emerging segment of regenerative medicine that aims to treat a wide range of medical conditions such as orthopedic injuries, liver and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, post-traumatic disorder, tumor etc. The design practices of creating engineered tissues, that include choosing appropriate cells, scaffold, growth conditions, and the time of implantation, define their chances of success. The field of tissue engineering regenerative medicine desperately needs multitude of noninvasive techniques to assess 3D engineered tissues at all stages; in vitro, in animals, and in humans.  The knowledge of tissue microstructure, growth of extracellular matrix, tissue anisotropy, cell viability, pH, and oxygen concentration throughout the tissue depth will greatly enhance our ability to make every tissue and organ transplantation successful. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful non-invasive imaging technique with the best soft tissue contrast. Electron paramagnetic resonance oxygen imaging (EPROI), based on the principles similar to MRI, is an emerging non-invasive oxygen mapping technique. In this talk, I will elaborate the role of MRI monitoring and oxygen mapping for optimizing preclinical tissue engineering practices. I will provide few specific examples of MRI assessment of engineered cartilage, bone, and osteochondral tissues, and show early results of EPROI in evaluating scaffold porosity and cell viability in 3D osteogenic constructs. Finally, I will outline future possibilities and challenges of involving MRI and EPROI widely in tissue engineering regenerative medicine practices.


Biography- Dr. Mrignayani Kotecha is currently a research professor of bioengineering at University of Illinois at Chicago and directs the Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging Laboratory (BMRSI). Dr. Kotecha utilizes her more than 20 years of experience and expertise in NMR spectroscopy and MRI to characterize biomaterials, engineered tissues, and cell-based therapies.  Prior to this, Dr. Kotecha was a visiting staff scientist at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), and from 1993-2001, she was a physics faculty member at the Government Model Science College, Jabalpur in India.  Having earned MSc and PhD degrees in physics from the University of Jabalpur (India), Dr. Kotecha is the author of six book chapters, and author or co-author of more than 25 peer-reviewed publications.  Dr. Kotecha is the lead editor of upcoming Wiley book “Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Tissue Engineering”. She is also the technical lead for the proposed ASTM standard “Preclinical assessment of engineered cartilage tissue growth using MRI”.

Location
Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall
Sponsored by
Thayer School of Engineering
Audience
Public
More information
Jessica Widdicombe