The heart is a complex machine and understanding its mechanics from the microstructural level could unlock the secrets behind cardiac function and dysfunction.
To better understand cardiac function, Assistant Professor Luigi Perotti plans to develop a multiscale and multiphysics model that can link the macroscopic motion of the heart with its causes at the cellular and tissue levels.
Perotti will develop this model with the support of a $520,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. This award is given to early career faculty with promising research, who can advance the mission of the department or organization and serve as academic role models in research and education. He is one of three faculty members from the University of Central Florida to receive the award this year.
Perotti and his team in the Computational Biomechanics Lab will use the model to investigate abnormalities and how they contribute to cardiac dysfunction. Results will be compared to preclinical experimental data to connect deformation at the cellular level to motion measurable in the tissue and ventricles. With this information, researchers and clinicians can advance the diagnosis and improve treatment for patients with heart disease.
Key findings from the research will be shared with the imaging community, and will be integrated into graduate and undergraduate course curriculum as well as K-12 student outreach activities.
- Written by Marisa Ramiccio
- May 3, 2023