To coincide with the grant project, NCAT will establish the first bioengineering department at an HCBU with the assistance of faculty members in the Department of Bioengineering in Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering, MIRM and at UC. The department will offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

The ERC project will focus primarily on producing three technologies: biodegradable and self-adapting devices and smart constructs for craniofacial and orthopedic reconstructive procedures, similarly behaving cardiovascular devices such as stents, and miniaturized sensing systems that monitor and control the safety and effectiveness of biodegradable metals inside the body (a technology that could lead to responsive biosensors that help doctors determine when and where diseases occur in the body).

An educational component will translate the ERC's research into a curriculum for aspiring engineers, including those at numerous high schools and community colleges across the United States and at universities primarily attended by groups underrepresented in engineering.

The biodegradable devices and smart structures are intended to reduce complications and spare patients with conditions ranging from cleft palate and bone fractures to coronary heart disease from undergoing multiple surgeries. For instance, children born with a cleft palate are fitted with hard metal devices that must be removed and refitted over time. Devices the ERC researchers will explore-crafted from magnesium alloys and other biodegradable metals-would adapt to the body without refitting. Plus, magnesium alloys dissolve after their work is done with no clinical side effects, a feature also beneficial in the cardiovascular realm. Magnesium stents and other supports would restore cardiovascular function without having to remove the device and without exposing the patient to the potential complications of leaving it inside the body.

The devices will be designed to adapt to physical changes in a patient's body and dissolve once they have healed. Naturally dissolving plates, screws, stents and other devices would reduce the follow-up surgeries and potential complications of major orthopedic, craniofacial, and cardiovascular procedures-sparing millions of patients worldwide added pain and medical expenses.


The ERC combines the strengths of the project's three primary universities: NCAT's recognized expertise in metallurgy, based in its College of Engineering; Pitt's strength in biomaterials and regenerative medicine stemming from the work conducted in the Swanson School's Departments of Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences, MIRM, and the School of Dental Medicine; and UC's research in nano- and sensor technology based in its interdepartmental Nanoworld and Smart Materials and Devices Laboratories.

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