The Cardiovascular Physiology and Biophysics Department studies the biomechanics of the heart -- the size, shape, and motion of the heart chambers and valves in both health and disease. Current studies, conducted in collaboration with investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine, are focused on understanding:

• The mechanisms involved in coordinating the force and motion of the contractile cells in the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart) during each heartbeat.


• The mechanisms involved in controlling the force and motion of the components of the mitral valve to allow effective filling and emptying of the left ventricle.

Researchers

• Neil B. Ingels, Jr., Ph.D., F.A.H.A., Chair, Senior Staff Scientist, Research Institute, Palo Alto Medical Foundation; Consulting Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine


• D. Craig Miller, M.D., F.A.H.A., Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine


• Wolfgang Bothe, M.D., Post Doctoral Fellow


• Julia C. Swanson, M.D., Post Doctoral Fellow


• John-Peder E. Kvitting, M.D., Ph.D., Post Doctoral Fellow


• Gaurav Krishnamurthy, M.S., Pre-Doctoral Fellow

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Research Interests

• Myocardial Mechanics


• Mitral Valve Mechanics

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Some Recent Publications

• Cheng A, Langer F, Rodriguez F, Criscione JC, Daughters GT, Miller DC, Ingels NB Jr (2005) Transmural cardiac strains in the lateral wall of the ovine left ventricl e. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 288: H1546-H1556


• Cheng A, Langer F, Rodriguez F, Criscione JC, Daughters GT, Miller DC, Ingels NB Jr (2005) Transmural sheet strains in the lateral wall of the ovine left ventricle. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 289: H 1234-H1241


• Cheng A, Nguyen TC, Malinowski M, Daughters, GT, Miller DC, Ingels NB Jr (2008) Heterogeneity of left ventricular wall thickening mechanisms. Circulation 118: 713-721.


• Krishnamurthy, G, Ennis DB, Itoh A, Bothe W, Swanson JC, Karlsson M, Kuhl E, Miller DC, Ingels NB Jr. (2008) Material properties of the ovine mitral valve anterior leaflet in vivo from inverse finite element analysis. American Journal of Physiol, Heart Circ Physiol 295, H1141-1149

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