Neil Ingels, Ph.D., has spent more than 40 years at the Research Institute investigating cardiac biomechanics, the study of heart motion. It has been an unexpected path for someone who trained as an electrical engineer and started his career in the aerospace industry. But along the way, Dr. Ingels discovered a passion for his work, and his personal fascination with the heart continues to benefit countless PAMF patients with cardiac conditions.

The heart's job –- to pump blood through the body –- seems deceptively simple, but its actual mechanics are far more complex. "The deeper you go into this research, the more interesting it gets," Dr. Ingels said. "I think if I were to study for another lifetime, I'd never get to the bottom of it. The heart is worlds within worlds."

In the 1970s, Dr. Ingels and his team discovered they could monitor cardiac motion by implanting miniature metal markers into the heart during surgery, which could later be seen in X-rays. Researchers could play the X-ray pictures back as a movie, allowing them to view and measure cardiac movement in detail. Despite advancements in technology, Dr. Ingels' technique remains the most accurate way to measure heart motion today.

Over the years, Dr. Ingels' group has used markers to study how drugs, exercise and surgery affect the heart. They contributed to early research on heart transplants when pioneering Stanford surgeon Norman Shumway and his team learned of their work and asked for help in monitoring transplant recipients. Their findings have improved surgical treatment for leaking heart valves that often occur following a heart attack and can be fatal if not corrected. And ongoing research into the mitral valve and left ventricle of the heart, in collaboration with Stanford cardiovascular surgeon D. Craig Miller, may help perfect surgical treatment for congestive heart failure.

Moving forward, Dr. Ingels said, he hopes to take "all this information that we have collected over the years" and use it to program computer models of cardiac function. Physicians could use these models to evaluate treatment options for patients with heart conditions. The doctor could input patient data, assess how different medical and surgical therapies would play out, and select the one best suited to that individual.

In the 1960s, Dr. Ingels was one of only a few people in the world researching cardiac biomechanics. But with improving technology, interest in the field has taken off. Dr. Ingels' work has inspired other researchers internationally to examine similar problems, leading to new collaborations. Closer to home, Dr. Ingels also sees benefit in sharing his findings with PAMF physicians through seminars to keep them abreast of new developments in this rapidly changing arena that may soon influence how they care for cardiac patients.

"I could not have dreamed that at this stage of my life, these new worlds would be opening up," he said. "I'm just so pleased to be a part of it, and to help the next generation of doctors and scientists carry on with these ideas."

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