Airway Modeling
Construct anatomically based airway model. Apply airway constriction including mechanical properties and compute lung impedance.
Medical Devices Development and Research
We are also engaged in collaboration with physicians at the QEII and a medical device company in Montreal. We are also developing methods for measuring airway health and function in patients, both in children and adults. This exciting project is under patent application and is supported by Dalhousie’s Technology transfer office and NSERC idea to innovation program. We are developing advanced signal analysis methods including time-frequency and wavelet analysis and advanced instrumentation technologies.
Asthma and Airway Smooth Muscle Cell Mechanics and Function
The medical focus of this research is to find ways to combat asthma, by better understanding how the muscle surrounding our airways function, and how they behave in dysfunction – causing airway constriction, impaired breathing and sometimes death. In our lab, we apply the specific engineering tools that we have developed to measure the contractile behaviour of cultured smooth muscle cells. Using these tools we can measure differences in mechanical function between different cell populations. We investigate the how the cell structure leads to changes in cell function.
Respiratory Cell and Lung Mechanics and Imaging Laboratory 