Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Even though Concordia University houses various state-of-the-art research facilities, a number of crucial studies initiated and patented from our lab in the areas of inside body bio printing, noninvasive cell stimulation and drug delivery using ultrasound waves are currently limited due to the dire need for a highly specialized ultrasound beam steering and focusing. Such equipment would enhance ongoing research on developing cutting edge technologies in the area of remote tissue printing and noninvasive nano particle synthesis and drug delivery. The supported research programs includes but limited to: 1)Micro particle and cell manipulation/stimulation, 2) Selective nano particle synthesis, 3) Micro particle and cell streaming control and 4) In-situ/in-vitro bio printing and drug delivery. The Phased Array High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Transducer from Sonicconcepts enables our research group to conduct research on the mentioned programs. Having 128 piezo actuator provides a wide range of ultrasound beam steering and focusing capabilities. No similar equipment is available at Concordia or known partner institutions. Acquiring this equipment would not only advance effective collaboration between engineers, biologists and physicists for future convergence but would also sustain leading-edge research success, strengthen training goals, enhance quality of dissertations, and shorten graduation time. We currently have 25 graduate students and 5 postdocs working on the mentioned research programs. They have mastered the theory and conducted multiphysics simulations related to the ultrasound wave patterning. In addition to conducting cutting edge research, the equipment enables them to validate their modeling and simulations. In addition, we believe that the collaboration of these 8 labs in multidisciplinary research and development around this equipment will lead to practical products that has huge market and a few spin-off can be resulted from universities. The collaborations between research labs around this equipment with diverse expertise, acoustic, micro/nano elector mechanical systems and head and neck cancer treatment, will manifest themselves and converge in the proposed multidisciplinary research programs. This essential research is complementary to both our engineers, physicists and physicians working in the area of microsystems, microfluidics, application of micro-nano integrated systems for bio and chemical applications and cancer treatment and tissue printing. The proposed research programs introduces new trend in bioprinting. However, the incapability of controlling the ultrasonic field electronically is a major setback. The requested equipment surmounts this obstacle by permitting electronic steering and focusing of high intensity ultrasound. Housed in the Optical-bio Microsystems Lab, the system will be open to on-site and other inter-institutional collaborations across Canada including McGill, UdeM, ETS and École Polytechnique.