The Institute for Human Performance banishes the image of the basement laboratory and elevates basic research to the prominence it deserves. The Institute's lofty upper levels are devoted to 100 spacious, sun-drenched laboratories, tailored to the exact needs of individual research projects and equipped with state-of-the-art technology and support systems.
What Happens When the Wrist Moves?
The tiny ligaments in the wrist, when injured, can cause pain, weakness and long-term disability. Yet little is known about these ligament injuries, which cost at least $1 billion a year to treat. Upstate Medical University wrist surgeon Walter Short, MD, is the principal investigator on a $711,000 Center for Disease Control grant to study the biomechanics of the moving wrist.
ìWe are looking at injuries that involveligaments between the scaphoid and lunate,î Dr. Short explains. ìThe ligaments that stabilize these wrist bones are not clearly defined. By establishing the precise function of the three major ligaments involved, we can develop more precise diagnostic methods and more effective surgical reconstructions.
ìIn the past, the wrist has been studied only in a fixed position,î he continues. ìAt the Institute for Human Performance, we will evaluate the moving wrist with the aid of a specially designed hydraulic wrist simulator, electro-magnetic sensors and three-dimensional animation software. This is the same type of software used in movies like Toy Story. Weíre essentially making movies of how bones move.î Dr. Short, who left a private orthopedic surgery practice in part to pursue research, believes his wrist investigation is greatly enhanced by the Institute for Human Performance. ìI do not know of another building like this in the world,î he says. ìWe have five times our former space, totally up-to-date equipment and a new anatomical dissection facility. For a scientist, this is an ideal environment.î
ìNow I can conduct experiments and see patients without running from building to building,î he adds. ìAnd with so manyspecialists in one facility, thereís always help for complex problems. But the best thing is that everyone in this building shares the same goal: developing new knowledge.î
New solutions to spinal problems
Surgeon Hansen Yuan, MD
of Upstate's Department of Orthopedic Surgery
Astounding medical advances originate in the minds of innovators like orthopedic surgeon Hansen Yuan, MD, whose ideas become reality in the laboratories of the Institute for Human Performance.
One of Dr. Yuanís current projects is an artificial nucleus for patients with early intervertebral disk problems. ìIt has been a challenge to find a material that will stay in the disk without extrusion and that will not fragment and irritate surrounding tissues,î explains Dr. Yuan, who with his Department of Orthopedic Surgery colleagues -- and the support of Stryker Howmedica Osteonics -- has developed a jelly-like PVA nucleus. Their patented implant is pending FDA approval and will soon be tested in a pilot program at Upstate Medical University, then in a multicenter clinical trial.
Dr. Yuan and his colleagues are also developing a material that will reinforce a disintegrating diskís outer rim; revolutionary spinal fusion techniques; and early-stage tissue engineering. ìUltimately, our goal is to get tissue to heal itself,î reports Dr. Yuan, whose research is supported by a variety of biomedical giants, such as Spinal Concepts, Stryker, Visual Technologies Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Sulzer and Surgical Dynamics.
Dr. Yuan is an internationally recognized spine surgeon who travels around the globe lecturing on breakthroughs in spinal surgery. ìPatients from many countries come to Upstate Medical University to be treated,î he says. ìIn keeping with our mission, surgeons from many countries come here to be trained. It makes sense that this campus should have a world-class research
facility like the Institute for Human Performance.î
The MRI core facility has at its heart a high-performance 1.5 Tesla clinical sized Philips MRI scanner. The scanner is capable of most anatomical clinical scanning protocols as well as neurofunctional imaging. The facility is located in Room 1311 in the IHP Building. Nikolaus Szeverenyi, Ph.D. (Dept. of Radiology) is the operations director. Gwen Tillapaugh-Fay is the full time instructional support specialist.
