Plenary Lecture

Mechanobiological Models for Intervertebral Disc Tissue Engineering

Professor Mohammad Haghpanahi
Biomechanics Research Lab,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran,
IRAN
E-mail: m_nikkhoo@hotmail.com

Abstract: Low back pain, which is often caused by disc degeneration, is a major health problem. Due to the limitations of the current treatments for degenerative disc disease, tissue engineering methods have been proposed. These methods present the opportunity to restore the functionality of the intervertebral disc by repairing or replacing the degenerated tissue. One of the major challenges in intervertebral disc tissue engineering is to recreate, in vitro, the physiological environment for optimal culturing of cells seeded in scaffolds constructs. So it is necessary to understand the link between the forces applied to a cell and its biological response. After a brief review of the fundamentals of the mechanical factors in tissue engineering, this lecture presents the mechanobiological models which are capable of optimizing the design parameters of the porous scaffolds and prediction of the stress distribution in different stages of the tissue engineering. On the basis of these infrastructure models and experimental results, we can gain a complete understanding of mechanobiology and the procedure of the tissue differentiation to finalize the setups of the instrumentations in intervertebral disc tissue engineering.

 

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Name: MOHAMMAD
Family Name: HAGHPANAHI
Birthday: 4th March 1956
Situation: Married
Children: 2 Daughters
Address: No 68, Building E2, Phase 3, Ekbatan City, Tehran, Iran
Telephone: +98-21-4465-7870
Mobile: +98-912-124-5626

Educational Background:
-Master of Mechanical Engineering: 1979 Shiraz University
-Master of Solid Mechanics: 1981 ENSAM, Paris
-Doctor of Engineer in Biomechanics: 1985 ENSAM, Paris

Course Taught:
- Strength of Material
- Theory of Vibration
- Machine Element Design
- Vibration of Continuous Systems
- Finite Element Analysis
- Advanced Topics in Finite Element Analysis

Research Interest:
- Biomechanics of Orthopedics
- Stress Analysis of Systems by Finite Element Analysis
- Extraction of Biomechanics of Spine
- Sport Biomechanics
- Static and Fatigue Analysis of Welded Joints
- Vocational Education and its role toward Technology Transfer

Publications:
- More than 60 journal and conference papers

Executive positions:
1987-1992 Dean of Mechanical Engineering Department, Iran University of Science and Technology
1992-1993 Visiting Professor, Ohio State University
1993-1995 Vice president in Education Affairs, I.U.S.T
1995-2000 Vice president in Student and Education Affairs, U.A.S.T. (University of Applied Science and Technology)
2001-2005 Chancellor of U.A.S.T
2005- Present Dean of Biomechanics Department, Iran University of Science and Technology

Member:
- International Society of Biomechanics
- Iranian Society of Mechanical Engineering
- Iranian Society of Biomedical Engineering
- UNIP (United TEVET Network on Innovation and Professional Development)