Dan Dragomir-Daescu, Ph.D.

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SUMMARY

Dan Dragomir-Daescu, Ph.D., leads and collaborates on research projects in several areas of biomedical engineering. Past and current research projects use various experimental and computational models of soft and hard tissues.

Dr. Dragomir-Daescu's research projects include:

• Designing and testing stents, grafts and stent-grafts for cardiovascular and other vascular applications.
• Developing biomaterials, including biological heart valves.
• Creating magnetic nanoparticles, magnetic cell-labeling and cell-targeting applications.
• Studying vascular hemodynamics to better understand aneurysm development.
• Understanding bone fracture through benchtop experimentation and computational modeling.
• Estimating myocardial stiffness through analysis of clinical and virtual intrinsic wave propagation.
• Developing noninvasive vibration analysis techniques for early detection of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) pump thrombosis.

Focus areas

• Early LVAD pump thrombosis detection. Dr. Dragomir-Daescu's laboratory collaborates with Mayo Clinic cardiologist Barry A. Boilson, M.D., to take noninvasive acoustic recordings of patients' LVAD pumps. Frequency analysis of these acoustic recordings seeks to determine markers of early LVAD pump thrombosis, where blood clots adhere to the LVAD and prohibit proper pump function.
• Rapid healing of stent-grafts implanted in diseased or injured vessels. Stent-grafts are implanted in blood vessels to treat diseases that result in a narrowing or blocking of the vessel, such as such as atherosclerosis and restenosis. A common problem that occurs after implantation is the body treating the stent-graft as a foreign object. Quickly forming an endothelial layer over the stent-graft after implantation can prevent this. Along with cardiologist Gurpreet S. Sandhu, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. Dragomir-Daescu's lab has developed several novel technologies to enable magnetic targeting and retention of endothelial cells to small-caliber magnetic stent-grafts.
• Modeling of femur and spine fracture using finite element methods. Dr. Dragomir-Daescu's lab has developed methods to characterize bone strength and fracture risk in patients using finite element models. Models are derived from CT scans, and material properties are obtained from cadaveric bone testing. The resulting computational models are highly predictive of bone strength and were validated with fracture tests. Dr. Dragomir-Daescu's lab has developed one of the world's largest databases of cadaveric femoral fracture properties.

Significance to patient care

The overarching goal of Dr. Dragomir-Daescu's research projects is to improve patient outcomes through better understanding of disease mechanisms, earlier detection of disease and development of improved medical devices. For example, the current clinical standard markers to detect LVAD pump thrombosis result from significant deviation from optimal pump function. This means that the patient's LVAD to assist in pumping blood through the heart is already impaired by the time the problem is detected. Earlier detection of LVAD pump thrombosis can lead to better patient outcomes because the beginning of pump thrombosis can be treated and resolved before pump function suffers significantly.

Professional highlights

• Editorial board member, Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering, 2016-present.
• "TAVR Leaflet Fatigue Modeling Using Physiological Wear Data," National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2022-2027.
• "Novel Flow Diverter for Hemorrhage Control Using Innovative Magnetic Nanotechnology," Regenerative Medicine Minnesota, 2020-2023.
• Judd Leighton Foundation Benefactor Innovation Fund Award, "Incorporated Acoustic Detection System for Diagnosis of Early Pump Thrombosis," Mayo Clinic, 2021-2023.