Quotes

1. When the heart develops, it becomes stiffer as required for ability to contract and pump blood...So the question is - does it become stiff because it's contracting, or is it stiff to begin with because it is genetically predefined?

   In Understanding congenital heart defects to prevent them

2. When the heart develops, it becomes stiffer as required for ability to contract and pump blood...So the question is - does it become stiff because it’s contracting, or is it stiff to begin with because it is genetically predefined?

   In Understanding Congenital Heart Defects To Prevent Them

3. We will create this hybrid microscope putting these two powerful technologies together. OCT will image the development of the neural tube while at the same time, Brillouin spectroscopy will probe its mechanical properties. We will be imaging and sensing at the same time...If we find out what causes the tube to close, what is exactly happening, we can develop new drug treatments for at-risk embryos...It's still one of the great mysteries of life, no one on earth knows how this happens and that is really exciting to us, because we will be the ones to find out.

   In Watching an embryo's neural tube close

4. Today about one million people suffer heart attacks every year, and there is currently no cure for the resulting cardiac tissue scarring...We are working to develop ways to regenerate heart tissue and our research works to measure the mechanical properties to determine if the heart is healing in response to therapies.

   In Biomechanical mapping method aids development of therapies for damaged heart tissue

5. Experiments have shown that tissue from newborn mammalian hearts can completely regenerate, but with age this regeneration capability diminishes...Martin's group is working on ways to manipulate these molecular pathways in a way that stimulates the adult heart tissue to repair itself.

   In Biomechanical mapping method aids development of therapies for damaged heart tissue

6. We are using OCT to image mouse and rat embryos, looking at video taken about seven days after conception, out of a 20-day typical mammalian pregnancy...this way, we are able to capture video of the embryonic heart before it begins beating, and a day later we can see the heart beginning to form in the shape of a tube and see whether or not the chambers are contracting. Then, we begin to see blood distribution and the heart rate.

   In The Embryonic Heart: Imaging Life as it Happens - University of Houston Professor Captures Video of Heart Before it Begins to Beat (Video Snippet)

7. Our primary objective is to develop noninvasive, early detection methods to diagnose various diseases.

   In U. Houston professor expands Optics research