Biofluid mechanics and cardiovascular devices, with a major focus on
cardiac applications.

Curriculum Vitea

Dr. Richard T. Schoephoerster's research is in the area of biofluid mechanics and cardiovascular devices, with a major focus on cardiac applications. His research interests run from the basic (role of mechanics on cardiovascular disease development) to the applied (development of novel cardiovascular devices). The primary focus of his basic research is now in the determination of the role of fluid mechanics on thrombosis. This research includes the measurement of platelet aggregation in various fluid mechanical and material environments, and the development of a mathematical model to predict platelet aggregation under any general flow and surface conditions. On the applied side, Dr. Schoephoerster is currently collaborating with researchers from Latvia and industry in the development of a novel artificial heart valve. The valve’s novel design incorporates a new biocompatible polymer with design that mimics the composite architecture of the natural heart valve leaflet.

Dr. Schoephoerster’s laboratory contains the following equipment to perform this research Silicon Graphics and Dell computers and workstations, Vivitro Systems heart and systemic circulation simulator, Enduratec Fatigue Tester, and a Packard Instruments Cobra gamma counter.

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Selected Publications:

Souza-Campos, F. and Schoephoerster, R.T. (1996) "Performance assessment of prosthetic heart valves using the energy index method." ASAIO Journal, 42:170-176.

Bluestein D., Niu, L., Schoephoerster, R.T., and Dewanjee, M.K. (1997) "Fluid mechanics of arterial stenosis: Relationship to the development of mural thrombus." Ann. Biomedical Engineering, 25:344-356.

Schoephoerster, R.T., Langlais, M.D., and Dewanjee, M.K. (1998) “Platelet deposition in an arterial stenosis flow field: Experimental measurements and model development,” Proceedings of the Third World Congress of Biomechanics, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, August 2-8, 1998.

Bluestein, D., Gutierrez, C., Londono, M., and Schoephoerster, R.T. (1999) “Vortex shedding in steady flow through a model of an arterial stenosis and its relevance to mural platelet deposition,” Ann. Biomedical Engineering 27(6):763-73.

Engineer, H. and Schoephoerster, R. (2000) “Simulation of Platelet Kinetics and Wall Shear-Dependent Deposition in a Model Arterial Stenosis,” Proceedings of the 2000 World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Chicago, Illinois, July 23-28, 2000.

Schoephoerster, R.T., Gallocher, S., Pinchuk, L., and Kasyanov, V.A. (2001) “A novel trileaflet synthetic heart valve,” Proceedings of the 2001 ASME IMECE, New York, New York, November, 11-16, 2001.