Cardiovascular Bioengineering and Technologies Theme

Background

The Cardiovascular Engineering and Technologies (CET) Theme aims to (1) advance scientific understanding of the mechanical function of the heart and blood vessels, in health and disease; and (2) develop innovative technologies in cardiovascular diagnosis and treatment. The team comprises biomedical engineers and clinical investigators from many institutions island-wide. We apply advanced experimental and computational models and AI analytics with emphasis on quantitative evaluation of the relevant parameters by integrating multidisciplinary approaches (cardiovascular imaging, mechanics and physiology, multi-scale computational modeling and artificial intelligence) that we hope shall ultimate translate into discoveries with practical clinical application.

Core elements of the theme are: (1) multi-disciplinary expertise in cardiovascular imaging, mechanics, engineering and physiology) for innovation; (2) curated library of subject-specific cardiovascular images and computational models; (3) in-house computational expertise for AI development and data management; and (4) established technology development pathways and processes.

zhong liang lohendran baskaran

A/Prof Zhong Liang A/Prof Lohendran Baskaran

Cardiovascular mechanics: cardiac mechanics and tissue growth; fluid dynamics of blood in the heart and vessel; coronary blood flow in CAD
Cardiovascular imaging and AI: cardiovascular system artificial intelligence; cardiovascular imaging; pulse pressure and electrocardiogram and other vital signals
Novel technology and drug delivery: Catheter based drug delivery system for vascular intervention; novel medical device for treatment of structure heart disease; nanotechnology for acute myocardial infarction

Achievements

Awards

SCCT2022 Best Abstract Award finalists (Dr Wang Chenxi) 2022
Best Abstract Award (Dr Zhao Xiaodan) at SCS Conference 2022
GCEO outstanding research award (Dr Zhong Liang), SingHealth Excellence Award 2021
Young Investigator Award (Third Prize), Singapore Cardiac Society (Dr Leng Shuang), 2019
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), ASEAN Federation of Cardiology (Dr Leng Shuang), 2018
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), Singapore Cardiac Society (Dr Leng Shuang), 2018
Young Investigator Award (Second Prize), Singapore Cardiac Society (Ms Low Ris), 2018
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), ASEAN Federation of Cardiology (Dr Zhao Xiaodan), 2017
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), Singapore Cardiac Society (Dr Zhao Xiaodan), 2017
Best Abstract Award (Dr Zhao Xiaodan) at SCS Conference 2015
Singhealth Publish Award (Medical Research) (Dr Zhong Liang), Singhealth Group, Singapore 2014
Best Publication Gold Award, Annals, Academy of Medicine, Singapore (Dr Zhong Liang), 2013
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), ASEAN Federation of Cardiology (Dr Zhong Liang), 2012
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), Singapore Cardiac Society (Dr Zhong Liang), 2012
Sejong Medical Award, 4th APCCS, Taiwan (Dr Zhong Liang), 2012
Young Investigator Award (First Prize), Singapore Cardiac Society (Dr Zhong Liang), 2011
Save the Children Korea Travel Grant, APPCS & APSACHD, Japan (Dr Zhong Liang), 2010
Best-poster Award, 14th ECHO-Singapore (Dr Zhong Liang), 2009

Grants

A*STAR IAFPP Grant: " AI driven national platform for CT coronary angiography for clinical and industrial applications (APOLLO study)" (2021-2024)
NMRC HSR Grant: "Evaluating dynamic myocardial blood flow quantitative as a cost-effective care model for diabetic patients with coronary artery disease: A randomized controlled trial" (2021-2024)
NMRC HSR Grant: "Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of noninvasive fractional flow reserve for physiological assessment in suspected coronary artery disease (ECONOMY study)" (2020-2023)
NMRC Open-Fund YIRG Grant: "Assessment of tricuspid regurgitation with 4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance for clinical decision-making and treatment planning (ADVANCEMENT study)" (2020-2023)
MOE Grant: "An artificial intelligence enabled wearable TCM pulse analyzer for heart failure detection" (2021-2023)
AMC Grant: "Deep learning for detection of microvascular obstruction on non-contrast enhanced cine cardiac magnetic resonance" (2020-2023)
NMRC CSA-INV Grant: "Trajectory of cardiovascular ageing: its determinants and impacts on health (To-CHRIST study)" (2019-2022)
NMRC Open-Fund IRG Grant: "Integrated computational modeling of blood flow and mechanics in congenital heart disease (INITIATE study)" (2016-2021)
NMRC Bench-to-Bedside Research Grant: "Validation of a predictive model of coronary fractional flow reserve in patients with intermediate coronary stenosis" (2015-2020)

Publications

Zhao X, Hu LW, Leng S, Tan RS, Chai P, Bryant J, Teo L, Fortier M, Yeo TJ, Ouyang RZ, Allen J, Hughes M, Garg P, Zhang S, van der Geest R, Yip J, Tan TH, Tan JL, Zhong YM, Zhong L. Ventricular flow analysis and its association with exertional capability in repaired tetralogy of Fallot: 4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance study. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance; 2022:24:4.
Juffermans JF, Minderhoud SCS, Wittgren J, Kilburg A, Ese A, Fidock B, Zheng YC, Zhang JM, Blanken C, Lamb H, Goeman JJ, Carlsson M, Zhao S, Panken RN, Ooij PV, Zhong L, Chen X, Garg P, Emrich T, Hirsch A, Toger J, Westenberg JJM. Multicenter consistency assessment of valvular flow quantification with automated valve tracking in 4D Flow MRI. JACC Cardiovascular Imaging 2021; Jul;14(7):1354-1366.
Chioh FWJ, Young BE, Fong SW, Wu KX, Siau A, Krishnan S, Teo LLY, Gao F, Tan RS, Zhong L, Koh AS, Renia L, Ng LFP, Lye DC, Cheung C. Convalescent COVID-19 patients are susceptible to endothelial dysfunction due to persistent immune activation. eLife 2021;10:e64909.
Leng S, Tan RS, Guo JJ, Chai P, Zhang GC, Teo L, Ruan W, Yeo TJ, Zhao XD, Allen JC, Tan JL, Yip JW, Chen Y, Zhong L. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance assessed fast global longitudinal strain parameters add diagnostic and prognostic insights in right ventricular volume and pressure overloading. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2021; 23(1):38.
Benjamin Fidock, Gareth Archer, Natasha Barker, Alaa Elhawaz, Abdallah Almohammad, Alexander Rothman, David Hose, Ian Hall, Ever Grech, Norman Briffa, Nigel Lewis, Rob van der Geest, Jun-Mei Zhang, Zhong L, Andrew Swift, Jim Wild, Estefania De Garate, Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci, Jeroen Bax, Sven Plein, Saul Myerson, and Pankaj Garg. Standard and emerging CMR methods for mitral regurgitation quantification: inter-method validation and reproducibility study. International Journal of Cardiology 2021; 331:316-321.
Kovalik JP, Zhao XD, Gao F, Leng S, Chow V, Chew H, Teo LY, Tan RS, Ewe SH, Tan HC, Ning WH, Ching JH, Keng BMH, Koh WP, Zhong L, Koh AS. Amino acid differences between diabetic older adults and non-diabetic older adults and their association with cardiovascular function. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology 2021; 58:63-71.
Leng S, Guo JJ, Tan RS, Chai P, Teo LLS, Fortier MV, Gong C, Zhao XD, Allen JC, Ong CC, Ruan W, Koh AS, Tan TH, Yip JW, Tan JL, Chen YC, Zhong L. Age- and sex-specific changes in CMR feature tracking-based right atrial and ventricular functional parameters in healthy Asians. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine 2021;8:664431.
Gao F, Kovalik JP, Zhao XD, Chow V, Chew H, Teo LLY, Tan RS, Leng S, Ewe SH, Tan HC, Tan TY, Lee YS, Ching CH, Keng BMH, Zhong L, Koh WP, Koh AS. Exacerbation of cardiovascular ageing by diabetes mellitus and its association with acyl-carnitines. Aging 2021;13(11):14785-14805.
Zhao X, Tan RS, Garg P, Chai P, Leng S, Bryant J, Teo LLS, Ong CC, der Geest RJ, Allen JC, Yip JW, Tan JL, Plein S, Westenberg J, Zhong L. Impact of age, sex and ethnicity on intra-cardiac flow components and left ventricular kinetic energy derived from 4D flow CMR. International Journal of Cardiology 2021; 336:105-112.
Ouyang R, Leng S, Sun A, Wang Q, Hu L, Zhao X, Yan Q, Tan RS, Zhong L*, Zhong YM*. Detection of persistent systolic and diastolic abnormalities in aysmpomatic pediatric repaired tetralogy of Fallot patients with preserved ejection fraction: A CMR feature tracking study. European Radiology 2021 Aug 3; 31(8):6156-6168.
Chandola G, Zhang JM, Tan RS, Chai P, Toe LLS, Allen JS, Huang WM, Fam JM, Chin CY, Kassab GS, Low AF, Tan SY, Chua T, Lim ST, Zhong L. Computed tomography coronary angiography and computational fluid dynamics based fractional flow reserve before and after percutaneous coronary intervention. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 2021 Sep;9:739667.
Mauger C, Govil S, Chabiniok R, Gibert K, Hegde S, Hussain T, McCulloch AD, Occleshaw OJ, Omens J, Perry JC, Pushparajah K, Suinesiaputra A, Zhong L, Young A. Right-left ventricular shape variations in Tetralogy of Fallot: associations with pulmonary regurgitation. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2021; 23:105.
Zhang JM, Low R, Tan RS, Logen, Chai P, Teo LLS, Ong CC, Allen J, Fam JM, Low AF, Chua T, Tan SY, Lim ST, Zhong L. Diagnostic performance of fractional flow reserve from CT coronary angiography and analytical method. Frontier in Cardiovascular Medicine 2021;8: 739633.
Xu XX, Fam JM, Low A, Tan RS, Chai P, Leng S, Allen J, Teo L, Ong CC, Chan M, Huang T, Wu Q, Lim ST, Zhong L. Sex differences in assessing stenosis severity between physician visual assessment and quantitative coronary angiography. International Journal of Cardiology 2021 Dec 2021.
Garg P, Swift A, Zhong L, Carlhall CJ, Ebbers T, Westenberg J, Hope M, Bucciarelli-Ducci C, Bax JJ, Myerson S. Mitral valve regurgitation assessment by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Nature Reviews Cardiology 2020;17(5):298-312.
Al'Aref SJ, Singh G, Choi JW, Xu Z, Maliakal G, van Rosendael AR, Lee BC, Fatima Z, Andreini D, Bax JJ, Cademartiri F, Chinnaiyan K, Chow BJW, Conte E, Cury RC, Feuchtner G, Hadamitzky M, Kim YJ, Lee SE, Leipsic JA, Maffei E, Marques H, Plank F, Pontone G, Raff GL, Villines TC, Weirich HG, Cho I, Danad I, Han D, Heo R, Lee JH, Rizvi A, Stuijfzand WJ, Gransar H, Lu Y, Sung JM, Park HB, Berman DS, Budoff MJ, Samady H, Stone PH, Virmani R, Narula J, Chang HJ, Lin FY, Baskaran L, Shaw LJ, Min JK. A Boosted Ensemble Algorithm for Determination of Plaque Stability in High-Risk Patients on Coronary CTA. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2020 Jul 9;(13):2162-2173. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.03.025.
Lee SY, Burns S, Ng KKC, Stensel DJ, Zhong L, Tan F, Chia KL, Fam KD, Yap MC, Yeo KP, Yap EP, Lim CL. Pulse wave velocity is associated with increased plasma oxLDL in ageing but not with FGF21 and habitual exercise. Antioxidants 2020;9(3):E221.
Leng S, Ge H, He J, Kong L, Tan RS, Zhao XD, Allen JC, Hansenloy DJ, Zhong L, Pu J. Long-term prognostic value of cardiac MRI left atrial strain in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Radiology 2020; 296(2):299-309.
Zhang JM, Chandola G, Tan RS, Chai P, Teo LLS, Low R, Allen J, Huang W, Fam JM, Chin CY, Wong A, Low AF, Kassab G, Chua T, Tan SY, Lim ST, Zhong L. Quantification of effects of mean blood pressure and left ventricular mass on noninvasive fast fractional flow reserve. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2020; 391(2):H360-H369.
Zhao XD, Teo SK, Zhong L, Leng S, Zhang JM, Low R, Allen J, Koh AS, Tan JL, Su Y, Tan RS. Reference ranges for left ventricular curvedness and curvedness-based functional indices using cardiovascular magnetic resonance in healthy Asian subjects. Scientific Report 2020; 10:8465.
Zhong L, Schrauben EM, Garcia J, Uribe S, Grieve SM, Eibaz MM, Barker AJ, Geiger J, Nordmeyer S, Marsden A, Carlsson M, Tan RS, Garg P, Westenberg JJM, Markl M, Ebbers T. Intracardiac 4D flow MRI in congenital heart disease: recommendations on behalf of the ISMRM Flow & Motion Study Group. J Magn Reson Imaging 2019; 50:677-681.
Finsberg H, Xi C, Zhao X, Tan JL, Genet M, Sundnes J, Lee C, Zhong L, Wall ST. Computational quantification of patient-specific changes in ventricular dynamics associated with pulmonary hypertension. Am J Physiol Heart Circulation Physiol 2019;317(6):H1363-H1375.
Leng S, Dong Y, Wu Y, Zhao XD, Ruan W, Zhang GC, Allen JC, Koh AS, Tan RS, Yip J, Tan JL, Chen Y, Zhong L. Impaired CMR-derived rapid semi-automated right atrial longitudinal strain is associated with decompensated hemodynamics in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging 2019; 12;e008582.
Baskaran L, Maliakal G, Al'Aref S, Singh G, Xu Z, Michalak K, Dolan K, Gianni U, van Rosendael A. van den Hoogen I, Han D, Stuijfzand W, Pandey M, Lee B, Lin FY, Pontone G, Knaapen P, Marques H, Bax J, Berman D, Chang HJ, Shaw LJ, Min JK. Identification and Quantification of Cardiovascular Structures from Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography: An End-to-End, Rapid, Pixel-wise Deep Learning Method. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2019 Oct 11. 13:1163-1171. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2019.08.025
Leng S, Tan RS, Zhao XD, Koh A, Zhong L. Validation of rapid semi-automated method to assess left atrial longitudinal phasic strains on cine cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2018; 20(1):71
Koh A, Leng S, Tan RS, Gao F, Kovalik JP, Ching J, Yuan JM, Koh WP, Zhong L. Dissecting clinical and metabolomics associations of left atrial phasic function by cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking. Sci Rep 2018; 8(1):8138.