Hemal Mehta, M.Sc.

Research Assistant

Fax:     617.667.7175

E-mail: hmehta@bidmc.harvard.edu

Background

Hemal Mehta received his Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Tennessee , Knoxville and began working in the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory in 2002 while he was pursuing a Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University .  Under the direction of Dr. Brian Snyder, Hemal’s thesis research investigated the relationship between chest wall and spinal deformities in patients with congenital scoliosis.  Upon receiving his Masters degree in 2004, Hemal joined the lab as a Research Assistant to further develop his thesis research.

Research Background

Lung growth is limited to the anatomical boundaries of the thorax, which consists of the spine, the chondral and osseous ribs, and the sternum. The spine and ribs work together efficiently at respiration as a dynamic biomechanical structure only under specific conditions.  When the thorax is affected by significant deformity, the dynamics of this system change interfering with normal respiration and lung development.  Thoracic insufficiency syndrome (TIS) has been defined as the inability of the thorax to support normal respiration and/or lung growth.  This condition occurs in patients with congenital, infantile or neuromuscular scoliosis, congenital anomalies of the ribs, acquired chest wall deformities, and some skeletal dysplasias. Severely compromised respiratory function in the growing child is associated with frequent respiratory infections and failure to thrive.  Many of these children go on to develop significant thoracic hypoplasia, restrictive lung disease, and respiratory insufficiency by early adulthood.  The purpose of our in-vivo experimental studies is to investigate the relationship between growth of the thoracic spine and growth of the rib cage under conditions that create symmetrical or asymmetrical growth disturbances of either the spine or rib cage in a growing rabbit and the effect of these growth disturbances on pulmonary function.  Additionally, we are also investigating how implantation of an interventional device which distracts and expands the chest wall affects total lung function in scoliotic subjects and its effect on alveolar histomorphometry.

Publications and Presentations

Mehta HP, B Snyder, A Jackson , S Baldassarri, M Hayward , M Giuffrida, V Entezari, J Wilson.  How does VEPTR affect pulmonary function?  An in vivo assessment using the rabbit scoliosis model.  Selected for oral presentation at the 1^st International Congress on Early Onset Scoliosis and Growing Spine, Madrid , Spain , November 2007. Awarded Best Paper honor at conference.

Mehta, HP, B Snyder, N Callender , C Bellardine, A Jackson.  The reciprocal relationship between thoracic and spinal deformity and its effect on pulmonary function in a rabbit model: a pilot study.  Spine. 2006 Nov 1; 31(23): 2654-64.

Mehta, HP, B Snyder, E Sun, A Jackson, C Bellardine, K Lutchen.  Reciprocal relationship between thoracic and spinal deformity and its effect on pulmonary function.  Selected for oral presentation at the 51^st Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Washington , D.C. , February 2005.

Mehta, HP, B Snyder, E Sun, A Jackson.  Relationship between thoracic cage and spine deformity in rabbits with experimental scoliosis.  Selected for oral presentation at the 39^th Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society, Buenos Aires , Argentina , September 2004.

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