My name is Shaun Meyer and I am in my
last year of Undergraduate Bioengineering degree. My overriding reason for studying
Bioengineering is to work on medical problems through quantitative analysis
that affect large populations of patients.
I am driven to make a meaningful effect on the chronically sick
population through Biomedical and Engineering methods, because I have lived
through so many of the closest people in my life dying, due to lack of
effective diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.
I was given an
opportunity early in 2016 to work with one of my most respected Bioengineering Professors. Dr. Sikdar asked me if I would like to work
with him at the Biomedical Imaging Lab, specifically working on some previously
collect Ultrasound Liver d I was
very excited to be working on any project with Dr. Sikdar, and I accepted
without hesitation. In January of 2016,
I had no experience with Liver, or Ultrasound, so I knew I would have to start
my literature review immediately. My
research really started well before the summer, and I found that many Americans
and Europeans suffer from something called Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
(NAFLD). This disease at its most severe
stage is known as Cirrhosis of the liver.
I had previously believed that Cirrhosis can only occur in people whom
are alcoholics. In case, fatty or alcohol
caused Cirrhosis, is permanent, and the only treatment is Liver
Transplant.
ata.
My project was focused on detecting a
much less severe case of NAFLD, commonly called Simple Fatty Liver. There are no outward symptoms, and no
reliable blood tests for this condition.
However, NAFLD has been linked to metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes,
obesity, and cardiovascular/coronary artery disease (CVD/CAD). Patients with these conditions should be preemptively
screened for Simple Fatty Liver.
Currently, clinical diagnosis relies on subjective Radiologist opinions
of what the Ultrasound scans look like. During
this summer, I have been testing and implementing Quantitative Ultrasound Techniques
that can definitively and objectively detect simple fatty liver in patients at
risk for CAD.
I plan to continue working on this
project for the remainder of my GMU career, and my hope for this research is
that earlier and more effective screening for NAFLD can be accomplished and
utilized clinically.
