BioEngineering

Joan Sanders, Associate Professor

Adjunct with Rehabilitation Medicine and Mechanical Engineering

Thrust Area
Engineered Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering

Education
PhD (bioengineering), University of Washington, 1991
MS (mechanical engineering), Northwestern University, 1985
BS (mechanical engineering), Stanford University, 1983

 photo of Dr. Sanders

Research Interests
    •  Tissue Engineering for cardiac applications
    •  Design of novel fibr-porous biomaterials
    •  Skin adaptation to mechanical stress
    •  Prosthetic engineering interface mechanics

Contact Information
Department of Bioengineering
University of Washington
Box 355061
William H. Foege Building, Room N430J
Phone: 206-221-5872, 206-685-8296
Fax: 206-221-5874
E-mail: jsanders@u.washington.edu
Home Page: http://faculty.washington.edu/jsanders/

Research Description

A main area of on-going research is in the tissue engineering of vessel substitutes, heart valves, and vascular plexus. Using novel fiber-based polymer scaffolds, we are able to tissue engineer constructs with well-aligned cellular architectures that show morphologies and mechanical strengths strongly resembling natural tissue. Much focus in on creating elastic fiber architectures within our engineered tissue.

Another area of focus is in the design of fiber-based scaffolds for biomaterial applications. We have created a custom apparatus that allows the manufacture of well-controlled small diameter fibro-porous meshes. In vivo implant studies have shown that fibers below a certain threshold diameter do not become encapsulated. Current efforts are directed towards better understand on a cell biology level why these fibers are not rejected by host tissue.

Applied research on skin adaptation to mechanical stress is a third area of focus. This research has strong application in Rehabilitation Medicine where it is of interest to encourage adaptation so as to avoid skin breakdown or ulceration (wheelchair users, prosthesis users, bedridden patients). We are using a custom explant model system to investigate the bioprocess changes that occur in skin as it is adapting to repetitive mechanical load.

A long-standing area of research for our group is external prosthetics for amputees. Currently, we are pursuing the development of a control system strategy to maintain consistent interface stress distributions despite changes in residual limb shape and volume over time.

Teaching Activities

  • BIOEN 440: Introduction to Biomechanics
  • BIOEN 599: Biomechanics

Honors and Awards

  • 1998: University Faculty Mentor Award, University of Washington
  • 1996: Whitaker Foundation - George W. Thorn Award
  • 1996: Early Career Achievement Award, Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers - Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE-EMBS)
  • 1995: Honorary Faculty Member, Golden Key National Honors Society

Selected Publications

  • Sanders JE and Rochefort JR: Fibrous encapsulation of single polymer micro-fibers depends on their vertical dimension in subcutaneous tissue. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research vol. 67A(4), pp. 1181-1187, 2003
  • Neumann T, Nicholson BS, and Sanders JE: Tissue engineering of perfused microvessels. Microvascular Research vol. 66(1), pp. 59-67, 2003
  • Sanders JE, Wang Y-N, Malcolm SG, and Lamont SE: Biomaterial mesh seeded with vascular remnants from a quail embryo has a significant and fast vascular templating effect on host implant tissue. Tissue Engineering vol. 9(6), pp. 1271-1279, 2003
  • Wang Y-N and Sanders JE: How does skin adapt to repetitive mechanical stress to become load tolerant? Medical Hypotheses vol. 61(1), pp. 29-35, 2003
  • Neumann T and Sanders JE: Myocyte cultures on polymer fiber arrays. Tissue Engineering vol. 9(5), pp. 995-1003, 2003
  • Sanders JE, Mitchell SB, Wang Y-N, and Wu K: An explant model for the investigation of skin adaptation to mechanical stress. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering vol. 49(12), pp. 1626-1631, 2002
  • Sanders JE and Cassisi DV: Mechanical performance of inflatable inserts used in limb prosthetics. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development vol. 38(4), pp. 365-374, 2001
  • Sanders JE and Goldstein BS: Skin adaptation to mechanical stress: Changes in collagen fibril architecture and skin morphology. Journal of Biomechanics vol. 34(12), pp. 1581-1587, 2001
  • Sanders JE, Stiles CE, and Hayes CL: Tissue response to single polymer fibers of varying diameters: Evaluation of fibrous encapsulation and macrophage density. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, vol. 52(1), pp. 231-237, 2000
  • Zachariah SG, Sanders JE, and Turkiyyah G: Automated hexahedral mesh generation from biomedical image data: Applications in limb prosthetics. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering vol. 4(2), pp. 91-102, 1996
  • Sanders JE, Goldstein BS, and Leotta DF: Skin response to mechanical stress: Adaptation rather than breakdown. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development vol. 32(3), pp. 214-226, 1995