Departmental Highlights Archive
Biomimetic six-axis robots replicate human cardiac papillary muscle motion: pioneering the next generation of biomechanical heart simulator technology
The complex motion of papillary muscles plays an important role in mitral valve kinematics. However, current ex vivo heart simulators—crucial tools used to optimize surgical techniques and devices—do not include this motion, thus presenting a significant limitation on the translatability of the surgical optimizations. Our novel six-axis image-guided papillary muscle robotic system incorporates the complex motion of the papillary muscles and represents a significant advancement in ex vivo simulation. The system can be integrated in all future heart simulator experimentation to more accurately replicate the in vivo environment, thus enabling reliable analysis and optimization of valve repair techniques.
December 10, 2020
Department research and clinical expertise showcased at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020
The American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2020 was undoubtedly a unique one. Although physicians, healthcare professionals, and scientists were unable to gather physically together, the virtual platform still served as one of the world's largest forums for the presentation and discussion of clinical innovations and research breakthroughs in cardiovascular medicine. At the 2020 virtual conference, the Stanford Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery was prominently featured in 11 talks and poster presentations, showcasing a diverse spectrum of the department's clinical expertise and research accomplishments.
December 2020
Dr. Leah Backhus interviewed on STS podcast, "Same Surgeon, Different Light"
In this episode, Dr. David Tom Cooke interviews STS Director-at-Large Dr. Leah Backhus from Stanford Health Care. Listeners will learn how positive labels “slapped on” Dr. Backhus at a young age help buoy her throughout her journey, but she cautions that such labels can be good and bad and explains why. Dr. Backhus also shares that after an “unwelcoming reception” into neurosurgery, she chose a career in cardiothoracic surgery. This experience helped her realize that mentors “do not have to look like you, they just need to get you.” “Same Surgeon, Different Light” is a program from the Society designed to demystify cardiothoracic surgery, revealing the men and women behind their surgical masks.
November 27, 2020
Stanford Cardiothoracic Surgery Department and "The Heart Center at Mercy Redding" Join Together to Transform Greater Redding, CA Heart Care
Stanford Cardiothoracic Surgery makes movement to advance heart care in the northern territory of California state, providing a comprehensive range of heart care services to the Mercy Medical Center Redding, in Redding, CA. The new partnership with Stanford Health Care and Mercy Medical Center Redding further advances the Stanford Cardiac Surgery Affiliate Hospital Program. The combination of Mercy Medical Center Redding's more than 70 years of healthcare services and Stanford's leadership in academic medicine is expected to significantly advance healthcare in this region.
October 1, 2020
Stanford Hospital Receives Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award
Stanford Hospital is pleased to announce that its application for recognition as a Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center has been approved. In partnership with the American Heart Association and Mitral Foundation, the Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award was created to recognize centers in the United States that have a demonstrated record of superior clinical outcomes in degenerative mitral valve repair resulting from evidence-based guideline treatment. This award recognizes Stanford Hospital's contribution to advancing best practice in the surgical treatment of mitral valve disease.
September 10, 2020
VA researchers study effects of smoking on therapeutic stem cells
Dr. Ngan Huang and Dr. Alex Chan, a postdoctoral research fellow at VA Palo Alto, are studying the effects of nicotine on therapeutic stem cells. The two co-authored a review article on the effects of nicotine on stem cell therapy that appeared online earlier this year in the journal Regenerative Medicine.
(Photo by Adan Pulido)
September 1, 2020
Stanford Hospital Leads the West Coast in Utilization of Advanced Heart Transplant Technologies
Stanford University Medical Center became the first heart transplant center on the West Coast of the United States to adopt a new Cardiac Transport System (CTS) for standard-of-care in donor heart preservation and transport. The Stanford program has pioneered heart transplantation since they performed the first adult heart transplantation in the United States fifty years ago. Today, as one of the highest volume heart transplant programs in the nation, that tradition continues as they adopt new technologies to advance patient-centered care.
September 2020
Stanford Hospital ranked among top 20 hospitals nationwide by U.S. News & World Report
Recognizing Stanford Health Care’s commitment to safety and quality, U.S. News & World Report has included Stanford Hospital on the 2020-21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The honor roll ranks the leading 20 hospitals nationwide.
July 27, 2020
Drs. Leah Backhus and Natalie Lui Receive Dwight C. McGoon Awards
Dr. Leah Backhus was the 2019 recipient is the first woman to receive the award in fourteen years, the first African American recipient, and the first recipient from Stanford.
Dr. Natalie Lui is the 2020 recipient and is the second woman to receive the award in fourteen years.
Stanford is one of only two institutions to receive this award twice.
June 30, 2020
Dr. Leah Backhus
Dr. Natalie Lui
Parenting in the COVID-19 Era: Work-Life Balance Turning into Whack-A-Mole
Ngan Huang discusses generational differences in parenting in the COVID-19 era.
Excerpt: "I definitely get the sense that, compared to the family structure in which I grew up, the structure we have established is more resilient during the COVID-19 crisis because of the blending of parental roles."
June 22, 2020
How High-achieving Moms Balance Career and Family With Leah Backhus, MD
The pandemic has altered the lives of high-achieving career moms. Now more than ever, they are continuing to juggle their careers, while spending more time with their families, doing household chores, providing care and guidance, and helping out with their children’s online education. This episode features Dr. Leah Backhus, MD, Chief of Thoracic Surgery at VA Palo Alto who has been in practice for 19 years. She’s also a mom and an academic surgeon at Stanford University.
June 2020
Towards virtual surgery planning: the modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt
AIMS Biophysics, 7(3): 169–188
Stephen Haller , Rabin Gerrah, and Sandra Rugonyi
Computational fluid dynamics: a primer for congenital heart disease clinicians
Asian Cardiovascular & Thoracic Annals 0(0) 1–13
Rabin Gerrah and Stephen J Haller
June 2020
Use of patient-specific computational models for optimization of aortic insufficiency after implantation of left ventricular assist device
Patpilai Kasinpila, MD, Sandra Kong, Robyn Fong, BS, Rohan Shad, MD, Alexander D. Kaiser, PhD, Alison L. Marsden, PhD, Y. Joseph Woo, MD, and William Hiesinger, MD
June 2020
Yuanjia Zhu receives 2020 TSDA Benson R. Wilcox Award
The TSDA Benson R. Wilcox Award was established in 2010 to acknowledge the best scientific abstract submitted by a cardiothoracic surgery resident to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Annual Meeting. This annual award honors Dr. Wilcox’s many contributions to the TSDA and thoracic surgery education.
Dr. Zhu received the award for Bilateral versus Single Internal Mammary Artery Grafts for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in the United States – A Study of Over One Million Patients