Research in Action: - University of Calgary

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You’ll find Dr. Nigel Shrive’s spectacularly cluttered office—every available surface holds a pile of books or stack of paper—in the Schulich School of Engineering. But while the Killiam Memorial Chairholder teaches in the Department of Civil Engineering and conducts research on masonry, he’s also developed an expertise in biomechanics. These days, it is that work that has Shrive quite excited. He is hopeful that a new model he has developed with Dr. Cy Frank and Dr. David Hart might help determine the relative influence of mechanical and biological factors in the development of osteoarthritis. Unpuzzling joint disease “The model might be able to tell us what are the primary drivers [of osteoarthritis] and, therefore, what we have to target with any therapy,” Shrive says. “It would be the first time in the world that mechanical factors have been isolated from biological factors.” Doing so would give new insights into a complex disease. “We’ve realized in the last couple of years that, as soon as you injure a joint, everything starts to change—all the tissues in the joint, including those not injured,” Shrive says. When biological changes, such as inflammation, give rise to mechanical changes, sorting through the puzzle can get very complicated. The role of inflammation In his team’s new model, a biological response can be triggered without changing the operational mechanics of the joint—by essentially creating and then immediately repairing an injury in a way that restores the original mechanics. Alternatively, to explore mechanical contributors to osteoarthritis, the joint can be altered and the level of inflammation kept pretty much constant by using anti-inflammatory drugs. “We can see if, with the same level of inflammation, but different mechanics, osteoarthritis develops at the same rate,” Shrive says. While he is excited about the model, he is, of course, an engineer at heart. Everything must be tested rigorously. “The idea is that specimens given anti-inflammatories will have way less osteoarthritis,” Shrive says. “Who knows, maybe we’ll find out it’s not the inflammation that’s doing the damage.” That would be an unexpected result, but it’s the sort of thing that can happen when dealing with a biological system, which by its nature is complex. And it is outcomes like this that can make Shrive appreciate more traditional engineering. “If you load a piece of steel, you can make it yield,” he says. “It’s not going to get any different. It’s not going to repair itself in varying degrees depending on the genetics of the system.” 28 UofC Research in Action Dr. Nigel Shrive is isolating the “mechanical” from the “biological” to understand more about osteoarthritis.
Dr. Nigel Shrive is sorting out when biological changes, such as inflammation, give rise to mechanical changes in the joints. If the challenges of biomechanics are greater, so too are the rewards. Just consider how Shrive’s engineering research has helped build stronger walls, while his work in biomechanics could lead to stronger joints. With those, people—and medicine—just might break through even the toughest barriers. Biomedical Engineering: Bone + Joint 29
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Page 5 and 6: Dr. Naweed Syed’s “brain on a c
Page 7 and 8: Dr. Garnette Sutherland was the fir
Page 9 and 10: Dr. Michael Colicos is using bio-co
Page 11 and 12: Medical Imaging Using tissue sensin
Page 13 and 14: Dr. Brad Goodyear is using MRI tech
Page 15 and 16: Dr. Kristina Rinker is developing m
Page 17 and 18: “The goal of my research is to de
Page 19 and 20: Graduate students Jana McMillan and
Page 21 and 22: Dr. Howard Ceri is using technology
Page 23 and 24: One element of Dr. Cy Frank’s res
Page 25 and 26: Dr. Janet Ronsky’s Eagle Brace is
Page 27 and 28: Unlike most people who remove tissu
Page 29: Dr. Andrea Clark is studying why th
Page 33 and 34: Dr. John Matyas uses, among other t
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Research in Action: - University of Calgary

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