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Five Questions with

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Scott Tashman, Ph.D., Director, BioMedical Engineering

Five Questions with Scott Tashman, Ph.D., Director, BioMedical Engineering at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute and The Steadman Clinic; and Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Health in Houston, Texas.
 
In June 2016, Dr. Tashman began his dual positions at SPRI/The Steadman Clinic and UT Health. Prior to that, he held the position of Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, where he directed the Biodynamics Laboratory and continued to develop advanced imaging systems and apply them for musculoskeletal research. It was at Pittsburgh where Dr. Tashman began his association with Dr. Johnny Huard, SPRI’s Chief Scientific Officer.

Q1: What is the Biomotion Lab and when did it become a part of SPRI and The Steadman Clinic?

There was a Biomotion Lab here at SPRI up until about two years ago and there were a number of interesting studies done there.  But, for one reason or another, it faded away.  The director of the lab had left and the space was taken over for the first round of the Center for Regenerative Medicine when Dr. Huard moved here.  I was brought in about a year ago to direct the BioMedical Engineering program here and build a new Biomotion Lab. We have been open for a few months and are continually adding new pieces of equipment and improving our capabilities with each passing day.

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Q2: What will we find in the Biomotion Lab?

We have just about every type of equipment you could imagine for assessing and analyzing human movement and joint function.  We utilize video motion analysis systems that use 18 cameras to track markers we place on patients’ skin to analyze motion of their joints, their knees, their hips, their ankles. We have sensors on the floor that measure all the forces acting on the feet. We can combine the video motion with the force measurements and modeling software to estimate the level of function that has been achieved after treatment.  We can measure the activity of the muscles in the legs to look at coordination and timing of muscle activity.  
 
In addition, we have specialized equipment that lets us look at the function of joints at a level that you cannot measure from outside the skin.  The problem with video is that you cannot see the bones underneath the skin. Because the skin moves relative to the bones — it has to in order to allow the joints to flex — we cannot get highly accurate measurements from video-motion analysis.  One of the things we care about here is the function of individual tissues and structures within the joint — ligaments, cartilage, menisci, tendons. Those are the structures that are really most often injured and we can’t look at those from surface markers.
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Q3: What is the BME program that you direct?

The BME program is really a continuum of laboratories and studies that allow us to study everything from basic anatomy through complex movement. We have a surgical skills and anatomy lab where we can do elaborate dissections and reconstructions of functional tissues. We have multiple systems for mechanical testing of joints and structures. We have a mechanical testing machine that can pull and twist bones and tendons. And then we have a robot that can recreate very complex motions of any joint in the body. We can look and see how tendons and ligaments are functioning during these particular motions.

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Q4: Dr. Huard loves to use the word “collaboration” when talking about the team at SPRI and its colleagues around the globe. Do you see that being a big factor in your work in Vail and Houston?

If we were a lab operating in isolation, I would have no reason to want to be here. Our best ideas for research come from the surgeons. They work with us in designing the studies and interpreting the results.  Most of our studies span the four SPRI groups.  We have the Center for Regenerative Medicine, Biomechanics/Biomotion, Department of Imaging with Dr. Ho and the Center for Outcomes Research. Most of the studies we have now involve at least three and often all four groups. For instance, we might be doing a study of improving rotator cuff repair.  We’re working with the surgeons because they are doing the procedures for the repair, and they are augmenting the procedures biologically through stem cells or PRP (platelet-rich plasma) from Dr. Huard’s lab. We’re assessing the function of these repaired tissues in BME and using advanced MRI techniques from Dr. Ho and his staff in imaging.  And then we follow up with patients to see their progress and help further our studies by measuring those outcomes
 
It is this multidisciplinary approach that makes for the most powerful studies.  It really enables us to develop, implement and assess advanced therapies and treatments.
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Q5: What is the most satisfying part of the work you perform with SPRI and The Steadman Clinic?

To me the ultimate accomplishment is not how many papers I write or how many grants I get.  It’s can we as a team improve orthopaedic care? Can we change the way people are delivering care? I have been in this field for a long time. I can publish lots of papers. Some people will read them and might change the way they do things. But to attain your ultimate goals, you really want to reach surgeons across the country and around the world.  The surgeons we have here are thought leaders in their fields.  So if we can provide them with evidence that they can share, evidence that proves that their new technique is better than what other people are doing, they can then go to international conferences and talk to their colleagues and spread the word. That’s how we can really change care.
 
These guys have the influence. They just need the data to back it up and we can provide that for them.
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