Biomedical engineering Ph.D. student earns IEEE best paper for medical ultrasonics

Maryam Basij, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student at Wayne State University, received a best paper award at the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium that was held virtually in September. Her paper, “Development of an Integrated Photoacoustic-Guided Laser Ablation Intracardiac Theranostic System,” was recognized in the medical ultrasonics category.

Ablation therapies, in which doctors destroy tissue abnormalities present in conditions ranging from cancer tumors to irregular heart rhythms, rely on precise placement of a catheter device as well as live monitoring of the treatment in order to be effective. Basij and her team, working in the lab of Ph.D. advisor Mohammad Mehrmohammadi, have designed and developed a miniaturized ultrasound and photoacoustic guided laser ablation theranostic system capable of ablating the tissue as well as imaging and monitoring the procedure in real-time.

“This endoscopic system creates the opportunity for more accurate treatments without the need for harmful radiation or invasive interventions, while also avoiding the need for expensive imaging procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography,” said Basij.

A recipient of the 2021 Ralph H. Kummler Award for Distinguished Achievement in Graduate Student Research, Basij has published 17 peer-reviewed articles and has been cited over 130 times by researchers worldwide.