Armen Sarvazyan (born July 2, 1939) is a
biophysicist
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study Biology, biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from Molecule, molecular to organismic ...
and
entrepreneur, serving as Chief Science Officer of Artann Laboratories. He is known for his work on the use of shear acoustic waves in
medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to rev ...
and
diagnostics
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine "cause and effect". In systems engineer ...
and the invention of
shear-wave elasticity imaging
Elastography is any of a class of medical imaging modalities that map the elasticity (physics), elastic properties and stiffness of soft tissue.Sarvazyan A, Hall TJ, Urban MW, Fatemi M, Aglyamov SR, Garra BSOverview of elastography–an emerging ...
(SWEI).
Scientific career
Sarvazyan received the
M.S.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
,
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
, and
D.Sc.
Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
degrees in 1964, 1969, and 1983, respectively, from the
Moscow State University,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and Institute of Biophysics of
the USSR Academy of Sciences. Early in his career, in the 1960s and 1970s, working in the Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences in
Pushchino, he conducted pioneering studies of propagation of
shear waves
In physics, a transverse wave is a wave whose oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of the wave's advance. This is in contrast to a longitudinal wave which travels in the direction of its oscillations. Water waves are an example of t ...
in
soft tissues. A couple of decades later, Sarvazyan, in collaboration with academician Oleg Rudenko, proposed a new technology for
medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to rev ...
and diagnostics named
shear-wave elasticity imaging
Elastography is any of a class of medical imaging modalities that map the elasticity (physics), elastic properties and stiffness of soft tissue.Sarvazyan A, Hall TJ, Urban MW, Fatemi M, Aglyamov SR, Garra BSOverview of elastography–an emerging ...
.
[Sarvazyan AP, Rudenko OV, Swanson SD, Fowlkes JB, Emelianov SY]
Shear Wave Elasticity Imaging: A new ultrasonic technology of medical diagnostics
Ultrasound Med. Biol. 1998; 24: 1419-1435.
In the 1970s and 1980s, in parallel with the studies of soft tissue biomechanics, he developed ultrasonic devices for the investigation of biomolecular interactions and obtained significant results on thermodynamic characteristics of water in the hydration shell of proteins and nucleic acids.
He continued these studies on the hydration of
biopolymer
Biopolymers are natural polymers produced by the cells of living organisms. Like other polymers, biopolymers consist of monomeric units that are covalently bonded in chains to form larger molecules. There are three main classes of biopolymers, cl ...
s at the Laboratory of Biomolecular Acoustics, which he organized at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
, NJ, US in 1992.
Beginning in the late 80s, a significant part of Sarvazyan's research activities were on the problems of
elastography
Elastography is any of a class of medical imaging modalities that map the elastic properties and stiffness of soft tissue.Sarvazyan A, Hall TJ, Urban MW, Fatemi M, Aglyamov SR, Garra BSOverview of elastography–an emerging branch of medical im ...
, an emerging technology of medical diagnostics. In 1991–1992, in collaboration with the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Sarvazyan conducted pioneering experiments on
MRI and ultrasonic elastography. He published several review papers on biophysical basis of elasticity imaging, on soft tissue biomechanics and on acoustical radiation force, which is currently the key component in the majority of elasticity imaging technologies and devices.
During last decade, most of his research activities and publications were on the various medical applications a branch of elastography called
mechanical imaging (a.k.a. tactile imaging), developed by Sarvazyan with Vladimir Egorov.
Sarvazyan has published over 200 research papers and book chapters, and edited 6 books. He has been the Principal Investigator of over 30 research projects funded by
NIH,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
,
DoD and
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...
. He has over 100 U.S. and international patents and invention certificates.
Sarvazyan is the co-founder of several companies specializing in elastography: ProUroCare Medical Inc. (Golden Valley, MN, 1999), Medical Tactile, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA, 2000), SuperSonic Imagine (Aix-en-Province, France, 2005) and Advanced Tactile Imaging, Inc. (Trenton, NJ, 2013). He is also the founder of Artann Laboratories Inc.
See also
*
Elasticity
Elasticity often refers to:
*Elasticity (physics), continuum mechanics of bodies that deform reversibly under stress
Elasticity may also refer to:
Information technology
* Elasticity (data store), the flexibility of the data model and the cl ...
References
External links
*
The Art of Armen Sarvazyan
Soviet biophysicists
Living people
1939 births
Soviet inventors
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