Biomedical engineering alumna recognized for research

A biomedical engineering alumna received first place for her poster presentation at the 2015 Research Symposium May 20, hosted by the Office of Research Administration at Spectrum Health System. 

The event featured 37 research projects from researchers and students at Grand Valley, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and Spectrum Health. 

Nadia Sunny, from Bangladesh, presented her thesis on the durability of sutures used with suture clips to close tissues after surgery during a partial nephrectomy — a surgical procedure to remove part of a kidney. A suture is used to hold tissues together after a surgery. 

She worked with Brian Lane, physician and director of the Spectrum Health Medical Group minimally invasive surgery program, and Robert Bossemeyer, professor of biomedical engineering, to conduct the research. 

Through a series experiments, Sunny found that some suture clips, in combination with some types and sizes, performed differently from the manufacturer's claim. Sunny, who graduated in April 2015, said her research results will serve as a caution to surgeons when applying certain types and sizes of sutures with clips to close a wound. 

"I hope my research will save a patient from having suture failure after the organ is closed," said Sunny. Suture failure can cause ruptures along the surgical suture or result in a corrective surgery. 

Sunny's work is part of a series of Grand Valley-Spectrum Health studies that started in 2010 to examine current surgical practices of closing kidneys after the removal of cancerous tissue.