People

Short Biography

Lena was a PhD student in the Interface Group from October 2014 to July 2018. She joined the group after graduating from ETH Zurich with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. During her studies, she received a scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation (“Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”) and was accepted to the Femtec program, which supports talented female engineering students. She conducted research projects at Oxford and Harvard University, which were focused on biomedical engineering and biomechanics. Her master thesis with Prof. Ralph Müller (ETHZ) was about multiscale modeling of bone failure prediction, combining finite element analyses at different scales. In general, her interest lies in the application of engineering solutions to solve current challenges in medicine.

Research Goals

The goal of her research at the Interface group was the development of a novel model for blood damage in ventricular assist devices, which are artificial hearts that can support or substitute the patient’s heart function. This includes computational modeling of both the blood flow and the deformation of cells, as well as in-vitro experiments on human erythrocytes. Her research project was part of the Zurich Heart Project, a joint program of the University, ETH and University Hospital Zurich.

Journal Publications

Wiegmann L, de Zélicourt DA, Speer O, Muller A, Goede JS, Seifert B and Kurtcuoglu V (2017) Influence of Standard Laboratory Procedures on Measures of Erythrocyte Damage. Front. Physiol. 8:731. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00731

Wiegmann L, Boës S, de Zélicourt DA, Thamsen B, Schmid Daners M, Meboldt M, Kurtcuoglu V (2017) Blood Pump Design Variations and Their Influence on Hydraulic Performance and Indicators of Hemocompatibility. Annals of Biomedical Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-017-1951-0

Conference Presentations

1. Wiegmann L, de Zélicourt D, Kurtcuoglu V. Towards a better understanding of hemolysis: Particles’ shear stress histories in a ventricular assist device (VAD), in 42nd Meeting of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO), Leuven, Belgium, 2015
2. Wiegmann L, de Zélicourt D, Speer O., Kurtcuoglu V. Characterization of blood damage under dynamic and static conditions using multiple hemolysis markers, in 43rd Meeting of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO), Warsaw, Poland, 2016
3. Boës S, Wiegmann L, Ochsner G, de Zélicourt D, Meboldt M, Kurtcuoglu V, Schmid Daners M. Benchmark of centrifugal impeller designs using computational fluid dynamics: clinical VAD vs. industrial pump, in 43rd Meeting of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO), Warsaw, Poland, 2016
4. Wiegmann L, Boës S, de Zélicourt D, Thamsen B, Schmid Daners M, Meboldt M, Kurtcuoglu V. Blood pump design variations and their influence on hydraulic performance and hemocompatibility, Gordon Research Seminar & Conference, Stoweflake (VT), USA (2017)
5. Wiegmann L, Boës S, de Zélicourt D, Thamsen B,  Schmid Daners M, Meboldt M, Kurtcuoglu V. Influence of pump design variations on hydraulic performance and blood damage: a computational fluid dynamics analysis, in 44th Meeting of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO), Vienna, Austria, 2017