When we explore the SUSTech campus, we find all sorts of amazing people. We are proud of our internationally trained faculty members, who have studied and worked all over the world. As we start to talk to them, we found an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, who has spent a long time in Australia.

We sat down to talk to the enthusiastic Wu Jianping about her work in biomedical engineering, her research and her time in Australia.

Who is Wu Jianping?

Wu Jianping got her Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kunming University of Science and Technology. After spending a few years as a mechanical engineer at the Kunming Precious Metal Research Institute, she headed to Australia to work as a research assistant at the University of Western Australia’s 3D Image Laboratory in their School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering.

During her time in Western Australia, she found herself working her way towards a Ph.D. in Biomechanical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in UWA, which she achieved in 2006. It was clear that the knowledge she had developed in 3D imaging technologies, quantitative computer imaging analysis and the influence of the mechanical environment in the synthetic activities of cells and composition and microstructure of biological tissues was directing her interests.

The outstanding outcomes from her Ph. D research resulted in her receiving a prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) fellowship (equivalent to the NIH in the USA) to develop confocal endomicroscopy for prognosis and diagnosis of early osteoarthritis. NHMRC fellowships are very competitive as only about 15 people across Australia receive such an award each year. Among them, maybe one or two are from the medical alliance research area as the fellowship is focused on medicine and medical researchers.

Dr. Wu is one of only two researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing in UWA have been awarded so far. She has collaborated with the orthopedic surgeons and researchers in the UK and Australia in researching confocal endomicroscopy. Their research has led to improvements in diagnosing early pathological changes in the microstructure of asymptomatic rotator cuff tendons of humans. In 2012, she took a senior research fellow position and deputy laboratory supervisor of 3D Imaging and Bioengineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at nearby Curtin University. Dr. Wu has supervised and co-supervised 6 Ph.D. students to completion in Australia.

When we talked to Dr. Wu, we asked what inspired her to move from Mechanical & Chemical Engineering into Biomedical Engineering. She spoke about how biomedical engineering fell inside that field, and to an extent still falls inside it. “I was talking to a professor at UWA, and we talked about the fields within Mechanical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering was one of them. He gave me some advice and some papers to read. I found them fascinating, particularly looking at all the different areas of the body. I could use a lot of mechanical engineering skills while learning new technologies in imaging and quantitative computer imaging analysis.”

Why come to SUSTech?

Her husband joined SUSTech from UWA in 2016 and had collaborated a lot with Chinese researchers as a chair professor. In contrast, she spoke about her familial duties alongside her work as the main reason for why she did not come back to the mainland as often as her husband. However, when she started to hear about SUSTech and its research achievements, she was amazed by its rapid development.

“I first got to talk to people in the Biomedical Engineering Department in October 2017, and there were many young talented people doing bioengineering research, as the field is very new and interesting. All the staff had worked overseas, like me. I had a chance to meet with Prof. Chen Fangyi who was the Acting Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and learn about his research.” Prof Chen has research interests in the development of instruments for studying the behaviors of sense organs, hearing biomechanics, imaging processing, and minimally invasive imaging technologies.

She also had a chance to meet and talk to Prof Zhang Zhen in the Department of Mathematics of SUSTech. Prof Zhang has expertise in statistics, imaging processing algorithm and artificial intelligent systems for biomedical research. Prof Zhang had had a lot of experiences in applying mathematics and AI systems for biomedical research when he studied and worked in Hong Kong.

It was the conversations with Professors Chen Fangyi and Zhang Zhen that cemented Wu’s decision to come to SUSTech as she can see the broad enthusiasts in bioengineering research in SUSTech. Dr. Wu, Chen, and Zhang have found plenty of mutual research interests to focus on. They aimed to harness their skills in imaging technologies, quantitative computer imaging analysis, imaging processing and artificial intelligence technologies to accelerate the bioengineering research interesting to them.

Dr. Wu’s work is split across three departments –the SUSTech Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies and the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics.

Imaging the Ear

Prof Chen Fangyi’s research focus is new imaging technologies, imaging processing, the behaviors of sense organs, hearing biomechanics and physiology –how the ear works in terms of audio dynamics and how it helps balance the body. Dr. Wu has spent her research on 3D imaging technology, particularly in terms of tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.

Studies on the mechanical properties of micro components of articular cartilage for detecting early pathological changes, e.g. deformation of chondrocyte (grey images, up right) and collagen meshwork (blue images). courtesy: Wu et al. J Biomedical Engineering, 2008. Wu et al. J. Advanced materials Research 2008

Ears are complex organs, mainly containing ligaments, cartilage, and bones. Imaging technologies play a crucial role in biological studies, and researchers have been exploring new imaging technologies to discover the functionality of the middle and inner ear. They hope to understand more about how the ear works and develop unmet imaging diagnostic technologies for ear research.

The collaboration between Prof. Chen and Dr. Wu saw the CEO of the Ear Science Research Institute of Australia Sandra Bellekom and researcher Dr. Elaine Wong head to SUSTech in July 2018 and for both SUSTech and the Ear Science Research Institute Australia to talk about collaborating around research in the future.

It was clear that Dr. Wu’s passion is evident. She came replete with handouts, and we were slightly concerned there was going to be a quiz at the end of the interview. However, the way that she explains the intersection of ligaments, tissue, microstructures, and nanostructures within the ear is clear and easy to understand.

New Technologies, New Developments

Dr. Wu has been pushing the boundaries of what microscopes can do with cells and subcellular structure without a tissue biopsy. There had long been problems with examining the internal microstructure of ligaments, cartilage, tendons and the like using traditional methods. A tissue biopsy can potentially cause onsite tissue pathology and scaring tissues with the inferior mechanical strength, particularly to tissue with poor self-repair capabilities such as tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. On the other hand, the currently clinical available non-invasive imaging technologies such as MRI, ultrasound and video arthroscopy do not have imaging resolution to reveal the internal microstructural change in organs and tissues.

By collaborating with Profs Chen and Zhang, Dr. Wu aims to develop a minimally invasive imaging technology integrated with an AI system. They are also interested in exploring more advanced 3D imaging technologies and computer imaging analysis methodologies for comprehending the mechanism of musculoskeletal diseases and malfunction of ear and sense organs. Biological tissues can change their composition and microstructure according to the mechanical environment, so the researchers are also examining biological tissues from a mechanical perspective, rather than the biological perspective. The impact of specific injuries can be better explored at a cellular level or even at a subcellular level through a mechanical understanding. They seek to learn how much tissue becomes scar tissue after an injury, how much force was needed for damage to take place, and how different body parts need to be healed.

A tear in rotator cuff tendons is a central cause of shoulder pain and dysfunctions. It is closely related to disruption of the microstructure of the collagen fibrils responsible for the force transmission of the tendon. By collaborating with a global R&D imaging company for unmet medical devices in Australia, Dr Wu and her team developed confocal arthroscopy leading to diagnose collagen structure disorders in tendons that could not be detected by the current video arthroscopy available in the clinics. The imaging technology has filled a gap requiring an imaging technology for acquiring the internal microstructure of tissues with low healing capabilities.

The modification of existing technology will help understand how cells and biological tissue work mechanically. The development of minimally invasive imaging technologies could effectively lead to investigate the microstructures in their native environment, without significantly impacting the body. Video arthroscopes have low imaging resolution but are regarded as the “gold standard” for orthopedic examinations and surgeries, particularly for microstructure lesions. By working with an Australian R & D company for endomicroscopy, Dr. Wu and her SUSTech collaborators aim to develop more advanced endomicroscopy with higher imaging resolution and better compatibilities for navigating the internal microstructure of human organs. This will fill the gap of an endomicroscopic technique for studying the internal microstructure of tissues in real time.

Working With Everyone

One area that has forced Dr. Wu to work hard is the interdisciplinary nature of her field. She spoke at length about how she has worked with pathologists, surgeons, biologists, mathematician, computer scientists, and the broader medical community to get support for her developments in medical technology.

“I had to learn a lot of things with the pathologists and other researchers in different areas. For example, I have learned about the hearing and balance organs since I joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering here and saw the possibility to use advanced imaging technologies for the research. I also have to consistently learn new methods for imaging processing and computer imaging analysis so that I can apply them in the images of different tissues. I am also happy that I have learned other imaging technologies developed by the researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. This allows me to understand the advantages and disadvantages of different imaging modalities for my research.”

Dr. Wu reflected on the ever-changing nature of the field. With the technology changing regularly, undergraduates can learn from textbooks, but those textbooks must be updated all the time. Over time, old methods and old techniques will become obsolete, so people need to work together to ensure that new people are aware of what developments exist.

Message for Future SUSTech Researchers

I think SUSTech is a unique, young and dynamic university. I can see the dramatic rise of the university and the recognition of the university by the world since I joined in. It’s a bilingual university, which provides a lot of advantages for when you want to communicate with people outside. Whether you are well-established or young, you have a place to work and extend your potential. If you come with a dream, you can begin to explore and make your dream come true, to achieve your high potential.

The majority of people working here are from overseas, so it’s easy to adapt due to their experience, so I feel optimistic about the future of science and education at SUSTech. Shenzhen’s economy is growing fast, so it’s suitable for a research university like SUSTech, particularly when it comes to research support.

Working with knowledgeable supervisors can make your undergraduate or postgraduate research even better than you expected, and their range of contacts can help you develop your own networks, both within China and around the world. For those who joined SUSTech, Dr. Wu would like to say “congratulations” to them as the world status of the university is consistently rising. To those who are thinking to join SUSTech, she would like to say to act quick as you may miss an opportunity to grow together with a world-leading university.

Dr. Wu is also grateful for the incredible support of the administrative teams that she received during the transition into SUSTech. Those people let her feel like to be at home in SUSTech.