Dr. Christopher Noble is a Senior Engineer at Veryst Engineering. Dr. Noble has extensive experience in nonlinear solid mechanics, including nonlinear finite element analysis, experimental design and analysis, mechanical characterization, fatigue, and fracture mechanics. His research combines mixed experimental and numerical approaches to investigate medical devices and combination products, including tissue mechanics, tissue-device interaction, tissue engineering, and 3D bioprinting with deep expertise in muscle tissues, serous membranes, and vascular tissues. Dr. Noble has simulated the interaction of arterial tissues and nitinol stents for atherosclerotic plaques; simulated and validated with laboratory testing transcatheter valves; and researched implant site biomechanics for combination products to reduce implant site inflammation and device longevity. Correspondingly, Dr. Noble has performed pre-clinical research in both large and small animal models, driving study development and providing rationale for study outcomes.
His experience also includes evaluating mechanical performance of thermoplastics and polymers in both static and dynamic conditions both in silico and experimentally. He uses the results of the testing and simulation to determine the root cause of failure to aid in failure analysis and product design. Dr. Noble has utilized digital image correlation to investigate product durability in complex loading conditions and has developed novel test systems to analyze complex deformation fields to inform product design teams.
Prior to joining Veryst, Dr. Noble was a Senior Scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the biomechanics team developing a novel combination product to treat type one diabetes. His role spanned early-stage R&D through manufacturing process development, including addressing device mechanical fatigue, cell survivability, product development, preclinical studies, and surgical tooling development. Prior to Vertex, he worked at Mayo Clinic where he investigated stent-artery interactions in peripheral artery disease and the durability of transcatheter aortic valve replacements for tissue engineered and clinically available devices. At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Noble used his experience in experimental design, analysis, and computational modeling to drive both research projects. His efforts resulted in awards for internal and NIH research funding.
Education
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, 2017
M.Eng, Biomedical Engineering, University of Sheffield 2012
Publications, Presentations and Posters
Publications
“Effect of mechanical fatigue on commercial bioprosthetic TAVR valve mechanical and microstructural properties”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, March 2024 (with A. Hooke, A. Rajotia, D. Morse, D. Dragomir-Daescu, J. Salisbury, M.D. Young, and A. Lerman)
“Finite element analysis in clinical patients with atherosclerosis”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, December 2022 (with K.D. Carlson, E. Neumann, B. Lewis, D. Dragomir-Daescu, A. Lerman, A. Erdemir and M.D. Young)
“Evaluation of Pericardial Tissues from Assorted Species as a Tissue-Engineered Heart Valve Material”, Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, February 2022 (with D. Morse, A. Lerman, and M.D. Young)
“Evaluation of the role of peripheral artery plaque geometry and composition on stent performance”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, November 2021 (with K.D. Carlson, E. Neumann, S. Doherty, D. Dragomir-Daescu, A. Lerman, A. Erdemir, and M.D. Young)
“Rate-Dependent and Relaxation Properties of Porcine Aortic Heart Valve Biomaterials”, IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology, July 2020 (with M. Kamykowski, A. Lerman, and M.D. Young)
“Ex Vivo Evaluation of IVUS-VH Imaging and the Role of Plaque Structure on Peripheral Artery Disease”, Medicine in Novel Technology and Devices, December 2020 (with K. Carlson, E. Neumann, B. Lewis, D. Dragomir-Daescu, A. Lerman, A. Erdemir, and M.D. Young)
“A Metabolic Intravascular Platform to Study FDG Uptake in Vascular Injury”, Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology, June 2020 (with F. Franchi , M. Olthoff, J. Krier, M. Al-Hijji, V. Ramaswamy, T. Witt, M. Burke, M. Benscoter, A. Lerman, and G.S. Sandhu)
“Mechanical and finite element evaluation of a bioprinted scaffold following recellularization in a rat subcutaneous model”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, February 2020 (with E.L. Maxson, A. Lerman, and M.D. Young)
“Patient Specific Characterization of Artery and Plaque Material Properties in Peripheral Artery Disease”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, January 2020 (with K. Carlson, E. Neumann, D. Dragomir-Daescu, A. Erdemir, A. Lerman and M.D Young)
“In vivo remodeling of a 3D-Bioprinted tissue engineered heart valve scaffold”, Bioprinting, December 2019 (with E.L. Maxson, M.D. Young, J.L. Go, B. Heidari, R. Khorramirouz, D.W. Morse, and A. Lerman)
“Effect of cyclic deformation on xenogeneic heart valve biomaterials”, PLoS One, June 2019 (with A.J. Dalgliesh, M. Parvizi, L.G. Griffiths)
“In Silico Performance of a Recellularized Tissue-Engineered Transcatheter Aortic Valve”, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, June 2019 (with J. Choe, S. Uthamaraj, M. Deherrera, A. Lerman, and M.D. Young)
“In Vivo Response of Acellular Porcine Pericardial for Tissue Engineered Transcatheter Aortic”, Scientific Reports, January 2019 (with R. Khorramirouz, J. Go, D. Morse, A. Lerman, and M. D. Young)
“Experimental Metabolic Syndrome Model Associated with Mechanical and Structural Degenerative Changes of the Aortic Valve”, Scientific Reports, December 2018 (with J. Go, L., K. Prem, M. A. Al-Hijji, Q. Qin, M. D. Young, L. O. Lerman, and A. Lerman)
“A simple method of incorporating the effect of the Uniform Stress Hypothesis in arterial wall stress computations”, Acta of Bioengineering and Biomechanics, August 2018 (with G.R. Joldes, S. Polzer, Z. A. Taylor, A. Wittek, and K. Miller)
“A novel surgical technique for a rat subcutaneous implantation of a tissue engineered scaffold”, Acta Histochemica, April 2018 (with R. Khorramirouz, J. Go, S. Jana, E. Maxson, A. Lerman, and M. D. Young)
“Measurement of Friction-induced Changes in Pig Aorta Fibre Organization by Non-invasive Imaging as a Model for Detecting the Tissue Response to Endovascular Catheters”, Biotribology, December 2017 (with L. E. Bostan, N. Smulders, R. Lewis, M. J. Carré, S. Franklin, N. H. Green, and S. MacNeil)
“Simulation of arterial dissection by a penetrating external body using cohesive zone modelling”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, July 2017 (with O. van der Sluis, R. M. J. Voncken, O. Burke, S. E. Franklin, R. Lewis, and Z.A. Taylor)
“Controlled peel testing of a model tissue for diseased aorta”, Journal of Biomechanics, November 2016 (with N. Smulders, R. Lewis, M. J. Carré, S. E. Franklin, S. MacNeil, and Z.A. Taylor)
“Creating a model of diseased artery damage and failure from healthy porcine aorta”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, November 2016 (with N. Smulders, N. H. Green, R. Lewis, M. J. Carré, S. E. Franklin, S. MacNeil, and Z. A. Taylor)
“Evaluation of catheter-induced tribological damage to porcine aorta using infra-red spectroscopy”, Biotribology, January 2016 (with K. H. J. Dellimore, A. J. G. Mank, J. Wojnowski, and S. E. Franklin)
“Patient-Specific Biomechanical Modeling of Bone Strength Using Statistically-Derived Fabric Tensors”, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, January 2016 (with K. Lekadir, J. Hazrati-Marangalou, C. Hoogendoorn, B. van Rietbergen, Z. A. Taylor, and A. F. Frangi)
“A Predictive Model of Vertebral Trabecular Anisotropy From Ex Vivo Micro-CT”, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, August 2015 (with K. Lekadir, C. Hoogendoorn, J. Hazrati-Marangalou, Z.A. Taylor, B. van Rietbergen, and A. F. Frangi)
“A constitutive model for ballistic gelatin at surgical strain rates”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, July 2015 (with N. Ravikumar, E. Cramphorn, and Z. A. Taylor)
Presentations and Posters
“Validation of an Automated Virtual Peripheral Artery Stenting Platform Using In Vitro Data”, Biomedical Engineering Society Virtual Meeting 2020, (with E. Neumann, S. Doherty, A. Lerman, A. Erdemir, M.D. Young)
“In silico evaluation of plaque and arterial boundaries for patient specific modeling”, Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting 2017, (with K. Carlson, D. Dragomir-Daescu, A. Lerman and M.D. Young)
“Replicating diseased aorta mechanical properties via enzymatic digestion and glutaraldehyde treatment”, European Congress and Exhibition on Advanced Materials and Processes 2015, (with N. Green, N. Smulders, M. Carrè, S. MacNeil, R. Lewis and Z.A. Taylor)
“A combined experimental-computational method for estimating friction during soft tissue perforation”, European Congress and Exhibition on Advanced Materials and Processes 2015 (with J. Wojnowski, R.M.J. Voncken, O. van der Sluis, S.E. Franklin, R. Lewis and Z.A. Taylor)
“The hemodynamics of a recurrent coiled intracranial aneurysm”, Autumn Meeting of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons 2012, (with A. Marzo, P. Lawford, D. R. Rose, S.C. Coley and U.J. Patel)