RE-MED

RE-MED is a 1400 square foot space that houses offices and laboratory facilities and is the primary location for activities in the OrthoWatch and GreenMD programs.  It holds an archive of over 2000 orthopaedic joint replacement prostheses retrieved after physiological function in patients.
 
RE-MED houses various characterization and testing systems suitable for quantitative metrology of medical devices, including:

• a Motic K400P reflected-light optical microscope with digital image acquisition
• a high resolution photogrammetry station for quantitative digital imaging
• a Bruker-Nano white light interferometer (NPFLEX) for surface metrology
• electrochemical corrosion test apparatus
• fretting corrosion test apparatus
• a MicroScribe 3DX digitizer for precise 3-D surface profiling
• hand-held instruments and tools suitable for precise characterization of biomaterials and medical devices

RE-MED houses infrastructure suitable for safe handling of biomedical and biochemical hazards and accomplishing typical laboratory procedures, including:

• a Bransonic 5510 ultrasonicator
• a chemical fume hood
• two laboratory sinks
• three large laboratory benches
• two large format specimen freezers
• two chemical storage cabinets
• a Millipore Milli-Q water purification system

Computational capacity at RE-MED includes computer workstations with software necessary for handling the DICOM medical image formats received from clinical collaborators, as well as the full complement of analytical and design software (LabView, Solidworks, Matlab, SAS, ANSYS, ABACUS, etc.) that is licensed and fully available to Clemson University faculty. 

CUBEInC
Click here to view the CUBEInC website

The facilities at CUBEInC, in partnership with the Greenville Hospital System, are the product of a $7.5 million investment by the state of South Carolina. This state-of-the-art laboratory complex in Greenville, South Carolina, encompasses RE-MED and nine other laboratories occupying the entire 29,000 square foot fourth-floor.  This space is dedicated to medical specialties (orthopaedics, cardiovascular, regenerative medicine, histology and pathology, robotic surgery, etc.) and also houses industry start-up incubator space for potential partnerships with small companies in the local area. CUBEInC is located within walking distance of the two major hospital systems in the Upstate region of South Carolina (Greenville Hospital System; Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital System), enabling continued participation in translational medical research. All laboratories and offices at CUBEInC are fully connected to the computational infrastructure of the main Clemson University campus through high speed internet, including the 21x30 foot video conference facility providing for suitable video conference and virtual meeting capabilities.
CUBEInC laboratories adjacent to RE-MED, including the Translational Biomaterials Lab, the the Stelling and Riddle Orthopaedic Education and Research Lab, the Biomaterials Analysis Lab, and the Lab for Regenerative Medicine, house shared equipment that is fully accessible to RE-MED researchers.

Biomaterials Analysis:  Facilities contain a fully functional histology and immunohistochemistry facility, with sectioning and staining equipment suitable for processing and sectioning explanted prosthesis materials and attached hard tissues.  The equipment includes:

• an Isomet 5000 Buehler Precision saw
• an E-BS1PKG Dorn and Hart Microedge saw
• a Bond Max Leica fully automated staining system
• a Leica RM2255 automated microtome
• an M1950 Leica automated cryostat
• a Richard-Allan HistoStar embedding center
• an Olympus IX81 confocal microscope
• a Carl Zeiss AXIOSKOP 2 FS Plus microscope

Materials Testing:  Facilities contain mechanical testing and rapid prototyping equipment, including:

• an Instron model 8874 hydraulic materials testing frame capable of applying up to 25kN of axial load and 100 Nm of torque
• an electro force 3230 Series II Bose axial/torsion high-accuracy displacement measurement system
• ProJet SD 3000 3-D Printer from 3D Systems Corporation, with Mimics innovation suite medical software

Cleaning and Sterilization:

• a KitchenAid washing machine
• a Tuttenauer 2540M steam sterilizer
• a Steris Amsco Lab 250 steam sterilizer

Clemson University

The Rhodes Engineering Research Center houses a full complement of laboratory equipment.  The following systems are of particular interest to RE-MED scientists:

• Wyko NT2000 white light interferometer for surface roughness metrology
• UMT-2 CETR Microtribometer with a Micro Scratch Head (load range, 0.50 N to 20 N)
• Blunt indenter (Rockwell C indenter, 200 μm diameter) suitable for mechanical testing
• Ortho-POD multi-axis pin-on-disk machine from AMTI