Ali TizMaghz

Ali TizMaghz

Medical engineer with a PhD in tissue engineering

From research and technology to teaching and practiceResearch in the labs, responsibility in the clinicsScientific knowledge, practical experience

Open to

  • Research collaboration
  • Medical equipment projects
  • Clinic management
  • University teaching
  • Consulting

First came the A, then the T. They got on so well that a strand of DNA wrapped itself around them, and a molecule dropped in to see what the fuss was about. Once everyone was in place, a star lit up on the tip of the A. Every good experiment deserves one.

I work where tissue-engineering research, medical equipment, and clinic operations meet. I lead operations and oversee medical equipment at Mehregan Day Clinic and Central Clinic of Karaj.

See selected workContact me

Selected work

From experimental research to industry analysisPublished studies and several industry reportsLaboratory studies and market analysis

First-author studies on diabetic wound healing, and a contribution to a series of medical equipment industry reports.

2026

Research

Platelet-rich plasma and laser therapy for diabetic wounds

This experimental study in rabbits with diabetes compared two wound treatments: platelet-rich plasma, which is prepared from blood, and low-level laser therapy, which uses low-power laser light. Each was used alone and in combination. All three treatment groups healed better than the untreated group. The full results are reported in the article.

TizMaghz A, Shojaei S, Tehrani P. Effects of platelet-rich plasma and low-level laser therapy on cutaneous wound healing in a diabetic rabbit model. Journal of Russian Laser Research. 2026;47:529–540. doi:10.1007/s10946-026-10312-6

First authorRead on the publisher’s site (opens the publisher’s site)

2025

Research

Laser therapy and stem cells for diabetic wounds

This experimental study in rabbits with diabetes examined two wound treatments: low-level laser therapy, which uses low-power laser light, and human stem cells taken from fat tissue (adipose-derived stem cells). Each was used alone and in combination. After 30 days, the wounds that received both treatments healed better, and the repaired skin was stronger.

TizMaghz A, Shojaei S, Tehrani P. The effect of combined low-level Nd:YAG laser with mesenchymal stem cells in the healing of diabetic wounds: an experimental study. Archives of Dermatological Research. 2025;317:317. doi:10.1007/s00403-024-03714-6

First authorRead on the publisher’s site (opens the publisher’s site)

This research was carried out in animals. Clinical studies in people would be needed to confirm the results.

Medical equipment

Contributing to analytical reports on the medical equipment industry

I contributed to approximately 25 analytical reports, prepared over two years and commissioned by the General Directorate of Medical Equipment at Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The reports examined domestic medical equipment production, domestic producers’ market share relative to imports, and forecasts of market supply and demand.

  • Surgical sutures, medical gloves, syringes, microdrip and infusion sets
  • Respiratory and anesthesia masks, breathing and suction tubes, ventilators, and anesthesia machines
  • Hemodialysis, orthopedic, and ophthalmic consumables
  • Diagnostic kits
  • Catheters, IV cannulas, heparin locks, three-way stopcocks, and extension tubing
  • General laboratory equipment and operating-room lights
  • Chest drainage bottles, chest tubes, and feeding tubes
  • Electrocardiographs, exercise stress-testing equipment, and cardiac rehabilitation equipment

Expertise

Several disciplines, one connected perspectiveResearch, medical equipment, and clinic management, connected

  • Tissue engineering and wound-healing research

    Experimental research on wound healing in diabetic animal models, studying stem cells, platelet-rich plasma, and low-level laser therapy.

  • Medical equipment management

    Technical supervision of medical equipment in clinics.

  • Clinic operations and management

    Leading operations and internal management in clinics.

  • Medical equipment industry analysis

    Analysis of domestic production, market share, and supply-and-demand forecasts for medical equipment and consumables.

  • Research and technology project supervision

    Supervising and advising on projects at a medical equipment research and technology fund.

  • University teaching

    One year of university teaching at Islamic Azad University of Abadan, in the chemistry, computer, and accounting departments.

Experience

Clinic management, with an engineering backgroundClinic operations, medical equipment, research, and teaching

Current roles

  • 2022 – present

    Chief Operating Officer (COO)

    Mehregan Day Clinic

    Internal management and operations of the clinic.

  • 2020 – present

    Medical Equipment Technical Supervisor

    Central Clinic of Karaj (Specialized Radiation Oncology Center)

    Technical responsibility for the clinic’s medical equipment.

Earlier

  • Supervision Manager and Project Advisor

    Medical Equipment Research and Technology Fund

    Managerial and supervisory responsibilities.

Research, teaching, and education

  • Medical equipment and engineering research projects
  • University teaching, one year
  • PhD in Medical Engineering (Tissue Engineering), Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch
  • MSc in Medical Engineering (Biomaterials), Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic)
  • BSc in Chemical Engineering (Mineral and Chemical Products), Islamic Azad University of Mahshahr

Explore & Learn

Get closer to the scienceScience you can try for yourselfLearn by doing, no lab coat needed

Six short activities on tissue engineering, medical equipment, and how new treatments are tested, for curious visitors and students.

Tissue engineering

Medical equipment

Research and evidence

Test yourself

Build a tissue

Tissue engineering combines cells, a scaffold, and biological signals to build tissue that can repair or replace damaged tissue. Add the three ingredients one at a time to build a tissue.

0 of 3 ingredients added

  1. Cells

    Cells are the building blocks of tissue. Researchers can guide stem cells toward becoming specific cell types, then grow them on a scaffold.

  2. Scaffold

    The scaffold is the structure cells grow on. It can be built from many materials, from proteins to plastics, and it also relays the signals that guide the cells.

  3. Donor scaffold

    Some scaffolds come from donor organs: the organ’s cells are removed, and the remaining collagen framework is used to grow new tissue.

  4. Signals

    Biologically active molecules, such as growth factors, act as signals. Each signal can start a chain of responses that shapes what happens to a cell.

Engineered tissue

Together, cells, a scaffold, and signals can form functional tissue. Artificial skin and cartilage are engineered tissues approved by the U.S. FDA; more complex organs are still a long way from being ready for patients.

Now let’s build another tissue: a blood vessel.

Build a blood vessel

Add the four steps to grow a blood vessel. Some steps have to wait for others.

0 of 4 steps done

  1. Smooth muscle cells

    These cells make up much of the wall of a blood vessel. They come from a donor’s aorta, the body’s largest artery, and are multiplied in the lab.

  2. Tube-shaped scaffold

    The cells are seeded onto a mesh tube, so the new tissue grows in the shape of a vessel.

  3. Bioreactor

    A bioreactor recreates conditions like those in the body. As the cells grow, they lay down a framework of proteins around them, the extracellular matrix.

  4. Cells removed

    Finally, the cells and their genetic material are removed, as with a donor scaffold. What remains is a tube of human proteins that keeps its structure and strength.

Engineered blood vessel

In December 2024, the U.S. FDA approved the first blood vessel made this way. It is used in adults whose injured arm or leg artery must be repaired urgently to save the limb, when a vein of their own can’t be used.

Sources: U.S. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB); U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

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How a wound heals

When the skin is wounded, the body repairs it in four stages. Move the slider to follow them.

  1. Hemostasis: stopping the bleeding

    The body first works to prevent further blood loss. This starts within half an hour of the injury and can take up to a few days.

  2. Inflammation: defending the wound

    The immune system goes on high alert to protect the wound from infection. This usually lasts several days.

  3. Proliferation: new tissue

    The body produces new, healthy tissue to fill the wound.

  4. Remodeling: long-term repair

    Building on the earlier stages, the body works toward lasting healing of the area. This starts in the early weeks and can take up to a year.

Source: Essentia Health, a medically reviewed article on the stages of wound healing

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The life of a medical device

Medical equipment needs managing from the first plan until the day it leaves service. Step through the five stages.

Stage 1 of 5

  1. Needs assessment

    Identify and prioritize the devices a facility needs by comparing what it has with what its services, patients, staff, and budget require.

    Source

  2. Acquisition

    Plan the purchase, including its costs, and choose a device and accessories that meet the agreed requirements.

    Source

  3. Introduction into service

    After delivery, the device is installed, commissioned, acceptance-tested, and calibrated. It is then recorded in the equipment inventory, and staff are trained to use and look after it.

    Source

  4. Maintenance

    Planned inspections confirm the device works correctly and is safe for patients and staff. Preventive maintenance extends its life and reduces failures; corrective maintenance fixes faults.

    Source

  5. Retirement

    When a device becomes obsolete, unusable, or no longer needed, it is decommissioned: removed from its original use, either for another use or for disposal.

    Source

Source: World Health Organization, Medical device technical series

Repair or replace?

Deciding when a device should leave service is part of managing it. What would you do?

  • A new model of your ultrasound machine has just come out. Yours works well, and the supplier still services it.

  • The supplier no longer services a patient monitor, and no spare parts or local technical support are available.

  • A device has a safety problem that cannot be resolved.

  • Your unit has replaced an older device, but the old one is still safe and reliable.

Source: World Health Organization, Decommissioning medical devices (2019)

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Sort the equipment

Regulators group medical devices by risk. In the United States, the FDA puts each type of device in Class I, the lowest risk, Class II, or Class III, the highest risk, which needs the strictest review before sale. Other countries use other systems: Iran, for example, has four classes, from A (lowest risk) to D (highest), following international guidance. Which FDA class is each device in?

  • Stethoscope (not electronic) Class IIt has no power and only rests on the skin, so its risk is low, even though it is a symbol of medicine. Source
  • MRI scanner Class IIIt is large and costly, but the class follows the risk to the patient, not the size or price of a device. Source
  • Implanted pacemaker Class IIIIt is implanted and keeps the heart beating, so it needs the FDA’s strictest review. Source
  • Condom Class IIIf it fails, the result can be a pregnancy or an infection, so beyond the basic rules it must meet extra requirements, such as standard tests. Source
  • Tongue depressor Class IA plain stick that touches the mouth for a moment: low risk. It needs only the FDA’s basic rules, with no review before sale. Source
  • Automated external defibrillator (AED) Class IIIIt stays outside the body, but it must work when a life depends on it, so it needs the FDA’s strictest review. Source
  • Manual wheelchair Class IMoved by hand, by its user or a helper, it carries a low risk. Source
  • Powered wheelchair Class IIIts motor, battery and controls add risks a manual wheelchair doesn’t have, so it must meet extra requirements, and the FDA reviews it before sale. Source

Sort by Iran’s classes

Iran’s General Directorate of Medical Equipment puts each type of device in one of four classes, from A, the lowest risk, to D, the highest, following international guidance. Here are eight devices, each from a different group of its guide. Which class is each one in?

  • Radiotherapy and radiologyLinear accelerator for radiotherapy Class CIt treats cancer with high-energy radiation, which can also harm healthy tissue.
  • AnesthesiologyAnesthesia machine Class CIt gives anesthetic gases and supports breathing during surgery. A wrong dose or a fault could quickly be dangerous.
  • General and plastic surgerySilicone breast implant Class DMost implants are in Class C, but the international rules name breast implants as an exception and put them in Class D, the highest.
  • OrthopedicsHip replacement Class CIt stays in the body for good. Most implants are in Class C; only some, such as those that touch the heart or the brain, are in Class D.
  • Ear, nose and throatOtoscope, for looking into the ear Class AIt enters the ear canal only for a moment and uses nothing stronger than light, so its risk is low.
  • DentistryDental chair with its drills and suction Class BOn its own, a dental chair is in Class A. Its powered drills, which cut into teeth, and its suction put the whole unit in Class B.
  • Gastroenterology and urologyGastroscope, for looking into the stomach Class BIt enters through the mouth only for the examination, but it works with a powered light and camera, which raises its class.
  • General hospital and personal usePowered hospital bed Class AIt has motors, but it doesn’t enter the body or give it energy, so its risk is low. The U.S. FDA puts it in Class II: the same device can sit in different classes in different systems.

Sources: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), product classification database; Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF), Principles of Medical Devices Classification (2012); Iran’s General Directorate of Medical Equipment, guide to classifying medical devices by risk class (2019)

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From lab to clinic

A new treatment is tested step by step, from the laboratory to everyday use. Put the steps in order, then see what a single result can and cannot tell us.

0 of 7 steps in place

Which comes first?

  1. Lab studies

    Could the idea work at all?

    Research on a new treatment begins in the laboratory, for example with cells. Source

  2. Animal studies

    Is it promising, and safe enough to try in people?

    Studies in animals, such as mice or rats, show whether an idea looks promising; others look for harm and help choose safe doses. They help decide whether to test it in people, but they cannot show that it is safe or works in humans. Source

  3. Phase one trial

    Is it safe in people?

    Researchers give it to a small group of people, about 20 to 80, for the first time, to learn about its safety and side effects. Source

  4. Phase two trial

    Does it work?

    Researchers give it to a larger group, about 100 to 300 people, to see how well it works and to study its safety further. Source

  5. Phase three trial

    How does it compare with the usual treatment?

    Researchers give it to large groups, about 1,000 to 3,000 people, to confirm how well it works, watch for side effects, and compare it with standard treatments. Source

  6. Regulatory review

    Is it safe and effective for its intended use?

    A regulator, such as the U.S. FDA, examines all the evidence and decides whether to approve the treatment for that use. Other countries and regions have their own regulators. Source

  7. Phase four (After approval)

    Is it still safe in everyday use?

    Researchers keep tracking its safety in the general population, because even large trials cannot show everything about a treatment’s safety before approval. Source

What can this result tell us?

These results are invented. Pick the best answer for each.

  • A new medicine lowered blood pressure in rats.

  • In a phase one trial, 40 people took a new medicine and had no serious side effects.

  • A regulator approved a new medicine for high blood pressure after a phase three trial in 2,000 people.

Sources: U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH); U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

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Next: “Quick quiz”

Quick quiz

Question 1 of 3

Tissue engineering combines which three ingredients?
According to NIBIB, which engineered tissues have been approved by the U.S. FDA?
In WHO guidance, what comes right after a medical device is acquired?

Myth or fact?

  • Low-level laser therapy works by heating the tissue.

  • Most stem cell treatments sold by clinics are approved by regulators.

  • Some scaffolds for new tissue are made from donor organs.

  • Diabetes can make some sores harder to heal.

Sources: Anders, Lanzafame and Arany (2015); U.S. FDA; NIBIB; NIDDK

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Next: “From lab to clinic”

Go further

General education, not medical advice, and separate from my own research.

Work with me

I welcome inquiries about:

View my ORCID record: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4653-0465