Our brains consume huge amounts of energy and rely on oxygen supplied by blood vessels. When the brains of infants are deprived of oxygen for any reason, it can lead to brain injury that causes cerebral palsy, epilepsy or cognitive impairment. Song Hu, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering […]
Hospitals spend about one-third of their expenses on perioperative care – the high-stakes period just before and after a patient is in surgery — to prevent complications afterward. Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a machine learning approach that exploits the large amount of clinical data collected during perioperative care to predict potential […]
The Department of Biomedical Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering welcomed students, judges and guests back May 2 for the first in-person BME Day since 2019. The celebration rounds out a year of learning with senior design competitions, research awards, faculty presentation and the Frank C.P. and Grace C. Yin Distinguished Lecture. Student teams […]
Irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia, affects about 5 million people in the United States, and interestingly, some of the drugs used to treat the condition can also cause it. A biomedical engineer in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis is going deep into the basic mechanisms that lead to arrhythmia to […]
Naval warfighters may be exposed to explosions, impacts or high accelerations that increase their risk for traumatic brain injury. A team of researchers led by Philip Bayly, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis plans a comprehensive study of skull-brain mechanics using imaging, computer and preclinical models to study the strains and stresses of the […]
Researchers and clinicians have been working to use focused ultrasound combined with microbubbles to open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for both noninvasive diagnostic use as well as to deliver treatments to the brain for tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. However, the few existing devices for preclinical research are expensive, bulky and lack the precision needed for […]
New methods to treat human brain disorders is one of the top priorities of the National Institutes of Health’s ambitious BRAIN Initiative. To find noninvasive tools that are equally or more effective is a kind of Holy Grail for neuroscience, and a biomedical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has it in her sights. […]
Each year in the U.S., nearly 800,000 people have a stroke, which leads to more than $46 billion spent annually in health care and related costs. A powerhouse team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is collaborating to understand how the brain remodels after stroke with the goal of finding new therapeutic targets […]
Precision medicine considers each person’s unique genetic makeup, lifestyle and environment when considering treatments for illness and disease. A team of Washington University in St. Louis researchers is taking steps toward developing precision medicine for patients with irregular heartbeats by studying how two anti-arrhythmic drugs affect different parts of the heart. Jeanne Nerbonne, PhD, professor […]
Over the past half century, artificial intelligence has gone from a concept to everyday life, with electronic payments, facial recognition and social media becoming the norm. But the dynamic mechanisms in the brain on which artificial intelligence is based, which are more efficient, reliable and flexible, remain unclear to scientists, leading to a disconnect between […]
Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy have had some treatment success with deep brain stimulation, but those require surgical device implantation. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on […]
Maria F. Bandres, a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has received the 2021 American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) Diversity Fellowship. The fellowship, awarded annually to up to three individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences, provides travel funds and registration expenses for conferences for the three years. […]
Chao Zhou, PhD a Washington University in St. Louis engineer who develops novel optical imaging technologies for biomedical applications, has been awarded a Stein Innovation Award from Research to Prevent Blindness to pursue development of novel imaging methods for diagnostic uses. The three-year, $300,000 award provides flexible funds to scientists engaged in research working to […]
Philip V. Bayly, PhD, an innovative researcher of waves and oscillations in the mechanics of cells and biological tissues, has been named the inaugural Lee Hunter Distinguished Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Bayly, who has been chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science since […]
Brain tumors are typically diagnosed using MRI imaging, as taking a sample for a tissue biopsy is risky and may not be possible due to tumor location or a patient’s poor health conditions. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are developing a method to diagnose brain tumors without any incisions. The method is developed […]
Many adults suffer from low back pain sometime in their lives, and about 40% of cases are caused by intervertebral disc degeneration (IVD), a painful and age-related condition. But physicians and researchers don’t have a clear picture of what aspect of degeneration or pathology causes the pain. With new advances in imaging and modeling, researchers […]
The heart relies on electrical signals generated by ion channel proteins to tell it when to expand and contract. Genetic mutations in the genes that encode ion channel proteins, as well as changes in the expression of properties of these proteins that alter ion channel function, expose patients to various problems, from an irregular heartbeat […]
In Australia, brain cancer kills more children than any other disease. But it is difficult to treat without significant risks from surgical or drug treatment. Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Washington University in St. Louis McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiation oncology in the School of Medicine, will address the […]
Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, has been selected to receive the 2020 Frederic Lizzi Early Career Award from the International Society of Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU). The award recognizes individuals early in their professional career who have contributed substantially […]
Alexandra L. Rutz and Ismael Seáñez are set to join the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at McKelvey School of Engineering in the 2020-21 academic year, bringing the department’s total number of faculty to 24. “We couldn’t be more pleased that with the hire of Professors Rutz and Seáñez, we brought not one, […]
To help meet the increasing need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, staff at McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis are making use of the state-of-the-art facilities in the Spartan Light Metals Makerspace to create face shields for those treating […]
The graduate program within the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis was ranked No. 12 in the nation, up from No. 14, by U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News ranks programs based on reputation among peer institutions, quality of the program’s students and faculty […]
Each year, more than 30 million people have their eyes scanned using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect for diseases of the retina, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. While OCT takes excellent images, it is very sensitive to any movement — even breathing — by the patient, and is limited to a […]
Four McKelvey School of Engineering faculty members received awards from the Skandalaris Center’s Leadership and Entrepreneurial Acceleration Program (LEAP). The LEAP Awards support Washington University faculty developing a product or innovation and provide industry connections and gap funding to stimulate Washington University technology commercialization, illuminate investment risk and rapidly accelerate development of validated projects. Out […]
Three faculty members in the McKelvey School of Engineering will be able to purchase important equipment needed for their research through grants awarded by the Department of Defense. The faculty are Tae Seok Moon, associate professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering; Barani Raman, associate professor of biomedical engineering; and Vijay Ramani, the Roma B. […]
When we drive to a place and park the car, most of us walk away without giving any thought about how to find the car when we want to leave. A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis plans to study how and where the brain stores this type of information so that […]
More than 90% of drugs in development never make it to market after failing in the testing process, either in cells in the lab, in small animals or in humans. A biomedical engineer in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis plans to improve on an existing imaging method that will […]
The neurons in our brains are its basic computational units analogous to a computer transistor. They process information and send and receive messages to and from the rest of our bodies. Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis want to know if they can control certain neurons using nanotechnology to better understand behavior and disease. […]
Ten new faculty are set to join the McKelvey School of Engineering, bringing the total number of full-time faculty to more than 140, including 98 tenured and tenure-track faculty. “With opening of Henry A. and Elvira H. Jubel Hall for Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and with the ongoing construction of James M. McKelvey, Sr. […]
Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, received a $470,500 research grant from the Office of Naval Research to detect traumatic brain injury (TBI) using ultrasound sensors. This research represents just one arm of a multi-faceted approach in the Chen […]
Rajan Chakrabarty, Fangqiong Ling, Chuan Wang, and Patty Weisensee, all assistant professors in the McKelvey School of Engineering, have been awarded $25,000 Collaboration Initiation Grants from the school. The program awards one-year grants to projects that facilitate collaborative research outside of and within McKelvey Engineering departments for tenure-track faculty. The grants are a pathway for […]