Human brain diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, involve damage in more than one region of the brain, requiring technology that could precisely and flexibly address all affected regions simultaneously. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a noninvasive technology combining a holographic acoustic device with genetic engineering that allows them to precisely target […]
Researchers who had been using Fitbit data to help predict surgical outcomes have a new method to more accurately gauge how patients may recover from spine surgery. Using machine-learning techniques developed at the AI for Health Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, Chenyang Lu, PhD, the Fullgraf Professor at the university’s McKelvey School of Engineering, collaborated with Jacob […]
What happens when biological and artificial intelligence meet? Since its launch in 2022 as a multiyear project funded by the Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures, Toward a Synergy Between Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience has explored the intersections between the human brain and the novel AI networks that seek to emulate its functions. On May 15, that work culminated in […]
For the past several years, Washington University in St. Louis researchers have been using focused ultrasound combined with microbubbles to target an opening in the tough, protective blood-brain barrier to deliver drugs or retrieve biomarkers. To ensure that the fast-developing technology functions safely and consistently, Hong Chen, PhD, and her team, including first author and […]
Physicians treating patients with early-stage lung cancer face a conundrum: choosing potentially helpful yet toxic therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation or immunotherapy to knock out the cancer and lessen the risk of it spreading to the brain, or waiting to see if lung surgery alone proves sufficient. When up to 70% of such patients do […]
Hong Chen, Jon Silva, both in biomedical engineering, are honored as rising leaders in their fields
Two teams of engineers led by faculty in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis will work toward developing products to monitor drinking water quality and to detect explosives with an electronic nose with one-year, $650,000 Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Barani Raman, PhD, professor […]
Team Rainbow Butterfly Rangers was on a mission — to create an assistive technology device that would help Berlin, a bubbly 6-year old with cerebral palsy, carry her plates and toys. Per Berlin’s instructions, the device should be stable, easy to wear and — oh yeah — super cute. “She asked and we delivered,” said […]
Our sensory systems are highly adaptable. A person who cannot see after turning off a light in the night slowly achieves superior power to see even small objects. Women often attain a heightened sense of smell during pregnancy. How can the same sensory system that was underperforming can also exceed the expectation based on its […]
A device aimed at enabling neurosurgeons and other physicians to perform noninvasive blood-based biopsies in adults with brain tumors has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “Breakthrough Device” designation. The device includes technology from Washington University in St. Louis and developed by Cordance Medical Inc., a medical device company in Mountain View, Calif. The designation […]
With the increased demand for efficient hardware for artificial intelligence and integrated circuits comes a need to educate students and researchers on how to design and create these tools. To address this need, Shantanu Chakrabartty, PhD, the Clifford W. Murphy Professor and vice dean for research and graduate education at the McKelvey School of Engineering, is […]
The inviting smell of a freshly baked cookie immediately triggers a motor response to search for the source of that smell. Often the cookie can be easily found. This everyday event that we perform without a thought is an amazing feat that combines our superior ability to smell the cookie and computational prowess to determine […]
The blood-brain barrier, the body’s way of shielding sensitive brain tissue from viruses, toxins and other harmful substances in the blood, can pose a problem for physicians caring for patients with suspected brain diseases such as cancer. Molecular and genetic information would be invaluable for confirming a diagnosis and guiding treatment decisions, but such molecules […]
Hong Chen, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering and radiation oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, is dedicated to what may seem like the impossible. “This constant puzzle of what’s happening in my brain.” Chen is referring to all human brains that share this complexity. And getting answers to serious problems can be very […]
Researchers have developed methods to study and manipulate areas of the brain, though many of those methods are restricted by the limited depth that light can reach within the brain. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis plans to overcome that limitation by integrating ultrasound with genetics to precisely modify neurons in the […]
Figuring out what’s going on inside people’s heads typically requires huge, expensive equipment and volunteers willing to spend hours performing repetitive tasks while lying inside a narrow metal tube. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are working on an alternative. They are developing a cap that can be worn while moving around normally that […]
Some mammals and birds have a clever way to preserve energy and heat by going into torpor, during which their body temperature and metabolic rate drop to allow them to survive potentially fatal conditions in the environment, such as extreme cold or lack of food. While a similar condition was proposed for scientists making flights […]
Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health disorders in the United States, but more than half of people struggling with the conditions are not diagnosed and treated. Hoping to find simple ways to detect such disorders, mental health professionals are considering the role of popular wearable fitness monitors in providing data that […]
A team led by Washington University in St. Louis has been awarded $1 million over two years from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program. The team, called NEURO360, is among some 40 teams nationwide to receive NSF Engines Development Awards, which aim to spur collaborations to create economic, societal […]
Tristan J. McIntosh, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study ethical collaborations between academia and industry in the development of brain technologies. The goal is to fill gaps in understanding the ethical complexities […]
A team of researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has developed an energy-efficient way to consolidate long-term memories on a tiny chip. Shantanu Chakrabartty, PhD, the Clifford W. Murphy Professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, and members of his lab developed a […]
Several progressive neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, are defined by having tau proteins in the brain. Researchers are seeking to identify the mechanisms behind these tau proteins to develop treatments, however, their efforts to detect biomarkers in blood has been hampered by the protective blood-brain barrier. At Washington University in St. Louis, new research from […]
An interdisciplinary project has received funding to help ensure that if — or more likely, when — certain imaging tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) are put to clinical use, their inherent uncertainty is considered as part of any subsequent clinical decisions, including guiding treatment. The project, led by Abhinav Jha, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical […]
Collaboration across disciplines is integral at WashU, often yielding life-changing discoveries. In 2002, when Eric Leuthardt, MD, and Dan Moran, PhD, were introduced to each other by their department chairs, no one could have predicted it would lead to a collaboration that is reshaping the future of neuroscience. Moran, professor of biomedical engineering at the […]
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Daniel Moran, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, more than $1 million over five years to create the Translational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Training Program. This interdisciplinary program will train students to use engineering tools to develop technology that address neurological issues such as […]
Brain-computer interfaces connect activity in the brain to an external device by means of a computer. Research has shown it’s possible to use such interfaces to move robotic arms and perform other tasks. Almost 30 years ago, Washington University researcher Eric Leuthardt, MD, a professor of neurosurgery, demonstrated that he could hook electrodes to the brains […]
A submarine can inadvertently reveal its location because of cavitation, a condition that creates bubbles underwater that burst, then emit sound waves that can be detected by sonar. A team of biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis plans to use the same concept to detect cavitation in human brains that may contribute to […]
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 […]
The IpsiHand, an innovative stroke-recovery device that helps stroke patients recover significant arm and hand function by retraining their brains, has received the 2021 Pantheon Product of the Year Award from California Life Sciences. The organization advocates for the state’s life sciences sector and its innovation pipeline by supporting companies of all sizes, from early-stage […]
Glioblastomas are aggressive brain tumors that are commonly diagnosed through a risky and invasive surgical biopsy. A team of researchers led by Hong Chen, PhD at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a noninvasive diagnostic method that may one day replace the tissue biopsy with a simple blood test. Chen, associate professor of biomedical engineering at […]
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. […]
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 […]
Stroke patients who are struggling to regain the use of a hand will soon have access to a new FDA-cleared device that uses signals from the undamaged part of the brain to retrain the injured limb. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a device that can help stroke patients regain the […]
A first-of-its kind device that helps people disabled by stroke regain significant control over their arm and hand function by using their minds has received market authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System, developed by Neurolutions Inc. – a Washington University in St. Louis startup company – leverages brain-computer interface […]
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 […]
The Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis recently announced six teams were selected for funding to prepare their projects for commercialization through the spring 2020 LEAP Gap Fund cycle. The LEAP Gap Fund is open to any person or team with potential or existing university intellectual property. Through the program, […]
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 […]
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new imaging agent that could let doctors identify not only multiple types of tumors but the surrounding normal cells that the cancer takes over and uses as a shield to protect itself from attempts to destroy it. The study appears March 9 […]
Bomb-sniffing cyborg grasshoppers have been created by scientists to detect explosives such as TNT. Academics at Washington University in Missouri tapped into the insects’ minds to monitor whether they were smelling explosives, and if so, what kind they were detecting. Or as the researchers put it, the “bio-hacked” grasshoppers play a similar role to a “canary […]
People with severe Parkinson’s disease or other neurological conditions that cause intractable symptoms such as uncontrollable shaking, muscle spasms, seizures, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are sometimes treated with electric stimulators placed inside the brain. Such stimulators are designed to interrupt aberrant signaling that causes the debilitating symptoms. The therapy, deep-brain stimulation, can provide relief […]
Hong Chen, assistant professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering and at the School of Medicine, received a $309,909 grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore the application of a focused ultrasound-mediated drug delivery technique for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Read more.
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 […]
If traditional drug delivery were a type of painting, it might be akin to paintball. With good aim, a majority of the paint ends on the bullseye, but it also drips and splashes, carrying streams of paint across the target. If the drug needs to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout your body for treating […]
Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, received a $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. The research will fund a broader understanding of Chen’s earlier work combining intranasal drug delivery […]
From the WashU Newsroom… A team of neuroscientists and engineers has developed a tiny, implantable device that has potential to help people with bladder problems bypass the need for medication or electronic stimulators. The team — from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Feinberg School […]
Brain changes evident in scans before memory, cognitive decline From the WashU School of Medicine News… One day, MRI brain scans may help predict whether older people will develop dementia, new research suggests. In a small study, MRI brain scans predicted with 89 percent accuracy who would go on to develop dementia within three years, […]
Pulses of electrical stimulation help heal injured nerves From the WashU Newsroom… Car accidents, sports injuries, even too much typing and texting can injure the peripheral nerves, leaving people with numbness, tingling and weakness in their hands, arms or legs. Recovery can take months, and doctors have little to offer to speed it along. Now, […]
From The Scientist… When you move only your right arm, there’s neural activity in both the left and right sides of the brain, researchers report today (October 8) in The Journal of Neuroscience. Recent animal and human studies have hinted that moving muscle on only one side of the body resulted in neural activity from the same side—or […]
Interdisciplinary research brings together imaging, aerosols and pediatric neuro oncology to fight tumors From the WashU Newsroom… A person’s brainstem controls some of the body’s most important functions, including heart beat, respiration, blood pressure and swallowing. Tumor growth in this part of the brain is therefore twice as devastating. Not only can such a growth […]
An interdisciplinary team of WashU researchers will be developing a non-invasive neuromodulation tool From the WashU School of Engineering & Applied Science News… Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science and radiation oncology in the School of Medicine, has received a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of […]