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Engineering in Medicine: ECEEP

Active projects in Electrical & Computer Engineering, & Engineering Physics (ECEEP) with applications for engineering in medicine:

Biologically-inspired cochlear implants are being developed to give cochlear implant users the ability to understand speech, even when it is heard in competition with background noise. To meet size and power constraints, these bio-inspired devices are being implemented as analog VLSI chips.
(Faculty contact: Odame)

Brain-computer-interface front-ends perform information extraction and data refinement on raw biological signals, such as EEG. The difficulty is that a brain-computer-interface is severely limited in size and power budget, while the task of information extraction requires computationally-heavy processing. Nonlinear design techniques are being implemented in analog VLSI, yielding low-power electronics that perform information extraction.
(Faculty contact: Odame)

Clinical optical-electric probes are being developed for noninvasive simultaneous measurement of blood oxygenation and electrical potential changes associated with brain activity.
(Faculty contact: Diamond)

Combined ultrasound and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) puts 3-D ultrasound imaging together with EIT data in a co-registered volume. EIT relies on the mathematical processing of impedance data collected non-invasively from patients to reconstruct the 3-D distribution of the electrical properties of the tissues inside the patient. Combining ultrasound and EIT has the potential to greatly improve the quality and spatial resolution of the reconstructed electrical properties.
(Faculty contacts: Hartov, Borsic, Halter)

Dielectric properties of tissue—measured through advanced microwave imaging techniques—convey functional information useful for making clinical diagnoses. The properties reflect tissue composition of fat, bone, water, proteins, etc., and often have unique spectral characteristics. The relative proportions and dynamic aspects of these constituents can have important implications for breast cancer imaging, osteoporosis detection, brain imaging, and heat therapy monitoring.
(Faculty contact: Meaney)

Electromagnetic energy is used in a variety of ways for its therapeutic effects (see Hyperthermia). Specifically designed microwave applicators and antennae are being developed for use in cornea reshaping, fallopian tube occlusion, and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia as well as liver and prostate cancer.
(Faculty contact: Trembly)

Electrical impedance imaging for breast cancer screening is the process of imaging the electrical property (conductivity and permittivity) of tissue using electrodes located on the body surface. This project is one branch of the larger effort to develop innovative technologies for breast cancer detection.
(Faculty contacts: Hartov, Borsic, Halter)

Electrical impedance imaging for prostate cancer screening is the process of imaging non-invasively the electrical properties (conductivity and permittivity) of the prostate and its vicinity using electrodes mounted onto an intracavitary probe.
(Faculty contacts: Hartov, Borsic, Halter)

Label free genome sequencing is an advancing technology to "read" the sequence in a single DNA molecule in a massively-parallel fashion. The technology combines concepts of single nucleotide addition (SNA) sequencing, near field optics, single molecule force spectroscopy, and microfluidics. This work is performed in collaboration with Professor Dmitri Vezonov at Lehigh University.
(Faculty contact: Shubitidze)

Microwave electronics capable of fast data acquisition (approaching real-time) are being developed for brain imaging applications. Also, site-specific antenna arrays for microwave imaging are in development for heel imaging (screening for osteoporosis) and for brain imaging applications.
(Faculty contact: Meaney)

Microwave imaging spectroscopy (also commonly referred to as microwave computed tomography) presents the challenge of measuring the signal data necessary to produce meaningful images. Development of site-specific antenna arrays along with improved electronic signal detection technology is rapidly making this measurement feasible for breast cancer detection. A second-generation tomographic breast imaging system has been completed and the data are being used to recover permittivity and conductivity maps of the breast for evaluation by a clinician.
(Faculty contacts: Meaney, Paulsen)

Nanophotonics research is focused on the interaction of light with sub-micron structures and nano-textured materials. Sample projects include the use of Molecular Imprint Polymers (MIPS) with surface plasmon resonance and capacitive measurements for chemical sensing. Applications include the detection of pollutants, chemical residues and biological compounds indicative of early-stage cancer. We are also pursuing the use of ZnO nanopillars for photonic bandgap engineered devices.
(Faculty contact: Gibson)