Working across disciplines, Cockrell School of Engineering researchers are designing innovative health-related devices and advancements to improve lives and provide better health care options in the future.In celebration of the April 21 launch of the Dell Medical School at UT Austin, let’s take a peek into what these engineers are working on.
Detecting Cardiovascular Conditions More Clearly
A catheter that uses advanced imaging to detect arterial build-up.
Researchers in biomedical engineering professor Stanislav Emelianov's Ultrasound Imaging and Therapeutics Research Laboratory are analyzing and testing tools that may better detect plaques in coronary arteries and their vulnerability to induce life-threatening conditions. Combining ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging techniques, their prototype catheter rotates to capture images in multiple directions to provide information about the artery structure and composition, creating a more clear and complete picture of the artery and the plaques that may be in it, and ultimately offer guidance for better treatment outcomes.
Treating Patients Through Wearable Electronics
DEVICE: An electronic “tattoo” to measure information and deliver medicine
Nanshu Lu, NSF CAREER Award winner and assistant professor in aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics, and collaborators create ultrathin sensor-laden devices that cling to human skin as delicately as temporary tattoos. She invented the geometrical configuration of the circuit to allow the wearable electronics to stretch and compress.
Lu’s most recent development is a first-of-its-kind device that can measure and store data about a person’s movements, receive diagnostic information and deliver medicine, all through the skin. Made up of stretchable nanomaterials, the electronic “tattoos” and other bio-integrated electronics are revolutionizing health care.
For her most recent development, Nanshu Lu, NSF CAREER Award winner and assistant professor in aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics, has created a first-of-its kind device that can measure and store data about a person's movements, receive diagnostic information and deliver medicine, all through the skin. Lu invented the geometrical configuration of the circuit to allow the wearable electronics to expand and compress. Made up of stretchable nanomaterials, the electronic “tattoos” and other bio-integrated electronics are revolutionizing health care.
Bringing Robotics Into Rehabilitation
DEVICE: A robotic hand exoskeleton to assist in rehabilitation
Influenced by his own hand injury, mechanical engineering assistant professor Ashish Deshpande set out to explore how robotic devices could safely assist patients in their physical therapy. In his ReNeu Robotics Lab, he and a team of students are designing three health-related robotic devices: a human-like prosthetic robotic hand, an upper-body rehabilitation exoskeleton and a robotic hand-wrist rehabilitation exoskeleton.
Their robotic hand-wrist exoskeleton delivers repetitive and intensive rehabilitative movements that can restore functional capabilities of the wrist, hand and fingers. The devices Deshpande is designing may eventually help physical therapists monitor patients’ progress more precisely and keep patients more engaged while moving them safely and comfortably through their natural movements.
Influenced by his own hand injury, mechanical engineering assistant professor Ashish Deshpande set out to explore how robotic devices could safely assist patients in their physical therapy. In his ReNeu Robotics Lab, he and a team of students are designing a robotic hand-wrist exoskeleton that delivers repetitive and intensive rehabilitative movements that can restore functional capabilities of the wrist, hand and fingers. This and other devices may eventually help physical therapists monitor patients' progress more precisely and keep patients more engaged.
Cooling the Body Faster and More Effectively
DEVICE: A noninvasive, portable mechanism to cool the body's core
Using a blue cooling pad and a battery-powered thermoelectric system — essentially, a small refrigerator — biomedical engineering professor Ken Diller has created a portable body-core-cooling device that artificially simulates blood flow through our most effective heat transfer portals — the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet.
Most significantly, Diller’s device provides a noninvasive solution to cooling the body’s core quickly during medical events such as strokes, brain injuries and heart attacks. The mechanism, the technology for which UT Austin holds a patent, also has a more compact design that allows more ease and convenience in transportability. Eventually, the body-core-cooling device could be housed on airplanes and used by EMS professionals in the field.
Using a cooling pad and a battery-powered thermoelectric system — essentially, a small refrigerator — biomedical engineering professor Ken Diller has created a compact portable body-core-cooling device that artificially simulates blood flow through our most effective heat transfer portals — the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet. Most significantly, Diller’s mechanism provides a noninvasive solution to cooling the body’s core quickly during medical events such as strokes, brain injuries and heart attacks. Eventually, the device could be housed on airplanes and used by EMS professionals in the field.
Filling a Void in Commercial Prosthetic Device Options
DEVICE: A customized, selective-laser-sintered prosthetic foot to improve the lives of amputees
Mechanical engineering professor Rick Neptune is utilizing a cutting-edge technology developed at UT Austin — selective laser sintering (SLS) — to help improve the quality of life for lower-limb amputees. Recognizing a void in current commercial prosthetic feet options, which come in fixed sizes, Neptune decided to use the additive manufacturing technique to find solutions for those who need specially designed prosthetic devices.
Beginning with a 3-D computer model, the SLS process uses a high-powered laser to build the design out of layers of powder. In Neptune’s case, the end product is a sturdy yet flexible prosthetic device that is tailored to the amputee. He and his students are currently creating customized prosthetic and orthotic devices for injured soldiers.
Mechanical engineering professor Rick Neptune is utilizing a cutting-edge technology developed at UT Austin — selective laser sintering (SLS) — to help improve the quality of life for lower-limb amputees. Beginning with a 3-D computer model, the SLS process uses a high-powered laser to build the design out of layers of powder. In Neptune’s case, the end product is a sturdy yet flexible prosthetic device that is tailored to the amputee. He and his students are currently creating customized prosthetic and orthotic devices for injured soldiers.
