about.duke bme
Consistently ranked as one of the top biomedical engineering programs in the nation, Duke BME combines a hands-on educational experience and an interdisciplinary research environment that prepares graduates to be leaders in integrating engineering and biology to detect and treat human diseases.
A unique aspect of the program is the integration of research and education. Over two-thirds of the undergraduates are involved in independent study research. And the graduate program offers students early immersion into research. Current departmental research activities include biomechanics of blood flow, cells, and hard and soft tissues; biomolecular and tissue engineering; electrical activity of the heart; neuroengineering; and biomedical optics, biophotonics and ultrasound imaging systems. Duke BME faculty and students collaborate with many departments across the University and the Medical Center.
The department is undergoing a period of significant growth. The recently opened Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Science. Over 30,000 net square feet are occupied by BME faculty, staff and students. The space provides new state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities for the department. In 2004-2005, we seek to fill three tenure-track faculty positions.
BME News
June 18, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – Bioengineers at Duke University have developed a laboratory robot that can successfully locate tiny pieces of metal within flesh and guide a needle to its exact location -– all without the need for human assistance.
The successful proof-of-feasibility experiments lead the researchers to believe that in the future, such a robot could not only help treat shrapnel injuries on the battlefield, but might also be used for such medical procedures as placing and ...
June 16, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University engineers have taken a first step toward a minimally invasive treatment of brain tumors by combining chemotherapy with heat administered from the end of a catheter.
The proof-of-concept study demonstrated that it should be technically possible to treat brain tumors without the side effects associated with the traditional approaches of surgery, systemic chemotherapy or radiation.
The bioengineers designed and built an ultrasound catheter that can fit into large blood vessels of the ...
May 10, 2009
Duke University awarded degrees to 523 undergraduate and graduate engineering students on May 10 in ceremonies beginning with a university-wide commencement celebration in Wallace Wade Stadium and ending with a Pratt School of Engineering ceremony in Duke Chapel.
Pratt Dean Tom Katsouleas Bachelor of Science in Engineering diplomas to 279 students, including 12 who completed their work in December and one last September, before a crowd of parents, relatives and friends in the Chapel.
Pratt also awarded ...
April 30, 2009
When a crowd of students pack themselves in front of the big-screen television at the Armadillo Grill, it’s usually to watch the Blue Devils compete against another university on the playing field or basketball court. However, they also recently gathered to view another type of competition -- to cheer on a Pratt biomedical engineering junior against other university students on the set of Wheel of Fortune.
Alaina Pleatman, a native of West Bloomfield, Mich., who had ...
April 30, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- A newly developed animal model for the painful nerve condition known as sciatica should help researchers diagnose and treat it, according to Duke University bioengineers and surgeons.
Sciatica is not a single disorder, but rather a diverse range of symptoms, such as numbness or pain from the lower back to the feet, radiating leg pain or difficulty in controlling the leg. It is often caused by compression, or pinching, of any of the ...
April 22, 2009
Jon Kuniholm lost part of his right arm as the result of a roadside bombing in Iraq in 2005. Since that time, the retired Marine Corps officer has been researching new designs for functional limb prostheses as a doctoral student in biomedical engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering.
As a vet and as a researcher -- he’s also co-founder of a company working on arm prostheses -- he was interviewed recently by the CBS program ...
April 1, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – Light directed at a breast tumor through a needle can provide pathologists with biological specifics of the tumor and help oncologists choose treatment options that would be most effective for that individual patient.
Duke University bioengineers have developed a light-based system that can quickly and easily provide important information about oxygen levels within a tumor while it is still in place. The new system, based on diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, gives researchers important clues ...
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