research.overview
Duke BME faculty are engaged in a wide range of efforts to improve human health through research–from creating the world's first real-time, three-dimensional ultrasound diagnostic system to developing the first engineered blood vessels.
The department's close proximity to the renowned Duke University Medical Center has fostered a highly interdisciplinary approach to research, with engineers working closely with both biological scientists and physicians. This breadth of expertise is reflected in all our research programs, as we work to translate fundamental advances across the molecular, cellular, and organ scales into new developments for improved diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Check out the "Faculty Collaboration" video at "DukeBME on Camera" to find out more about the BME faculty research and collaboration.
Major research programs include:
- Biomechanics, focusing on orthopaedic biomechanics, other soft tissue mechanics, and cell mechanics
- Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering, including biomolecular engineering, effect of physical force on cells and tissues, and tissue repair and replacement
- Electrobiology and Neural Engineering, focusing understanding the electrical activity of the heart and nervous system, and on ways of controlling or using them to develop treatments for dysfunction.
- Biomedical Imaging, concentrating on ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, x-ray, and nuclear medicine
Duke BME is building on its strengths in these core concentrations to develop collaborative programs in biophotonics, cardiovascular engineering, and therapeutic bioengineering.
Biophotonics–the intersection of optics, electronics, and biology-focuses on the development of novel sensors and imaging techniques, including advanced genetic imaging techniques, that can be used to characterize living systems at the cellular and molecular levels.
Duke is also expanding its leadership in cardiovascular engineering. Home to the first NSF Engineering Research Center in biomedical engineering–the Center for Emerging Cardiovascular Technologies–Duke BME also enjoys a strong relationship with one of the top-ranked cardiology programs in the country.
Duke BME also plans to bring its experience in tissue engineering and tissue characterization, drug and gene delivery, and transport processes to a new program in therapeutic bioengineering–engineering new and better ways to deliver therapies.
Both undergraduate and graduate students conduct research in these areas under the guidance of Duke BME faculty researchers, who include many winners of prestigious scientific awards and fellows of respected societies. In one of the clearest hallmarks of faculty excellence, sponsored research at Duke BME from both federal and non-federal sources has grown more than 60 percent over the past five years.
BME Research News
October 5, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- As scientists work toward making genetically altered bacteria create living “circuits” to produce a myriad of useful proteins and chemicals, they have logically assumed that the single-celled organisms would always respond to an external command in the same way.
Alas, some bacteria apparently have an individualistic streak that makes them zig when the others zag.
A new set of experiments by Duke University bioengineers has uncovered the existence of “bistability,” in which an individual ...
July 7, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- The Rosetta Stone of bacterial communication may have been found.
Although they have no sensory organs, bacteria can get a good idea about what’s going on in their neighborhood and communicate with each other, mainly by secreting and taking in chemicals from their surrounding environment. Even though there are millions of different kinds of bacteria with their own ways of sensing the world around them, Duke University bioengineers believe they have found a ...
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 ...
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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