There are two areas of clinical cardiovascular research where Biomedical Engineers are making significant contributions. First, in the development of implantable devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. Here issues related to package size, reliability of electronics and command control are all under constant redevelopment. Second, advanced techniques in signal analysis are being used to extract more clinically relevant information from easily obtainable records such as the electrocardiogram. On this tour you will get to examine some of these implantable devices and learn more about the data recording technique and analysis algorithms used in this laboratory.
Bone is among the strongest and most resilient of naturally occurring biological materials.
Across the Engineering and Medical School there are a number of laboratories investigating the dynamic properties of bone. These range from studies using the many different types of cells that make up bone all the way up to systems level studies of loading and fracture. On this tour you will talk with some of the investigators working in this area. Your heart is an amazing organ, constantly adjusting its pacing, for example, to meet the oxygen demands of your tissues. On this tour you will learn how scientists study the neurons in the brain and peripheral sensory nervous system that are involved in the neural control of the cardiovascular system.