Archive for 'Healthcare and Medicine'
Can infant lung disease predict adult heart health?
Posted on 01. May, 2013 by perspective.
With $3.27 million from the National Institutes of Health, Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Marlowe W. Eldridge and Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Naomi Chesler will research how bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a common condition in low-birth-weight infants, acts as a predictor of right heart failure in adulthood. Finding such a correlation could greatly inform treatment strategies [...]
Continue Reading
Gustafson named to National Academy of Engineering
Posted on 01. May, 2013 by perspective.
In February, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) named David Gustafson to its 2013 class of new members. Gustafson is director of the UW-Madison Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies and a professor emeritus of industrial and systems engineering. The academy cited Gustafson for industrial and systems engineering methods to improve care for aging patients [...]
Continue Reading
Video tool could help active workers avoid injury
Posted on 01. May, 2013 by perspective.
Video of workers performing tasks such as assembling a manufactured part or packing boxes could help assess the likelihood that those people will develop common repetitive-motion injuries. Repeatedly performing the same motions and exertions can lead to injuries in which the body suffers strain from even tiny actions—for example, handling small parts, operating a machine [...]
Continue Reading
After ACL reconstruction, finding small motions that cause big problems
Posted on 30. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
People who tear their anterior cruciate ligament, a ligament in the knee that provides stability to the connection between the tibia and femur, usually must opt for a complete ACL reconstruction with a portion of another ligament. However, about 90 percent of people who undergo reconstructive ACL surgery develop osteoarthritis—knee pain, swelling and stiffness—within 20 [...]
Continue Reading
Building the virtual laboratory
Posted on 30. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Everything in physics is governed by equations, which can be solved to predict, for example, how grains of sand collide, how a tablecloth falls across a flat surface, or how water flows around obstacles. And as computing power becomes cheaper and more accessible to universities, the potential for research applications with large computers is skyrocketing. [...]
Continue Reading
For older drivers, technology isn’t a distraction
Posted on 30. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
While technologies such as navigation systems, cell phones and MP3 players can distract a driver’s attention to the road, those same technologies can help older adults be safer drivers. Accident risk follows a distinct pattern over a person’s lifetime. It’s high for young people, then lessens as they gain experience and reach middle age. Then, [...]
Continue Reading
It’s the stuff of dreams: Better healthcare at home
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Tucked away in a deep corner of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Building on the UW-Madison campus, a six-sided room (pictured) called the “CAVE” uses coordinated computer projections to create immersive, virtual-reality world in which virtually anything is possible. “Almost anything we dream, we can actually make,” says Moehlman Bascom Professor of Industrial and Systems [...]
Continue Reading
Building blocks of the blood-brain barrier
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
For the first time ever, researchers have coaxed both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to form the endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier—an advance that may unlock some of the most closely guarded secrets of this virtually impenetrable wall. The blood-brain barrier, which separates circulating blood from the fluid that bathes the brain, depends [...]
Continue Reading
A multidisciplinary perspective on biological systems
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
For more than a half century, the Petri dish has served as a living laboratory for biologists who intensively studied its contents and advanced our understanding of how microbial and mammalian cells behave. Now, however, researchers are drawing on knowledge and tools in such diverse areas as genetics, computer science, ecology and engineering to study [...]
Continue Reading
Spotting ovarian cancer, before it’s too late
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
At just 28 percent, the five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer is much lower than in other cancer cases. And, the disease can easily go unnoticed, making it difficult to find effective treatments. “There are very few symptoms associated with ovarian cancer,” says Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Paul Campagnola. “When it gets [...]
Continue Reading
The language of stem cells, decoded
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Stem cells are biological building blocks, the starting point of human life. But without proper direction, they’re not very useful when it comes to treating disease. “If we just take stem cells and inject them into you, they will simply become a cancerous tumor,” says Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Randy Ashton. Working in the Wisconsin [...]
Continue Reading
What proteins say about cell behavior
Posted on 29. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Understanding how a cell makes a decision in response to a drug or stimuli—to grow, to move, or to die—could give doctors richer insight into why, in many cases, different therapies work for different patients. The key to understanding how cells make these decisions may lie within the network of proteins inside those cells. Using [...]
Continue Reading
For alum, innovation is a full-time hobby
Posted on 27. Aug, 2012 by perspective.
Although he grew up on a dairy farm in a tiny, central-Wisconsin community—rather than a small coal-mining town in West Virginia—Dennis Bahr sees elements of his childhood in the movie October Sky, a film based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal-miner’s son who ultimately became a NASA engineer. Hickam’s passion was rocketry; [...]
Continue Reading
How industrial engineers improve healthcare
Posted on 19. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
During an intensive three-month period in fall 2011, UW-Madison graduate students Renaldo Blocker (left) and Sacha Duff (right) worked long hours in the emergency department of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Whenever a victim of a car accident, stabbing or other incident arrived, they would accompany trauma teams from the moment patients arrived until [...]
Continue Reading
Who knew? Five questions with Bill Murphy about biotech innovation
Posted on 19. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
Bill Murphy is an associate professor of biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering, and orthopedics and rehabilitation. Murphy and his students develop new biomaterials and uses for biomaterials, as well as new approaches for drug delivery and gene therapy. He and various collaborators have founded two spin-off companies, collaborated with several other established companies, and [...]
Continue Reading
From lab bench to lab results: Diagnostics for developing countries
Posted on 19. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
Biomedical Engineering Professor David Beebe and his collaborator, Oncology Professor Emeritus Richard Burgess, have received a Point-of-Care Diagnostics grant through Grand Challenges in Global Health, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative seeks to engage creative minds across scientific disciplines—including those who have not traditionally taken part in health research—to [...]
Continue Reading
Take a deep breath. You could generate electricity … with your nose
Posted on 19. Apr, 2012 by perspective.
Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Xudong Wang (right), postdoctoral researcher Chengliang Sun and graduate student Jian Shi (left) have created a plastic microbelt that vibrates when passed by low-speed airflow such as human respiration. In certain materials, such as the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) used by Wang’s team, an electric charge accumulates in response to applied [...]
Continue Reading
Power steering: A system for more capable catheters
Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Atrial fibrillation is a condition where the upper chambers of a patient’s heart beat irregularly, which can cause blood to pool and increase the risk of stroke-causing clots. Treatment is difficult: A physician has to maneuver a catheter around a patient’s chest cavity to the diseased regions of the heart, which are then frozen or [...]
Continue Reading
Smooth transitions: CHSRA and Zimmerman will expand expertise
Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
As its 40th anniversary approaches, the Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis (CHSRA) is at the beginning of new era. Professor David Zimmerman, who directed the center for more than 20 years, retired in summer 2011. Yet that doesn’t mean he or CHSRA are slowing down; as Zimmerman focuses on new projects, CHSRA researchers [...]
Continue Reading
Materials engineer applies education to stem cell challenges
Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
The more Engineering Physics and Biomedical Engineering Professor Wendy Crone (pictured with Professor of Medicine Tim Kamp) worked with biologists, chemical engineers, medical professionals and others, the more she realized she wanted to go back to school. Now Crone is studying polymeric hydrogels, a class of polymeric materials that incorporate 10 to 100 times more [...]
Continue Reading
A new platform: DNA delivery, on demand
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
A versatile new platform technology could enable doctors to release DNA locally in the body for a variety of therapeutic applications. Using a layer-by-layer fabrication process, Chemical and Biological Engineering Associate Professor David Lynn (left, pictured with PhD student Shane Beckler), can coat complex medical devices, such as vascular stents, with alternating nanoscale polymer and [...]
Continue Reading
With careful thought, brain sensors connect neurons with actions
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Neurologists who work to unlock the secrets of brain activity encounter what one might call the Las Vegas effect: “What happens in the brain, stays in the brain.” The skull and dura mater are efficient insulators, keeping high-frequency electrical activity from leaving the brain. And between the blood-brain barrier and the brain’s aggressive immune system, [...]
Continue Reading
From patent to proven product: A new approach to tech transfer
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
On paper, it’s listed as U.S. Patent No. 7,615,593: “A faster and more effective way to treat chronic wounds through the use of a liquid cellular matrix, rather than conventional bandages.” But in practice, the patent is the subject of an exciting shift in thinking at UW-Madison about how to move medical technology from patent [...]
Continue Reading
Expanding the potential of MRI for diagnosing breast cancer
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
In the world of medical imaging, no single technology provides all the answers for the critical procedure of breast cancer biopsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for example, produces clear, highly revealing images of potential breast cancer lesions, but lacks practicality in obtaining a biopsy sample. Ultrasound imaging, on the other hand, is less revealing than [...]
Continue Reading
With second company, laser researchers are seeing new light
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Two professors have formed a startup company to commercialize a nanoscale laser structure that could benefit a wide range of industries. Intraband LLC was co-founded in 2008 by Philip Dunham Reed Professor Dan Botez and Professor Luke Mawst and has received recent funding from the U.S. Army and Navy Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. Botez [...]
Continue Reading
Unexpected twists and turns: How I ended up doing tissue engineering scaffold research
Posted on 23. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
By Lih-Sheng (Tom) Turng, professor, mechanical engineering Bionates theme leader, Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Wonder how a UW-Madison mechanical engineer ended up doing research on cell culture? I am not talking about me. I actually am referring to Charles Lindbergh, one of our most celebrated student from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. While Lindbergh is [...]
Continue Reading
Engineers team up with Trek for cycling research
Posted on 22. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
During a long bike ride, it’s not unusual for cyclists to experience hand or finger numbness, a very common condition known as cyclist’s palsy. The condition ranges from mild tingling to, sometimes, long-term nerve damage and hand muscle atrophy over time. A team of UW-Madison engineers has scientifically measured hand pressure during cycling and studied [...]
Continue Reading
UW-Madison economic impact statewide hits $12.4 billion
Posted on 21. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
UW-Madison’s profound impact on Wisconsin’s economy—one that totals $12.4 billion annually—is detailed in a late-March report that underscores the importance of the university to the state’s economic well being. The findings indicate that UW-Madison, along with its affiliated organizations and startup companies, supports 128,146 Wisconsin jobs and generates $614 million in state tax revenue. The [...]
Continue Reading
Inside the box
Posted on 21. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
New method for breast cancer imaging Every woman over the age of 40 receives the same initial screening for breast cancer: a mammogram. Yet no two women are identical and neither are their breast cancer risks, so a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers is developing a system better tailored to women with a particularly [...]
Continue Reading
Three UW-Madison award winners
Posted on 21. Jun, 2011 by perspective.
Philip Dunham Reed Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering Susan Hagness is one of 11 winners of the 2011 Kellet Mid-Career Award, supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The award recognizes outstanding mid-career faculty members who are five to 20 years past their first promotion to a tenured position. Each winner, chosen by a [...]
