Research
Darwin Quiroz is exploring new frontiers in miniature lasers with major biomedical applications.
Quiroz, a physics PhD student in the lab of BME Professor Juliet Gopinath in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, and also co-advised by Professor Victor Bright from Paul M. Rady in Mechanical Engineering, is co-first author of a new study that demonstrates how a fluid-based optical device known as an electrowetting prism can be used to steer lasers at high speeds for advanced imaging applications.
Burn your hand on a hot stove and, almost instantly, immune cells within the wound begin producing inflammatory compounds to help clear out dead tissue and fight off infection. But for those who suffer serious burns, the immune response can cause prolonged inflammation, increasing risk of scarring, disfigurement and disability. A team of ̽»¨ÊÓƵ scientists hopes to minimize such long-term damage by suspending that cellular immune response until the body, or care providers, are better equipped to deal with it.Ìý
The project, like something straight out of a health sci-fi movie, combines RNA-based gene therapy with tiny microrobots for drug transport to help treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
̽»¨ÊÓƵ postdoc Catherine Saladrigas is helping bring high-resolution imaging into miniature microscopes for neuroscience research. Collaborators on this project include Juliet Gopinath, BME faculty member.
̽»¨ÊÓƵ engineer Nicole Xu, an assistant professor with BME, first became fascinated with moon jellies more than a decade ago because of their extraordinary swimming abilities. Today, Xu has developed a way to harness their efficiency and ease at moving through the water in ways that could make some types of aquatic research much easier.
A ̽»¨ÊÓƵ research team that included BME faculty members Juliet Gopinath and Shu-Wei Huang have developed a new bioimaging device that can operate with significantly lower power and in an entirely non-mechanical way. It could one day improve detecting eye and even heart conditions.
A gecko-inspired technology developed by the Shields Lab, in collaboration with doctors at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, uses a specially designed material that adheres to tumors inside the body and steadily releases chemotherapy drugs over several days—potentially allowing for fewer but longer-lasting therapies.
Nearly 80% of all stroke survivors experience walking issues and turn to ankle braces for increased support, but ankle braces are still very limited and many stroke survivors report no improvements when using them. Assistant Professor Cara Welker is leading a new, collaborative research project that aims to transform the way these assistive devices are designed.
Researchers in the Shields lab, including a BME undergraduate researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder have created a new way to build and control tiny particles that can move and work like microscopic robots, offering a powerful tool with applications in biomedical and environmental research.
With funding designed to foster groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research projects for the potential for high impact, Drs. Carson Bruns (BME, ATLAS) and Grace Leslie (ATLAS) are working to develop the seamless skin integration of brain/body computer interfaces.