Research

  • Professor Mike Miga

    BME study shows software helps surgeons find liver tumors, avoid blood vessels

    Michael Miga (John Russell / Vanderbilt) The liver is a particularly squishy, slippery organ, prone to shifting both deadly tumors and life-preserving blood vessels by inches between the time they’re discovered on a CT scan and when the patient is lying on an operating room table. Surgeons can swab the exposed liver lightly… Read More

    Jul. 17, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    BME team develops device to remove ICU alarm noise, improve patient sleep

    The ICU is no place to get good rest, as anyone who has worked, visited or stayed in one knows. Alarms designed to alert clinicians disrupt patient sleep, adding to their stress and disorientation. The alarms are shrill, frequent and often false. What if an in-ear device could block a… Read More

    Jul. 1, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    Tiny circuit boards stay operational in warm water, dissolve when cooled

    Building transient electronics is usually about doing something to make them stop working: blast them with light, soak them with acid, dunk them in water. Professor Leon Bellan’s idea is to dissolve them with neglect: Stop applying heat, and they come apart. Using silver nanowires embedded in a polymer that… Read More

    Jun. 26, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    Three engineering faculty proposals earn Discovery Grants

    Vanderbilt University’s Office of the Provost has recognized three engineering faculty proposals with Discovery Grants, one of Vanderbilt’s primary means of investing in advancing the discovery of knowledge in its core disciplines and strengthening the university’s scholarly profile. A total of 13 faculty proposals have… Read More

    Jun. 22, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    A cap full of coffee can improve nose, throat surgery

    Imagine plopping six cups of coffee grounds on the heads of patients just before they are wheeled into the operating room to have nose or throat surgery? In essence, that is what a team of Vanderbilt University engineers are proposing in an effort to improve the reliability of… Read More

    Jun. 20, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    Zelik receives two major young investigator awards for biomechanics work

    Karl Zelik, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received top awards from the International Society of Biomechanics and the American Society of Biomechanics for early career research. Both awards recognize Zelik’s body of work on improving and unifying the understanding of human locomotion, and translating this understanding to advances… Read More

    Jun. 15, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    Arthritis drug could be first to stop heart valve calcification

    The first drug to treat calcification of heart valves may be one originally designed for rheumatoid arthritis. Today in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, Vanderbilt University researchers published findings that the drug – a monoclonal antibody known as SYN0012 – shows promise in keeping heart valve leaflets… Read More

    Jun. 13, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    Better models for weather disaster outcomes look beyond historical data

    In a world with more frequent extreme weather events, basing new bridges on historical weather data and previous structure wear no longer works. Take South Carolina, said Hiba Baroud, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Four tropical storms plus Hurricane Matthew pounded the coastal state in 2016 alone, the latter… Read More

    Jun. 12, 2017

  • WIPER elephant anti-poaching

    Vanderbilt engineering tech uses elephant poachers’ own weapons against them

    WIPER will be the first use of ballistic shockwave detection in anti-poaching efforts. The sensors will be integrated into GPS-enabled collars, as shown on the large tusker above. (Photo by Save the Elephants) Anti-poaching authorities will soon have a powerful new weapon in their arsenal – high-tech ballistic shockwave sensors… Read More

    Jun. 7, 2017

  • exosuit energy transfer

    Understanding robotic exosuit-human interaction will boost health and performance

    Team led by Vanderbilt researchers develops new, quicker method to measure energy transfer between assistive devices and people wearing them That robotic exoskeletons can improve mobility of people with disabilities and enhance human performance is widely understood. The same has not yet been true for how to best measure and… Read More

    Jun. 1, 2017