Drs. Fan, Xie, and Nishida lead the research activities on the development of microscale devices and systems for chemical and biomedical applications. Examples include microfluidic devices for protein and DNA analysis, microfabricated optics for biomedical imaging, and sensors and probes for detection and monitoring. Research efforts often involve multidisciplinary and traditional fields including microfabrication, microfluidics, mechanics, electronics, physics, materials, chemistry, biology, and medicine.
A Tissue Engineered Electronic Nerve Interface (TEENI) combines research areas including flexbile MEMS device fabrication, Hydrogels, Magnetic Microparticle Templating, Tissue Scaffolding, and Nerve Regeneration to develop a highly compliant and versatile interface for stimulating and recording the peripheral nerve with the potential for electrode density to scale in a truly 3-Dimensionsal fashion.
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a new tomographic imaging technique that maps the spatial distribution of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in real time and with spatial resolution that is on par or better than other biomedical imaging techniques. In this project, we will develop a theoretical foundation relating the properties of MNPs and MPI magnetic field conditions to the MPI signal strength and resolution. These efforts will yield design rules that will guide the rational design of future generations of MNP tracers for MPI. The proposed research will enable development of a novel biomedical imaging technique capable of high resolution real time imaging using nontoxic tracers suitable for a variety of biomedical applications.