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Home / Research

Research

Changing the Way of Medicine

Researchers in the UA Department of Biomedical Engineering are combining technology and medicine like never before to create products that improve care and outcomes for patients with cancer, heart disease and vision loss.

They are developing imaging to detect ovarian cancer in its earliest stages, creating artificial hearts and retinal implants, developing wearable health monitor technology and improving surgical procedures for brain cancer.

Focus Areas

UA biomedical engineering research focus areas include the following: 

  • Biomedical imaging and spectroscopy
  • Biomedical informatics
  • Bioinstrumentation and devices
  • Biomaterials and tissue engineering
  • Biomechanics
  • Biosensors
  • Cardiovascular biomedical engineering
  • Neuroengineering
  • Nanomedicine

Project Highlights

Studying beneath the Surface

BME assistant professor Philipp Gutruf is developing ultra-thin wireless devices that can monitor bone health remotely.

We are excited to expand the toolbox of neuroscientists and hope to enable many exciting studies that decipher the working principles of the brain.

FLOWERing Health

BME assistant professor Judith Su, is working on ways to detect trace amounts of biomarkers for diseases, including COVID-19.

This optical technology is something that could immediately improve the quality of people’s lives and really make a difference.

Strain in the Brain

A paper on traumatic brain injury lead authored by BME assistant professor Kaveh Laksari examined 537 head impacts across 31 athletes. It found that some of today’s most harmful injuries are the result of stretching and straining well below the surface of the brain.

Our goal was to understand the underlying mechanism of the brain deformation during an impact. That will enable us to provide better diagnosis and prevention in the future.

Tracking a Silent Killer

Professor Jennifer Barton, director of BIO5, is leading a team to identify biomarkers and developing optical imaging tools to screen for ovarian cancer, often called a “silent killer.”

Our goal is…to build a viable optical imaging technology that will enable early detection and save lives.

Research Centers and Facilities

BME faculty and students collaborate extensively across UA colleges in the following major centers: 

  • Arizona Center for Accelerated Biomedical Innovation
  • BIO5 Institute
  • College of Medicine, Center on Aging
  • Data Science Institute
  • Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
  • Institute of the Environment
  • Sarver Heart Center
  • UA Cancer Center
  • Research, Discovery & Innovation

See UA College of Engineering-affiliated Research Centers and Institutes.

Featured Video

Wearable Innovations

Philipp Gutruf

Device for Earlier Ovarian Cancer Detection

Jennifer Barton

Sensors for Medical Diagnostics

Jeong-Yeol Yoon and Judith Su

Fast Facts
19 th
R&D ranking, public universities
(National Science Foundation)
$ 3.2 million
annual research expenditures (2022)
9 +
research centers and labs
  • Employee Resources
The University of Arizona
Department of Biomedical Engineering
1127 E. James E. Rogers Way
P.O. Box 210020
Tucson, AZ 85721-0020

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