By the time students formally present their medical devices at the annual Weldon School Senior Design Exposition in December, they have become skilled in medical device design, understand the FDA requirements of device development, developed a product that is nearly translational, and solved the need of a partner that may be on the other side of the world. The key to their success lies in the unique model of the Weldon School’s capstone course, which begins long before students step foot in the senior design lab.

Purdue researchers are developing technology that could allow users to quickly determine the health of plants in the field and of fruits and vegetables in groceries through the translation of digital images on smartphones into virtual hyperspectral images.

Innovations in super-resolution microscopy are promising new capabilities: deeper imaging of tissue samples and live cells, higher resolution of single molecules and, eventually, animal-based studies. The technology allows researchers to resolve structural and molecular features far smaller than the wavelength of light, representing a powerful and versatile laboratory tool.

A drug developed during World War II as an antidote for a chemical warfare agent has been found to be effective at suppressing a neurotoxin that worsens the pain and severity of spinal cord injuries, suggesting a new tool to treat the injuries.

A fast, low-cost, diagnostic for infectious diseases, such as the West Nile or Zika virus, could one day be available over-the-counter. Jacqueline Linnes, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, says in this Fox59 News interview that just a bit of time and funding are needed to move this instrumented test to a portable point-of-care diagnostic.

New research findings suggest mild blast trauma suffered by military personnel affects portions of the auditory system that have not been extensively studied after injuries occur, and this impairment might be diagnosed using well-established testing methods.

The Oncological Sciences Center at Purdue University’s Discovery Park and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center have created a collaboration that utilizes the resources of each organization in an effort to develop a device to create a less invasive means of detecting prostate cancer.

Purdue University researchers are developing software in a “haptic device” that could give people with visual impairments the ability to identify scientific images on a computer screen using their other senses.

A student team from Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering will participate in the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition in April. The same team brought home $15K for their second place finish at Purdue's 30th Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition.