Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering draws upon a number of key multidisciplinary strengths across Engineering and the Environment, related to the diagnosis, treatment and/or monitoring of human disease.
Pioneering new hip replacements
As a cross-cutting theme, our interests span multiple research groups both within the Engineering and the Environment and outside. We have very strong links with industry, clinicians and health scientists, particularly in Medicine, Health Sciences and Biological Sciences at the University and at Southampton General Hospital. These links underpin our focus on developing novel biomedical devices and technologies aimed at improving healthcare.
Our work in this area is mirrored by the Biomedical Engineering Network in BioXneT, an initiative to support all bioengineering activities in Engineering and the Environment.
Coronary artery stent design
Our research interests within the Biomedical Engineering Theme are categorised according to the following clinical diseases and disorders
- cancer
- cardiovascular disease
- hearing
- movement
- lung disease
- neurophysiology
- orthopaedics
- rehabilitation
Within these categories, we have expertise in black-box and bio-chemo-physics based model development; computational design search and optimisation; computational modelling; control; experimental methods; high performance computing; image and signal processing; imaging; mathematical modelling; microfluidics; and system identification. Many of these areas of expertise focus on clinical applications in
- monitoring, diagnostics and treatment/enhancement (e.g. bone fragility, hearing, movement)
- therapeutics and treatment (e.g. cancer, lung)
- implants (e.g. cardiovascular, cochlear, orthopaedic)
- instrumentation (e.g. movement, neurophysiology)
Research is supported by facilities in the national Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS); the centre for Multidisciplinary, Multiscale, Microtomographic Volume Imaging; the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre; the Hearing and Balance Centre; the bioengineering laboratory, the nanometrology laboratory and large supercomputing facilities.
What's related
- Bioengineering Science
- Computational Engineering and Design
- Electro-Mechanical Engineering
- Engineering Materials
- Human Sciences Group
- ISVR Signal Processing and Control Group
- Hearing and Balance Centre
Other University of Southampton sites
Undergraduate programmes:
Postgraduate Taught:
- MSc Audiology (1 yrs)
- MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering Science / Bioengineering (1 yrs)
- MSc in Advanced Tribology (1 year) starting in 2012 pending approval
Postgraduate Research:
Short courses:
- Biomedical Applications of Signal Processing
- Demystifying Biomedical Signals
- Bi-annual, day seminar on Computer Simulations in Bioengineering at IMechE
The South of England Cochlear Implant Centre is based at the University
Testing hearing at the SOECIC
- Collaboration with cardiovascular device companies and cardiologists.
- Collaboration with Moor Instruments in microvascular imaging and sensing tissue health
- Surgical orthopaedic devices (DePuy Orthopaedics, Warsaw, USA)
- Scientific visualisation (Visualisation Sciences Group, Bordeaux, France)
Other University of Southampton sites
We have facilities for
- advanced paediatric and adult hearing and balance assessment
- bioengineering (including cell culture, tissue characterisation, microscopy and fabrication of lab-on-chip devices)
- multiscale x-ray computed tomography (CT) at muVIS
- high performance computing clusters (including Iridis)
- surface engineering and tribology (nCATS and access to NPL facilities at Teddington)