Hearing impairment rarely extends across the entire frequency range of hearing. Commonly, hearing loss is most severe at higher frequencies, although listeners can have selective losses at frequencies...
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Time-frequency analysis involves detecting when oscillations of certain frequencies turn on and off. This kind of analysis is useful in nearly every field of science and engineering. The traditional a...
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Methods that allow reactive polymer films to be deposited or assembled on topologically complex substrates are useful for the patterning or chemical modification of surfaces in a broad range of applic...
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Studying how neurons and other cells work may require stimulating individual or small clusters of cells. The cells conventionally are stimulated through the use of fine electrodes inserted into or nea...
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The ability to deliver proteins into cells has many therapeutic and research applications. However, peptide drugs and therapeutic proteins are notoriously difficult to administer, in part because of t...
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Chitosan is a soluble biopolymer derived from chitin, which is a structural element in the shell of marine arthropods.  Chitosan is used in water processing and agriculture.  It also is used...
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One of the frontiers in biomedical science is the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. A need exists for small-scale neurological interfaces that can potentially transmit information...
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Studying how neurons and other cells work may require stimulating individual or small clusters of cells.  The cells conventionally are stimulated through the use of fine electrodes inserted into ...
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Cerebral aneurysms develop when the wall of a cerebral artery or vein become weakened and the blood vessel begins to balloon. To avoid this type of complication, procedures have been developed to prev...
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A fracture requiring orthopedic treatment occurs approximately every 14 seconds in the United States.  Musculoskeletal conditions cost an estimated $254 billion each year in the United States, an...
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Anesthetics are a critical part of modern surgical practice. Unfortunately, once in every 1000 to 2000 operations a patient may temporarily regain consciousness or even remain conscious during surgery...
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Oral ingestion of pharmaceuticals currently is considered the safest, most convenient and most economical method of drug administration. However, oral delivery of many pharmaceuticals is not possible ...
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Movement of human limbs requires the coordination of multiple muscles. Such coordination is learned through extensive practice but can be disrupted by injuries or diseases such as traumatic brain inju...
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UW-Madison researchers previously described a piece of exercise equipment for rehabilitation of stroke patients and sport-specific training of athletes that allows users to measure and train the magni...
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No way currently exists to prevent or cure hydrocephalus, which is the abnormal accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in the brain. The most effective treatment involves surgical insertion of a ...
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Fiber optic probes can be used for spectroscopic measurement of tissue. A fiber optic tube emits light on one side of the tissue that is absorbed and measured on the other side by fiber optic detector...
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Many human diseases and conditions can be treated by implanting devices within the body. However, these devices may be rejected by the body’s immune system or “fouled” by the accumul...
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CREB is a transcription factor that has been implicated as a critical regulator of neuronal function and survival. Knockout mice lacking CREB exhibit a disease similar to ataxia telangiectasia, a neur...
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Light-based diagnostics are used to create images of human tissue to detect the development of diseases like cancer. The popularity of light-based diagnostics is growing due to their non-intrusive nat...
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As many as one in 20 people in the United States are estimated to have some form of cerebral aneurysm. The majority of cerebral aneurysms are treated from inside the blood vessel, which is referred to...
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The liver is a common site for both primary and metastasizing cancer. Surgical resection, the preferred treatment for liver cancer, is a time consuming procedure during which the surgeon must cut thro...
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Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world and is frequently fatal.  Surgical resection currently is the preferred treatment for liver cancer.  During the time-consuming treat...
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Biomaterial scaffolds for tissue engineering perform three primary functions.  They provide temporary support, provide a connected porosity to enhance tissue regeneration and guide the regenerate...
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Epileptogenesis, or the occurrence of spontaneous seizures, is considered to be a learned response due to brain plasticity.  The development of the condition requires circuits in the brain to pos...
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Musculoskeletal conditions cost an estimated $254 billion each year in the United States, and bone and joint diseases account for half of all chronic conditions in adults over the age of 50.  Bon...
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