Neuroengineering

Human ingenuity and scientific insight has not changed in the last millennium –we are what we are. What enables scientific progress then, is not improvement in scientists themselves but rather in the tools at their disposal. Engineered tools enable scientists to ask questions that could not be asked before, and to obtain data from which observations inspire entirely new questions at a pace unequaled in all of history. The Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience at Purdue is uniquely positioned among all neuroscience research efforts nationally and globally to achieve preeminence precisely because of seamless integration between engineering development and scientific inquiry at the heart of the neuroscience initiative. Purdue has been a leader in the development of engineered devices for medical research and clinical treatment since Dr. Les Geddes’ arrival in 1974. He pioneered what went on to become the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. That Weldon school now houses the Center for Implantable Devices developing wireless implantable devices for applications including monitoring and suppression of epileptic seizures; prosthesis control for injured military personnel; modulation of cardiac arrhythmias; treatment of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder through modulation of the inflammation reflex; gastroparesis, a partial paralysis of the stomach; and neuromodulation of intra-ocular pressure in glaucoma. Additionally, the school houses research in development of novel algorithms, hardware, and contrast agents for magnetic resonance neuroimaging; and label-free imaging of intrinsic cellular signaling. Many BME faculty share appointments between engineering and science that bind tool development and application to strengths in speech, auditory processing, and other areas.