Biomedical systems

Professor Willett’s research interests concern the mechanics and engineering of skeletal biomaterials and tissues.  

His lab summarizes their efforts as interdisciplinary investigation and innovation for improved bone health and repair. A great deal of what we do concerns structure-function-property relationships, how these change with aging and disease in bone, and how they can be optimized in the development of superior structural biomedical materials. We specialize in mechanical testing of biomedical and biological materials. 

Maud Gorbet is a Systems Design Engineering Professor and is cross-appointed with the department of Biology and the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo and also a collaborator with the Centre for Ocular Research and Education.

Her research interests center on biocompatibility issues with a focus on the role of innate immune cells and the impact of material-induced inflammation in the ocular and cardiovascular environments. Research in Professor Gorbet’s lab aims to understand interactions between biomaterials and biological systems. A better understanding of the mechanisms of material-induced cellular activation will support the design of materials and/or therapeutic strategies that can improve biocompatibility and will hence reduce the risks of complications.

Nima Maftoon oversees two labs: the Hearing Lab and the Computational Metastasis Lab

The long-term research goal of the Hearing Lab is to develop advanced devices and methods for diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss and other auditory pathologies. Such work requires discoveries about the processes involved in hearing as well as developing innovative engineering solutions. To serve these requirements, we use and advance knowledge in fields such as biomechanics, solid and fluid mechanics, acoustics, system identification and hearing physiology. The research portfolio of the Hearing Lab includes device development, advanced acoustic and vibration measurements and analysis in animal and human ears supplemented with analytical and computational modelling.

The Computational Metastasis Lab is focused on developing predictive tools that enable personalized cancer treatments. The lab uses advanced computational mechanics algorithms in conjunction with clinical image processing in creation of the predictive tools. We measure data in-vitro and in-vivo in human and animals to validate our mathematical models of tumor-cell circulation, intravasation and extravasation using advanced optical methods and using clinical modalities.

Elise Laende served as the Research Manager for the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Nova Scotia Health Authority, in Halifax from 2009-2019, managing a clinical research program, focused primarily on hip and knee replacements. She concurrently completed a PhD Biomedical Engineering at Dalhousie University, using high-resolution imaging techniques to quantify implant fixation in patients. Her current post-doctoral work at Queen’s University and the Kingston Health Sciences Centre is focused on the application of markerless motion capture technology to measure biomechanics in orthopaedic patients. Having originally completed her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Waterloo, she will be returning in July as an Assistant Professor in Systems Design Engineering.

Veronika Magdanz is an Assistant Professor in Systems Design Engineering since 2022 focusing on Biomedical Engineering.

She obtained her doctorate from the University of Dresden in 2016 for the development of sperm-driven microrobots performed at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research IFW Dresden in Germany. Subsequently, she conducted research in metabolic and kinetic studies of sperm as well as sperm-templated microrobots at the Applied Zoology department of the TU Dresden. During her time as Humboldt Fellow at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia she explored medical applications of flexible magnetic small scale robots and the 3D bioprinting of muscle tissue.

Her main research interest is in microrobotics for medical applications. This includes biohybrid approaches, such as harnessing functionalities of cells and other biological components for innovative solutions in medicine. Further, she works on the development of bioinspired artificial microrobots that are wirelessly controlled by magnetic fields.

In his Ph.D., he investigated the consequences of the loss of temporal synchrony on speech intelligibility in noise. The loss of synchrony in the auditory system reduces temporal information that is available to a listener's brain and can occur as a result of aging and/or synaptopathy (often referred to as "hidden" hearing loss). After graduating from the University of Toronto, he moved to Queen's University and investigated the role of auditory feedback on control of speech production. This work examined how talkers changed their speech when the acoustic feedback they received was altered in real-time. In 2011, Ewen moved to Copenhagen to take a faculty position at the Technical University of Denmark. There he continued his research into the perceptual consequences of hearing loss and how they can be addressed by hearing assistive devices. A recent focus of his research has been on the timing of turn taking in interactive conversation and how this can be used to evaluate hearing-aid signal processing.

Parsin Haji Reza runs the PhotoMedicine Lab. His current research focuses on developing the first real-time cancer surgical microscope to enable immediate tissue biopsy and full tumour resection during surgery, as well as the first clinical ophthalmic imaging tool capable of pre-diagnosing eye-blinding diseases before they become symptomatic (this is not currently possible). Since 2019, the lab has published numerous high-impact peer-reviewed articles, reporting breakthroughs in histological, oncological, ophthalmological and endoscopic imaging that could revolutionize the way the world looks at tissues.

In general, Dr. Haji Reza and his team are interested in designing and developing novel hardware and software methods for clinical and pre-clinical biomedical applications. These new technologies aim to provide clinicians and researchers with novel capabilities and information that is presently difficult to obtain with existing techniques. He invented and pioneered several new technologies/concepts including, Photoacoustic Remote Sensing (PARS®) microscopy, a novel absorption-based, non-contact, non-invasive, label-free imaging technique. The research philosophy of PhotoMedicine labs is transitional research from bench to the bedside. They are always looking to collaborate with talented students, faculties, researchers, clinicians, and industry.

Professor Tripp uses computational models to study how the brain processes information. He integrates neurobiological models and deep learning to study visuomotor processes. He is also interested in applying these models in challenging robotics tasks, to better understand how the brain deals with the complex physical world. Recent progress in his lab includes: The first deep-network architecture that is based quantitatively on a large cortical network (Tripp, 2019); the most comprehensive model of a higher cortical representation (Rezai et al., 2018); the largest dataset of human-demonstrated robotic grasps (Iyegar et al., 2018); the only robotic head that has movement capabilities on par with humans (including saccade velocity, stereo baseline, and range of motion) (Huber et al., 2018); and the first spiking neural network model of the planning of complex actions (Blouw et al., 2016).

Professor Tripp is starting a new research group in Medical AI and have graduate positions open in that area.

Dr. Tung's primary research is focused on developing advanced assistive technologies to prevent injuries, improve assessment/diagnostic capabilities, and optimizing treatment for individuals with chronic conditions. With expertise in neuromotor control, biomedical signal processing, and mechatronic devices, Dr. Tung develops and clinically tests novel healthcare technologies. Previous projects include developing prosthetics, exoskeletons, powered wheelchairs, brain-computer interfaces, and wearable sensors.