Research News

  • August 28, 2008

    Tiny 3-D Ultrasound Probe Guides Catheter Procedures

    DURHAM, N.C. An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional x-ray catheter guidance.Duke University biomedical engineers designed and fabricated the novel ultrasound probe which is powerful enough to provide detailed, 3-D images. The new device works like an insect's compound eye, blending images from 108 miniature transducers working together. Catheter-based procedures involve ...
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  • August 28, 2008

    Tiny 3-D Ultrasound Probe Guides Catheter Procedures

    DURHAM, N.C. An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional x-ray catheter guidance.Duke University biomedical engineers designed and fabricated the novel ultrasound probe which is powerful enough to provide detailed, 3-D images. The new device works like an insect's compound eye, blending images from 108 miniature transducers working together. Catheter-based procedures involve ...
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  • August 21, 2008

    Quantum: The Next Generation in Computing

    While computers are getting progressively smaller and more powerful, the underlying principles encoding information in long strings of ones and zeroes have not changed markedly in 50 years.But that could soon change. Scientists at Duke University and elsewhere are making advances in a new type of computing that may have seemed purely theoretical, but could now be possible within our lifetimes. Literally, this new generation of computers will be a quantum leap ...
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  • August 14, 2008

    Trees, Forests and the Eiffel Tower Reveal Theory of Design in Nature

    DURHAM, N.C. - What do a tree and the Eiffel Tower have in common?According to a Duke University engineer, both are optimized for flow. In the case of trees, the flow is of water from the ground throughout the trunk, branches and leaves, and into the air. The Eiffel Tower's flow carries stresses throughout the structure without collapsing under its own weight or being downed by the wind. For most engineers, the laws governing fluid and ...
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  • July 31, 2008

    Microbe Diet Key To Carbon Dioxide Release

    DURHAM, N.C. - As microbes in the soil break down fallen plant matter, a diet "balanced" in nutrients appears to help control soil fertility and the normal release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When plants drop their leaves, stems and twigs, this organic matter slowly becomes part of the soil as a result of decomposition, which is facilitated by bacteria and other microbes. This process adds plant nutrients to the soil ...
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  • July 17, 2008

    Tree Branching Key To Efficient Flow In Nature And Novel Materials

    DURHAM, N.C. Nature, in the simple form of a tree canopy, appears to provide keen insights into the best way to design complex systems to move substances from one place to another, an essential ingredient in the development of novel "smart" materials. Duke University engineers believe that an image of two tree canopies touching top-to-top can guide their efforts to most efficiently control the flow of liquids in new materials, including the next generation ...
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  • June 30, 2008

    Gold, DNA combination may lead to 'nano' sensor

    DURHAM, N.C. The ability to use genetic material to assemble nanoscopic particles of gold could be an important step toward creating tiny "spies" that will be able to infiltrate individual cells and report back in real time on the cell's inner workings.A team of Duke University materials engineers and chemists has developed tiny gold nanostructures that can create signals from subtle changes in light reflecting off their nanoscale surfaces. The sub-cellular size of ...
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  • June 26, 2008

    Laursen Named Chair of Mechanical Engineering Department

    Professor Tod Laursen has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Dean Robert Clark and Dean designee Tom Katsouleas announced on June 26. He succeeds professor Franklin H. Cocks, who served as interim chair during the 2007/2008 academic year. "Tod is well known and respected for his scholarship, leadership, judgment and academic values. He has ambitious goals for MEMS and we expect him to be a transformative Chair," said Katsouleas. Laursen received ...
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  • June 19, 2008

    Smart Home Gets Top Environmental Building Score

    Residence hall/laboratory receives state's first platinum LEED rating DURHAM, NC -- The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University, a 10-person student residence hall for green living and learning, has achieved a top-level platinum standard for its design from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The building becomes the first in North Carolina to achieve that standard. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The 6,000-square foot-residence, designed by students and advisers, earned 59 ...
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  • June 19, 2008

    Experimental Phone Network Uses Virtual Sticky Notes

    By Richard Merritt The rapid convergence of social networks, mobile phones and global positioning technology has given Duke University engineers the ability to create something they call "virtual sticky notes," site-specific messages that people can leave for others to pick up on their mobile phones. "Every mobile phone can act as a telescope lens providing real-time information about its environment to any of the 3 billion mobile phones worldwide," said Romit Roy Choudhury, an assistant professor of ...
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  • June 3, 2008

    Possible New Approach To Purifying Drinking Water

    DURHAM, N.C. A genetic tool used by medical researchers may also be used in a novel approach to remove harmful microbes and viruses from drinking water.In a series of proof-of-concept experiments, Duke University engineers demonstrated that short strands of genetic material could successfully target a matching portion of a gene in a common fungus found in water and make it stop working. If this new approach can be perfected, the researchers believe that ...
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  • May 20, 2008

    Engineering the Heart - Damaged Heart Muscle Could Use Stem Cell Patch

    Five Question Interview with Nenad Bursac Nenad Bursac is an assistant professor in biomedical engineering who works with stem cells, tissue engineering and biomaterials to find a way to patch and repair the damage created by a heart attack. Q - How did you get from electrical engineering to heart muscles? I was always fascinated by the heart as an extremely complex and powerful, and yet delicate, organ. The heart is both an electrical and mechanical ...
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