Centre for Biomedical Engineering
A Newcastle University Centre of Research Excellence
Developing new technologies for the diagnosis, treatment and management of medical conditions. Our Centre brings together our engineering, scientific, clinical, and policy expertise across the University.
Developing new technologies for medical conditions
Newcastle University has a long track record in biomedical engineering. This gives an integrated and connected approach to research, development and translation of new devices, therapies and diagnostic technologies. Our core areas of expertise are:
- diagnostics and theranostics
- clinical imaging and medical physics
- medical devices
- tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Diagnostics and theranostics
Our research covers:
- general sensor development
- theranostics for stratified medicine
- point-of-need sensor solutions capable of remote deployment
Some solutions are adapted for existing delivery platforms, such as cost-effective paper-based solutions. Others work with novel electrochemical and MEMS sensing or next generation molecular diagnostics platforms.
The solutions often utilise new innovations in materials science to improve on state-of-the-art performance. The disease areas covered include cancer and infectious disease diagnostics.
Medical devices
Medical devices covers a very broad area of our research, including:
- implantable neuroprosthetics to bring sight back to the blind
- advanced pacemakers for epilepsy
- orthopaedic implants for hip, knee and spine
- assistive devices which allow people to compensate for impairments
Research covers:
- the development of new devices
- understanding the clinical effectiveness of devices
- supporting medical device regulators in developing well founded policies around devices
Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Research covers a wide range of applications, including:
- the use of novel bioprinting techniques to develop new in vitro models for disease models and drug development
- new technologies to support transplantation
- new scalable cell sources
- new biomaterials to support tissue development
- regenerative approaches to treating musculoskeletal, diabetic, cardiac, retinal, liver, kidney and immunological conditions
Clinical imaging and medical physics
Our research in clinical imaging and medical physics covers:
- the development of new imaging methods
- use of state-of-the-art imaging techniques to gain new insights into the development and treatment of disease
This exploits multi-modality imaging, which is where multiple imaging techniques are applied together in order to get a greater depth of understanding of the underlying biological processes.
Our impact
A recent example of our impact is the VAIOS® shoulder implant. This is used to restore function to patients who have damaged their shoulder joint.
The shoulder prosthesis was developed on the basis of research into the biomechanics of the shoulder joint carried out at Newcastle University.
It was then commercialised by JRI Orthopaedics, with the first products implanted in April 2010. Since then over 17,000 prostheses have been sold worldwide.
