Senior Design
Engineering undergraduates describe a low-cost communication technology they developed for patients with "locked-in syndrome" from neurotraumas like stroke or brain injury. This project and 32 others will be displayed at the Hajim School Design Day on April 28, 2 - 4 p.m., in Goergen Hall.
The Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Program at the University of Rochester introduces students to a systematic, customer-driven design and problem solving approach resulting in development of prototype medical devices or research instruments. The program includes a two-semester sequence of courses for which students receive 6 credits. In the fall, students start by benchmarking and analyzing existing medical devices, before joining teams to solve a problem posed by a customer from the University of Rochester faculty, clinicians from our medical center, the local community, or local industry during the remainder of the year. In solving these problems, students generate a formal design proposal, participate in formal design reviews, develop physical prototypes, and test their devices. Following several guest lectures throughout the year, all design teams are expected to thoroughly consider many realistic constraints, including: ethical, economic, manufacturing, social, and regulatory issues.
Over the last six years, our students have completed over 50 projects including
- clinical devices
- assistive technology
- biomedical research instruments and protocols
DPNDiagnostics at the University of Rochester: This video demonstrates the senior design project of DPNDiagnostics at the University of Rochester. The PediMap is a pressure sensing shoe capable of detecting and calculating peak plantar pressures and peak pressure gradients.
Our student teams are supervised by members of the Biomedical Engineering faculty, who provide both technical and project management guidance. Students deliver both prototypes and extensive reports to document all results of testing and considerations for further implementation. Several teams have entered projects in local entrepreneurship and national design competitions, with great success. Other teams have worked with our Office for Technology Transfer to disclose their inventions and consider patent applications.