What is BARL?
Our research group integrates knowledge in medical sciences and several engineering areas to devise new concepts and methodologies for diagnosis and monitoring of medical conditions. The engineering areas that are actively being pursued in this lab includes:
- Vibrations and Acoustics
- Sensing and Transduction
- Digital Signal Processing
- Flow Induced Vibrations
- Electromechanical Systems
- Material Characterization
- Computational Modeling
Our efforts began in 1990 with focus on studying gastrointestinal (GI) sounds to aid in the diagnosis of intestinal obstruction. Another focus was to investigate utilizing flow induced vibrations to design spirometers with no moving parts. With grant support from Whitaker Foundation and later from NIH and NSF, our research expanded to study vibro-acoustic phenomena related to GI perforation, delayed gastric emptying, pneumothorax (collapsed lung), endotracheal tube malposition detection, vascular graft integrity, heart failure, and other medical conditions.
The lab was able to attract external funding, contribute to the bio-vibro-acoustic literature, and generate intellectual property.