Biomedical Acoustics

biomedical acoustics There are three main areas of study in the area of biomedical acoustics at the University of Rochester:

  • Mechanisms of interaction of ultrasound energy with biological tissues, including therapeutic applications of ultrasound
  • Ultrasound imaging, including the development of novel strategies for using ultrasound to characterize the mechanical properties of healthy and diseased tissue
  • Studies of hearing, including:
    • Cellular and molecular studies of the process of sensory reception in the inner ear
    • The development of drug delivery devices for the inner ear
    • Studies of the physiological responses of auditory neurons at several levels of the central nervous system in young and aged animals
    • Behavioral studies of hearing related to sound localization and the processing of complex sounds

The ultrasound research projects benefit from the University of Rochester's Center for Biomedical Ultrasound. Hearing researchers participate actively in the Center for Navigation and Communication Sciences. 

Professor Laurel Carney and Professor Diane Dalecki were featured on WXXI's Science Roundtable. Listen to the interview here.

Example Research Projects

Mechanisms for Wound Healing with Ultrasoundbiomedicalacoustics2biomedicalacoustics3biomedicalacoustics4biomedicalacoustics5biomedicalacoustics5biomedicalacoustics5
acoustic radiation force impulsebiological effects of ultrasoundcomputational models of the auditory systemfunctional pathways in the auditory systemauditory processing of soundmicrofluidicsSMURF
low frequency underwater soundcochlear

 

Current Researchers

Laurel H. Carney, PhDAuditory neuroscience; neurophysiological, behavioral, and computational studies of hearing; signal processing for hearing aids
Diane Dalecki, PhDBiomedical ultrasound, acoustics, lithotripsy, biological effects of ultrasound
Vikram Dogra, MBBSPhotoacoustic imaging for medical diagnosis, application of high resolution ultrasound for bladder tumor detection and follow-up; high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for hemostasis
Marvin Doyley, PhDAdvanced ultrasonic and magnetic resonance imaging techniques
Denise Hocking, PhDRegulation of cell behavior by the extracellular matrix
Anne E. Luebke, PhDRole of cochlear outer hair cells in hearing and hearing loss, at both the molecular and systems levels
Stephen A. McAleavey, PhDDevelopment of novel, clinically applicable ultrasound imaging techniques
Mohammad Mehrmohammadi, PhDDevelop novel, hybrid, and ultrasound-based diagnostic methods, and define the clinical utility of the developed technologies as it applies to detection, diagnosis, and therapy of various pathologies.
Jong-Hoon Nam, PhDBiophysics of inner ear sensory cells, cell mechanics
Kevin Parker, PhDMedical imaging, digital imaging, halftoning, and novel scanning techniques using Doppler shift effects
Deborah Rubens, PhDUltrasound sonoelasticity; 3-dimensional imaging; contrast agents
Scott H. Seidman, PhDVestibular systems, motor learning, physiological models, multi-sensory integration