Functional and Regenerative BioMedical Technologies

Regenerating health

HST is at the forefront of the developing technologies and biological discoveries that will make possible transformative innovations in diagnosing and treating disease. Through new discoveries in the field of nano- and micro-scale engineering, one can precisely design and control systems at length scales comparable to biological cells and molecules. HST faculty are designing programmable, implantable drug delivery systems (devices) that sense changes in local tissue or blood environments and respond in "smart" ways, delivering the appropriate amounts of therapeutic agents.

HST research focuses on developing cost-effective methods to restore cell, tissue, and organ function. HST researchers apply the rigors of physical sciences to the problems in harnessing and engineering molecules, cells, and tissues. A principal site of this work is the Harvard-MIT Biomedical Engineering Center, located in the heart of the MIT campus, where seven resident faculty members supervise a staff of more than 90 scientists.

Harvard-MIT Biomedical Engineering Center (BMEC)

BMEC unites engineers and physical scientists with physicians and physician-scientists, and together they apply the rigors of the physical sciences to fundamental biological processes and mechanisms of disease.

BMEC's dedication to translating science into advances in patient-care has placed it at the forefront of clinical trials for emerging technologies. Clinical trials based on technology developed at BMEC include those that examine tissue-engineered arterial implants, cardiovascular angiogenesis, how stent design affects vascular response to injury, novel therapies to fight accelerated arteriopathies, and how different insulins affect the complications of diabetes mellitus.

Established in 1974, BMEC is HST's oldest research center. Early collaborations at the Center resulted in the introduction of microprocessors to clinical instrumentation. The "intelligent" monitors and analytical data-recording devices ubiquitous in all medical centers, such as electrocardiographs, were also made possible through BMEC's research.

http://web.mit.edu/hst-program/erelab

HST at work

Restoring natural function to amputees

Of the more than 1.2 million amputees in the United States, 18.5 percent are transfemoral (above the knee) amputees. Hugh M. Herr, Ph.D. has commercialized his novel gait adaptive knee prostheses for transfemoral amputees and has a prototype prosthesis for ankle-foot orthoses for patients suffering from drop-foot, a gait pathology caused by stroke, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis. His unique research approach applies the principles of muscle-mechanics, neural control, and animal locomotion to guide the designs of biomimetic robots and rehabilitation technologies, which has led to the development of novel actuation strategies, including the use of animal-derived muscle to power robots in millimeter- to centimeter-size scale.

Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology