By Cannibalizing Nearby Stromal Stem Cells, Some Breast Cancer Cells Gain Invasion Advantage Cancer biologists and engineers collaborated on a device that could help predict the likelihood of breast cancer metastasis. [Full Story] Blood biopsy: New technique enables detailed genetic analysis of cancer cells Capturing cancer cells from blood samples offers a non-invasive way to observe whether the cancer is disappearing or whether it is becoming resistant to the treatment. [Full Story] Michigan engineers develop solar-powered imaging sensor Sung-Yun Park, Kyuseok Lee, Hyunsoo Song and Euisik Yoon are featured in SPIE Optics on their device that can simultaneously capture an image and harvest energy. [Full Story] Solar cells enable self-powered camera Prof. Euisik Yoon and post-doc Sung-Yun Park developed a self-powered image sensor by placing a photovoltaic diode behind the photodetector diode, collecting the photons that pass through and converting them into electricity. [Full Story] ECE Team behind COMBAT Receives Ted Kennedy Family Faculty Team Excellence Award Eight core researchers who contributed to the Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology (COMBAT) received the 2018 Ted Kennedy Family Faculty Team Excellence Award from the College of Engineering. These members include Dr. Jack East, Prof. Stephen Forrest, Dr. Leland Pierce (Deputy Director of COMBAT), Prof. Amir Mortazawi, Prof. Khalil Najafi, Prof. Kamal Sarabandi (Director of COMBAT), Prof. Dennis Sylvester, and Prof. Euisik Yoon. [Full Story] New Funding for High-Fidelity Nerve Mapping Research The NIH's Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program awarded a U-M project $1 million in funding to develop highly-compliant microneedle arrays for peripheral nerve mapping. The team's project director and principal investigator is John Seymour. [Full Story] $7.75M for mapping circuits in the brain A new NSF Tech Hub will put tools to rapidly advance our understanding of the brain into the hands of neuroscientists. The technology exists to stimulate and map circuits in the brain, but neuroscientists have yet to tap this potential. Now, developers of these technologies are coming together to demonstrate and share them to drive a rapid advance in our understanding of the brain, funded by $7.75 million from the National Science Foundation. [Full Story] Sister cell profiling aims to shut down cancer metastasis In work that could improve understanding of how cancer spreads, a team of engineers and medical researchers at the University of Michigan including Prof. Euisik Yoon developed a new kind of microfluidic chip that can capture rare, aggressive cancer cells, grow them on the chip and release single cells on demand. [Full Story] 2017 EECS Outstanding Achievement Awards The EECS Outstanding Achievement Awards are presented annually to faculty members for their outstanding accomplishments in teaching, research, and service. The recipients of the 2017 EECS Outstanding Achievement Award are Marcus Darden, Almantas Galvanauskas, Atul Prakash, and Euisik Yoon. [Full Story] Cancer stem cells: new method analyzes 10,000 cells at once A new device for studying tumor cells can trap 10,000 individual cells in a single chip. The technique, developed by Prof. Euisik Yoon's group, could one day help screen potential cancer treatments based on an individual patients tumor and help researchers better understand so-called cancer stem cells. It also shed light on a controversy: are large cells or small cells more likely to be cancer stem cells? [Full Story] Students Seek the Secrets of the Brain in Study Abroad Program Eight undergrad students got the chance to work on cutting edge brain research in Germany this summer through the International Program for the Advancement of Neurotechnology (IPAN). Directed by Prof. Euisik Yoon, the program sent students from around the country to two universities where they experienced a month of in-depth lab work on devices that could help us better understand the brain. [Full Story] Students from the United States visiting various work groups of BrainLinks-BrainTools this summer Four undergrad students participating in the International Program for the Advancement of Neurotechnology (IPAN)'s summer bootcamp visited the cluster of excellence at Freiburg University in Germany. The students received training in modern neuroscience research and tools. IPAN and the study abroad program are directed by Prof. Euisik Yoon. [Full Story] Leaders in Neuroscience Look to the Future Engineers and neuroscientists from around the globe gathered at Michigan to explore the future of neurotechnology and research at the International Conference for Advanced Neurotechnology (ICAN). Understanding the complexity and mysteries of the brain is one of the biggest scientific challenges of this century. ICAN is an inaugural conference to bring engineers and neuroscientists together to review the recent advancement in neurotechnology and neuroscience, define the need for next-generation tools to move neuroscience forward, and enhance the translation of technology to the scientific community. The event included guest lectures and panel discussions, as well as a student poster session. [Full Story] Novel collaboration to probe brain activity in unprecedented detail A pilot program led by Prof. Euisik Yoon will regularly bring together researchers with complementary expertise from different universities to collaborate on advancing research that may lead to a better understanding of the human brain and diseases that affect it. Yoon has been leading a key development of the Michigan Probe, a revolutionary tiny solid-state microsystem developed at U-M that can be used to probe the inner workings of the brain. [Full Story] Mapping the brain: Probes with tiny LEDs shed light on neural pathways With the help of light-emitting diodes as small as neurons, University of Michigan researchers are unlocking the secrets of neural pathways in the brain. The researchers have built and tested in mice neural probes that hold what are believed to be the smallest implantable LEDs ever made. The new probes can control and record the activity of many individual neurons, measuring how changes in the activity of a single neuron can affect its neighbors. The team anticipates that experiments using probes based on their design could lead to breakthroughs in understanding and treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. [Full Story] U-M Leading International Neurotechnology 'Dream Team' for Brain Research and Education A "dream team" of experts in sensors, electronics, data analysis and neuroscience has been awarded a $5 million grant to help unravel the mysteries of the brain and cross-train an international group of neuroscientists and engineers. The project is directed by Prof. Euisik Yoon, and includes experts and partner institutions around the world. [Full Story] What makes cancer cells spread? New device offers clues Why do some cancer cells break away from a tumor and travel to distant parts of the body? A team of oncologists and engineers from the University of Michigan teamed up to help understand this crucial question. Prof. Euisik Yoon led the engineering team that created a new device that is able to sort cells based on their ability to move. Cancer becomes deadly when it spreads, or metastasizes. Not all cells have the same ability to travel through the body, but researchers dont understand why. This study is a step towards coming to that understanding. [Full Story] Mapping the brain with lasers Individual parts of the brain can be activated and de-activated by shining light on the neurons, and researchers are using this ability to chart how different areas of the brain function. To zoom in on individual neuron circuits within the brain, more precise light sources are needed. ECE professor Euisik Yoon is leading a team that will design and build these new light sources with a variety of lasers. [Full Story] Biochips for better cancer therapy Prof. Yoon's group is working to dramatically accelerate progress in a form of cancer therapy known as photodynamic therapy (PDT), which combines the agents of a photosensitive drug, light, and oxygen to attack cancerous tumors and lesions locally in the targeted region of the body by selective optical illumination. [Full Story] Nanotechnology and Progress: A Quantum Entanglement In this brief overview of nanotechnology research in ECE, well look at how research at the nanoscale is impacting lighting, medicine, displays, electronics, information security and the far-out world of quantum computing. Our faculty are also looking into how to manufacture these devices. [Full Story] Neural Probe Research Recognized with Best Paper Award at 2013 Transducers Conference Doctoral student Fan Wu received an Outstanding Oral Paper Award at the 17th Int. Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems for the paper, "A Multi-shank Silk-backed Parylene Neural Probe for Reliable Chronic Recording," co-authored by Lee Tien, Fujun Chen, Prof. David Kaplan, Prof. Joshua Berke, and his advisor, Prof. Euisik Yoon. The researchers designed and obtained the first in vivo recording of a biodegradable silk-backed neural probe [Full Story] Super-fine sound beam could one day be an invisible scalpel A carbon-nanotube-coated lens that converts light to sound can focus high-pressure sound waves to finer points than ever before. This new therapeutic ultrasound approach could lead to an invisible knife for noninvasive surgery. Working on the project is an interdisciplinary team lead by Prof. Jay Guo, with Prof. Euisik Yoon, Prof. John Hart (ME), and Prof. Zhen Xu (BioMed). [Full Story] A minimally-invasive brain implant to translate thoughts into movement Prof. Euisik Yoon is developing a minimally-invasive brain implant to detect and wirelessly transmit the brain's neural signals. [Full Story] Green Computing: Higher Energy Efficiency from Silicon to the Cloud For decades, researchers and industry have been focused on increasing computing performance by increasing transistor density and shrinking the size of computing devices. But with the continued scaling of computing systems to sizes only theorized a decade ago, combined with the prevalence of mobile devices, social networking, cloud computing, and the cost of powering huge data centers, the computing paradigm has changed. Energy efficiency is now a primary consideration at all levels of computing. [Full Story] |