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IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter

Welcome to the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter

By Nitish Thakor

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter. The Newsletter will bring you news of current developments and views of future prospects in the converging worlds of life sciences and engineering.

Advances in life sciences such as cell biology, genomics, and pharmacology, as well as society’s desire to improve health care, have led to an increased need for more of what technology has to offer: statistical methods, image analyses, diagnostic devices, and medical equipment standards, to name just a few areas. These all involve electrical and computer engineering and computer science—fields in which IEEE has a wealth of experience.

Featured Interview - Bin He

Bin He, IEEE Fellow, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, discusses the importance of the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative.

Building Brain Machine Interfaces – Neuroprosthetic Control with Electrocorticographic Signals

By Nitish Thakor

A prosthesis revolution is underway. New limb prostheses deploy very advanced materials and robotic technology. For instance, dexterous upper limbs designed by John's Hopkins University's Applied Physics Labratory and a commercial company, DEKA, display 22 degrees of freedom. But along with this is a revolution in the means of control of limbs. Implantable neural interface technologies and methods will allow the wearer of the limb to more naturally move the limb.

Computational Biology Corner

By Mathukumalli Vidyasagar

(This is the first article in a continuing feature of the Newsletter.)

"Computational biology" is a phrase that means different things to different people, ranging all the way from sequence alignment, to turning very short "reads" of DNA fragments into a complete genome, to predicting adverse responses in clinical trials. In this month's article, I look at the role of machine learning in computational biology. Is it necessary - and is it sufficient, as it is currently implemented?

Exploration of the Cellular Galaxy: Search for the Inner Life of the Cell

By Luke P. Lee

Humankind has always been fascinated with space exploration and reaching up to the stars. Scientific discovery and breakthroughs in technology allow us to explore space outside our solar system. Now we are learning how to explore inner life of living cells. By creating innovative 'satellite nanoscopes', we can enjoy exploring cellular space of living cells and obtain snapshots of what we metaphorically refer to as the cellular galaxy.

About the Newsletter

The IEEE LifeSciences Newsletter is a new initiative to bring forth interesting articles and informative interviews within the exciting field of life sciences every month. Please subscribe to the newsletter to receive notification each month when new articles are published.

April 2012 Contributors

Bin He is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Neuroscience, and Director of Biomedical Functional Imaging and Neuroengineering Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Read more...

Mathukumalli Vidyasagar received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, in 1965, 1967 and 1969 respectively. Between 1969 and 1989, he was a professor of Electrical Engineering at various universities in the USA and Canada. Read more...

Nitish V. Thakor is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, as well as the Director of the newly formed institute for neurotechnology, SiNAPSE, at the National University of Singapore. Read more...

Luke P. Lee is a 2010 Ho-Am Laureate. He is an Arnold and Barbara Silverman Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley, the Director of the Biomedical Institute of Global Healthcare Research & Technology (BIGHEART) and a co-director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center.
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