Parents-to-be might soon don 3-D glasses in the ultrasound lab to see their developing fetuses in the womb "in living 3-D, just like at the IMAX movies," according to researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.The same Duke team that first developed real-time, three-dimensional ultrasound imaging says it has now modified the commercial version of the scanner to produce an even more realistic perception of depth. Paired images seem to pop out of the ... [more]

The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative today announced that Warren Grill, of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, and David Martin, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, are recipients of a 2006 Futures grant to support their work on smart prosthetics. The competitive seed grants aim to fill a critical gap for research on bold new ideas, according to The National Academies. Grill and Martin will investigate whether rubber electrodes can record electrical signals from and ... [more]

United Innoworks Academy, an organization founded at Duke by recent Pratt graduate William Hwang, is in the running for a Golden BR!CK award worth $15,000 in funding from the not-for-profit organization Do Something Inc. InnoWorks is competing against 11 other finalists for the top prize. The award will go to the organization that generates the greatest number of web-based votes. Vote now. InnoWorks has made it possible for middle-school kids all over the country to attend free, ... [more]

John Davis, off-road wheelchair racing champion and pioneer, and John Castelano, his wheelchair designer, will speak at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering on Monday, April 2. The talk begins at 4:00 p.m. in the Nello L. Teer Building, room 203, and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the parking garage next to the Bryan Center. Davis is expected to discuss his experience as an outdoors enthusiast—an avid surfer and mountain biker—who ... [more]

Listen to Adam Wax's answers to questions about the new device: --Why would you want to look at organ surfaces? --What is Barrett's esophagus and how is it linked to cancer? --Who is at risk of Barrett's esophagus? --How do doctors check for early cancer in the esophagus now? --What are the advantages of the new "fa/LCI" device? --What do changes in the cell nucleus mean? --How does the new device work? --Will this device be useful for other types of cancer? --Will there ... [more]

Audrey Ellerbee, of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, has been selected by The National Society of Black Engineers as its “Graduate Student of the Year.” Ellerbee will receive her 2007 Golden Torch Award at the society’s 33rd national convention held in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, March 31. Ellerbee also will be discussing her path and future as a participant in the web-based Engineers Week Global Marathon on Thursday, March 22. The 24-hour Global Marathon, For, ... [more]

Duke University biomedical engineering researchers have moved a step closer to a "smart bladder pacemaker" that might one day restore bladder control in patients with spinal cord injury or neurological disease. The team's latest findings show that a device that taps into the urinary "circuit" in the spinal cord could selectively coordinate the contraction and release of muscles required for maintaining continence. Warren Grill of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and his colleagues have shown in cats ... [more]

Using a unique weaving machine of their design, Duke University Medical Center researchers have created a three-dimensional fabric "scaffold" that could greatly improve the ability of physicians to repair damaged joints with the patient's own stem cells. "If further experiments are successful, the scaffold could be used in clinical trials within three or four years," said Franklin Moutos, a graduate student in the Orthopedic Bioengineering Laboratory who designed and built the weaving machine. "The first joints ... [more]