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Beyond Undergraduate School: A Graduate Student’s First Steps Into Biomedical Research IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Beverly Yow
Transitioning from undergraduate to graduate school is a looming obstacle in the academic journey of many biomedical engineers. To better understand this transition, we’ve invited one person to discuss her trek from an undergraduate degree to a graduate lab, including insights about current research and advice to prospective graduate students.
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Breakthroughs in Brain Implants IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Zara Abrams
In 2023, Brain implants got a big boost. Neuralink, Elon Musk’s startup, began recruiting for its first clinical trial for paralysis patients; Precision Neuroscience received breakthrough designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), allowing it to fast-track its own trials. Meanwhile, scientific advances are revealing promising new applications for such devices, including more comprehensive
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Noninvasive Injectables for Chronic Low Back Pain IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Leslie Mertz
The World Health Organization calls low back pain the single leading cause of disability worldwide, and one that can lead to limitations in activities and erosion of the quality of life [1] . The pain is often caused by degeneration of one or more shock-absorbing intervertebral discs, each of which is essentially a collagen-and-water cushion, called nucleus pulposus (NP), that lies within a strong
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Meeting the Challenges of Surgical Device Design and Translation for Global Use IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Cynthia Weber
The need for viable global health solutions—and particularly solutions for global surgery—are paramount [2] . In response, a research group at the University of Leeds, U.K., has been working in concert with a multidisciplinary team to develop retractor for abdominal insufflation-less surgery (RAIS), a gasless laparoscopy system that enables crucial surgery in low-resource settings. The group is led
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Looking Ahead to IEEE EMBS Pulse 2024 IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Mike Hess
Dear readers of Pulse magazine,
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Advances in Maternity Technology IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Mary Bates
Despite spending more on health care, the United States has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of any high-income country, according to a recent report by the Commonwealth Fund [1] . In 2020, U.S. maternal mortality was over three times the rate in most other high-income countries, at 23.8 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. And troublingly, these numbers are rising, with 32
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Novel Monitoring and Treatment Technologies for the Heart IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Leslie Mertz
Cardiovascular disease may be the world’s leading killer of men and women, but new technologies are in development that could help lessen its impact. Among them are a variety of innovative external and internal patches that employ flexible and stretchable materials, machine learning, and other tactics to monitor heart activity and function, and in some cases to provide on-the-spot treatment.
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In Your Ear: A Multimodal Hearables Device for the Assessment of the State of Body and Mind IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Danilo Mandic, Matteo Bermond, Edoardo Occhipinti, Harry J. Davies, Ghena Hammour, Amir Nassibi
It is predicted that the global shipment of smart wearables will approach 302.2 million devices in 2023, increasing from 222.9 million devices in 2019 [1] . It was also forecast in 2019 that the number of ear-worn devices—so-called hearables—would rise to 105.3 million in 2023, from 72 million in 2019 [2] . Given the relatively fixed position of the head with respect to the brain and vital organs in
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Robotic Assistance: Orthopedic Tech Advances for Today and Tomorrow IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Leslie Mertz
Robotic technologies are already becoming part of joint replacement operations in many hospitals, but the need for research groups to come up with both small and large innovations remains great, according to Harpal “Paul” Khanuja, M.D., chief of joint replacement surgery for Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ( Figure 1 ), and Daniel Wiznia, M.D., an assistant professor of both mechanical
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To Sleep, Perchance to Dream IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Jim Banks
Most of us know the restorative value of an early night, so on some level we instinctively understand that sleep is good for both the body and the mind. Now, a growing body of research is starting to show just how vital sleep is to our overall health and longevity. Some believe that laughter is no longer the best medicine—sleep is.
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Enrich Your Horizon With IEEE EMBS Student Mentoring Program IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Muhammad Fairuziko Nurrajab, Nyi Nyi Tun
In order to align with the original goals of the IEEE organization’s IEEE Mentoring Meeting, the IEEE EMBS Student Activities Committee (IEEE EMBS SAC) is now shaping the Student Mentoring Program (SMP) for EMBS members. The SMP, a student-led initiative by the Student Activities Committee (SAC), is an annual series of events that aim to offer a support network for students to connect with experienced
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Benefits of Volunteering: Being IEEE EMBS Student Mentoring Program Ambassadors IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Nyi Nyi Tun, Antony M. Gitau, Tony Adel Fawzy
For an IEEE society, the IEEE EMBS SAC mainly functions with five main portfolios according to the new organized organogram of Team 2023 [1] . They are the Student Representation Portfolio, the Technical Activities Portfolio, the Professional Development Portfolio, the Public Relations Portfolio, and the Administrative Portfolio. Under five main portfolios, the team is now shaping five main initiatives
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Engineering for the Under-Resourced IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Nancey Trevanian Tsai
What does it mean to advance technology for humanity? Does it beg us to ask, “Define technology?” and “What segment of Humanity?”
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Consciousness for Artificial Intelligence? IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Arthur T. Johnson
Can artificial intelligence (AI) systems ever achieve anything close to consciousness? There is presently an intense speculation about whether they can or cannot [6] .
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Engineering Design Parallels Biology IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Arthur T. Johnson
One reason for all engineers to learn about biological evolution is that evolution is a paradigm for the engineering design process. Consider that the first attempt at a practical technical solution to some societal need is usually fairly crude and not very satisfying. However, as the first attempt, it finds some acceptance, and can be produced and marketed with the advantage of being first. As customer
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Biomedical Signal Processing: A Modern Approach IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-02-22 Paul H. King
From the text advertising blurb, “This book presents the theoretical basis and applications of biomedical signal analysis and processing” and “This book is aimed at researchers, graduate students in biomedical signal processing, signal processing, electrical engineering, neuroscience, and computer science,” and aims to present “the theoretical basis and applications of biomedical signal analysis and
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The Brain Cells That Make Us Uniquely Human IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Zara Abrams
For over a century, scientists have known that the brain contains multiple cell types, dating back to Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s earliest observations of brain tissue under a microscope. But until recently, we lacked the tools to study those cells with enough resolution to truly understand their roles.
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NASA Takes on Climate Change: Focusing Tech From Space to Earth IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Leslie Mertz
When the Voyager 1 spacecraft was hurtling past Neptune to points beyond, its camera swung back to snap an image of Earth, a tiny spot of light in the vast, dark expanse. That 1990 image offered a stark reminder of just how vulnerable our planet is. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) remains focused on space exploration today, but is also providing an Earth-side role, notably
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Harnessing Brain Stimulation to Enhance Memory IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Summer Allen
Across the world, people are living longer. This phenomenon is creating a demographic shift: by 2050, the number of people aged 60 and older is expected to double and the number of people older than 80 is expected to triple [1] . A growing elderly population also means an increase in age-related health concerns. In particular, with age comes normal memory decline as well as an increased risk of Alzheimer’s
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Treating the Brain With Focused Ultrasound IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Mary Bates
Focused ultrasound is an early stage, noninvasive therapy with the potential to treat a range of medical conditions. Like diagnostic ultrasound, it uses sound waves above the range of human hearing. But its purpose is to interact with tissues in the body, rather than just produce images of them. In focused ultrasound, multiple, intersecting beams of high frequency sound are aimed to converge on specific
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The Gene Editing Juggernaut is Picking Up Speed IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Jim Banks
CRISPR-Cas9, the tool for editing genes by precisely cutting DNA and letting the body’s natural DNA repair processes take over, deservedly led to Nobel prizes in 2020 for its pioneers, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna. Since their breakthroughs in 2012, the technology has moved forward in leaps and bounds, and techniques to manipulate genes that were once the realm of science fiction are
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The Challenge of Sepsis: Solving This Global Health Problem Requires Cross- Disciplinary Innovation IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Leslie Mertz
Sepsis is one of the largest health crises of our time, and an ideal group to fight it are the innovators who comprise IEEE. That is the assessment of Timothy G. Buchman ( Figure 1 ), Ph.D., M.D., an expert on the infection-triggered condition that each year claims the lives of more than 11 million people worldwide, including more than 350,000 [1] in the United States. “IEEE is a wonderful catalytic
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Good Ideas and Working Together IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Arthur T. Johnson
The late physicist and Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling once said. “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” And, that also implies that, of the many ideas generated in one’s head, a lot of them would not be classified as “good”; not all of our ideas are worth the calories they take to develop them.
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Engineering Superiority IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Arthur T. Johnson
The Famous Engineer Henry Petroski once wrote about one of his students who asked, “Why do engineering students feel superior to those of us studying in nontechnical fields?” [2] . Petroski answered the question like this: “Engineers are recognized as the creative people who bring us innovations like the smart phone, the personal computer, the Internet, and the World Wide Web, all of which have revolutionized
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New Research Offers Clues About the Aging Brain IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Zara Abrams
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a grand challenge. It’s common, affecting about 10% of the population; it’s expensive, costing the nation nearly ${\$}$ 350 billion in 2023; and it often causes years of suffering for patients and their loved ones [1] . Other age-related neurodegenerative conditions, such as vascular dementia and Parkinson’s disease, also continue to pose problems, both for patients and
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The Rising Threat of Antibiotic Resistance IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Leslie Mertz
We are Out of time. New, effective antibiotics are required to face the real and growing global threat from resistant and too often deadly bacterial infections. According to the World Health Organization, “Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. New resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to treat common infectious
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New Strategies for Addressing Antibiotic Resistance Offer Promise, but Time is Running Out IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Leslie Mertz
As antibacterial resistance increases—now thought responsible for an estimated 5 million deaths worldwide each year [1] —scientists are investigating two distinct approaches to combating this deadly problem: Develop new antibiotics that defy pathogen resistance or design methods that hone antibiotic selection and fight individual infections better.
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Considering Sex in Biomedical Research IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Mary Bates
Until relatively recently, basic biomedical research was almost exclusively conducted with male human, animal, and cell models. It was widely assumed that the research findings and medical treatments developed from these studies could be generalized to the whole population. However, there are sex differences in key biological pathways and processes that can influence a person’s disease risk, experience
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DNA Testing for Preventative Health: Do Outcomes Justify Continued Investment? IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Jim Banks
In The U.K., a heated debate is raging in the genetics community about a not-so-new technology and its role in public health. Cheap genetic tests to discover our ancestry have become familiar consumer products, and our genes can tell us a lot about our ancestry, so it is an appealing idea that they can tell us about our susceptibility to serious diseases. Polygenic risk scores (PRS)—generated by sequencing
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Artificial Intelligence Aided Ethics in Frontier Research IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Andrés Díaz Lantada, Mette Ebbesen
Emergent technologies are frequently demonized due to the fear of the unknown. The doubts and alarms are more often than not sparked by their own developers, in a secret wish to become the masters of such fears, and thereby increase their control and influence upon laymen. The story is as old as the use of fire by the sorcerers guiding most ancient rituals. Now it seems to be the turn of artificial
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Digital Human Modeling and Medicine [Book review] IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Paul H. King
This text, Digital Human Modeling and Medicine, is a comprehensive overview in 32 chapters distributed within six sections of the state-of-the-art and applications of the field of human modeling and applications in medicine. The 32 chapters were contributed by a total of about 89 contributors. The following topics are presented: modelling methods; organs; foot digital twin and in silico clinical applications;
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How Brain Organoids Are Revolutionizing Neuroscience IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Zara Abrams
Measuring just a millimeter or two in diameter, brain organoids are a far cry from a fully functioning human brain. But these miniature tissues, typically derived from stem cells, are increasingly able to mimic the structure and function of our most complex organ, unlocking exciting possibilities for neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and beyond.
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New Center Primes the Extended Reality Frontier IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Leslie Mertz
Extended reality has reached a critical point in biomedicine. The technology is accelerating and excitement about potential health care benefits is mounting but bridging the gap between envisioning what could be and actually making it happen is still a work in progress. Part of the challenge is coordinating all the major players to ease the development pipeline so virtual, augmented, and mixed reality
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Ensuring AI Is Helpful and Not Harmful in Health Care IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Jim Banks
The presence of artificial intelligence (AI) is spreading fast through almost every industry, and health care is no exception. Data-based decision-making software is becoming pervasive in all facets of modern life, and the AI-enabled chatbot ChatGPT is having a seismic impact on the public perception of AI.
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MicroRNA Biomarkers: Pitfalls and Potential IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Mary Bates
Thirty years ago, the small molecules we now know as microRNAs (miRNAs) would have been regarded as “junk” genetic material. Today, miRNAs have been hailed as promising biomarkers for diseases including cancer, neurological disorders, heart conditions, and infections. Although progress has been made toward characterizing the role of miRNAs in different diseases, there remain challenges in bringing
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Smart Contact Lenses Keep an Eye on Health IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Leslie Mertz
Contact lenses are ideal conduits for continuous health monitoring. They have a long safety record, and they sit on the eye, where they have access to a range of biological signals. Making the transition from vision correction to biological monitoring, however, requires advances in technological development so the lenses not only detect and report signals accurately, but retain the high level of comfort
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Designing Devices for Vulnerable Populations: What Needs to Change? IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Muhammad Hamid Zaman
The health and well-being of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and stateless communities are often at risk due to political, logistical, and security challenges associated with providing adequate and timely medical aid to the deserving groups [1] . These challenges are further exacerbated by the absence of context-appropriate technologies that can aid in diagnosis, management, and treatment
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Digital Health Enabled Health Care Innovations IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Yasemin M. Akay, Ting Chen
The 10th Annual University of Houston (UH) Biomedical Engineering (BME) Day on Health Care Innovation and Entrepreneurship, co-sponsored by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), and technically co-sponsored by BioHouston Inc., was held on 28 April 2023 ( Figure 1 ).
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From Mentorship to Success: A Tapestry of Experiences in the IEEE EMBS Student Mentoring Program IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Nyi Nyi Tun, Bryan Aleman, Sayda Huacre
The IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBS) Student Mentoring Program (SMP) is an annual series of events that aim to provide a support network for students to connect with experienced professionals who align with their interests around the world. The program is an initiative run by the Professional Development Portfolio as a subcommittee of the IEEE EMBS Student Activities Committee
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Karen’s Defense IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Arthur T. Johnson
The final hurdle for all Ph.D. candidates in our department at the university was an oral defense of their thesis work. The thesis was a formal report of the research project that had usually taken candidates years to finish. Along the way, they had to satisfy a list of course requirements, and the knowledge that they should have learned in these courses was also fair game for questioning by an Advisory
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Ultrasound and Microbubbles Combine for Drug Delivery, Detecting Biomarkers IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Leslie Mertz
Microbubbles and ultrasound are no longer teaming up only as a way to enhance images. New technologies are now using the two to create physical pathways into cells for easier drug delivery, even into the cells of highly drug-resistant cancerous tumors and across the blood–brain barrier. Going further, a Texas research group has developed drug-carrying microbubbles that can complete targeted delivery
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NIH/NIBIB Introduces New Center for Biomedical Engineering Technology Acceleration IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Leslie Mertz
In Late January 2023, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) launched a new center designed to accelerate biomedical discovery and therapeutics, in part by pulling together expert, multidisciplinary teams from throughout the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to quickly respond when national or global health crises strike. The inaugural director of this Center for
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Biocompatible Materials Offer Sustainability and Enhanced Design IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Janet Rae-Dupree
Plastic has done more to revolutionize the medical industry over the past century than any other material. Syringes, intravenous bags, personal protective equipment (PPE), catheters, and test kits—plastic is ubiquitous throughout medicine. It’s easy to see why. Plastic is low-cost, easy to process, and can be sterilized efficiently.
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An Injection of Innovation: How Drug Delivery Systems are Changing IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Jim Banks
The market for injectable drugs is booming, fueling both a wave of innovation in device design and a debate about the relative pros and cons of injectables versus oral medication. As regulators continue to approve injectable medications that could replace daily pill regimens, particularly long-acting drugs that could improve patient compliance, it is legitimate to ask whether injectables will one day
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Enhancing Therapeutic Delivery Using Micro- and Nanorobots IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Leslie Mertz
“The traditional way of delivering drugs has a very low efficiency. For instance, with solid tumors, drug delivery efficiency is reported to be lower than 1% [1], which means that 99% of the drug is elsewhere in the body causing side effects instead of actually fighting the cancer. This is where micro- and nanorobots can come into play, because they can swim or otherwise move to the target location
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Ethical Issues of 4D Printed Medical Devices IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Andrés Díaz Lantada
Since the dawn of additive manufacturing technologies in the 1980s and 90s, now commonly named 3D printing, the possibility of processing raw materials into freeform designed objects with unprecedented shape complexity opened new avenues for the development of medical devices. Indeed, the geometries of nature and the human body are extremely multifaceted, with even fractal- like or multiscale levels
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Fostering Future Professionals: A Review of the IEEE EMBS Student Mentoring Program IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Nyi Nyi Tun, Bryan Aleman
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) is dedicated to fostering professional development for its student members. One of the primary ways that EMBS accomplishes this mission is through its student activities committee (SAC) student mentoring program.
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Empowering Student Leaders: The New Initiative to Establish Regional Student Activities Committees and Student Regional Representatives in the IEEE EMBS IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Bryan Aleman
The IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) is a leading international organization dedicated to promoting the integration of engineering and medicine to improve human health. The EMBS Student Activities Committee (SAC) is responsible for promoting and supporting student involvement in the society, and the recent initiative to install regional student activities committees (RSACs) and
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When is N +1 Too Much? IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Arthur T. Johnson
The story is told that a juggler who can suspend five objects will invariably be asked if he or she can juggle six objects. Jugglers who can handle six objects at a time will almost always be asked if he or she can handle seven. No matter how many things a juggler can deal with at a time, he or she will inevitably be asked if they can juggle one more.
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Extended Reality for Health Care Systems: Recent Advances in Contemporary Research IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-05-25 Paul H. King
Having worked with patient simulator systems, and at this point having used an oculus system to explore various virtual reality (VR) recordings for several months, this reviewer thought the above title might be worth reading and reviewing for the readers of IEEE Pulse. Per the publisher’s website advertising, the readership of this text might be “Extended reality technologists and engineers, students
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Advances in Microscopy Tech Offer Better Views IEEE Pulse (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-03-14 Leslie Mertz
Microscopes have come a very long way since the 1600s when Henry Power, Robert Hooke, and Anton van Leeuwenhoek began publishing the first views of plant cells and bacteria. The major inventions of contrast, electron, and scanning tunneling microscopes didn’t arrive until the 20th century, and the men behind them all earned Nobel Prizes in physics for their efforts. Today, innovations in microscopy