Department of Biomedical Engineering

Sagnik Basuray is developing a device the size of a dollar coin that will detect cancer biomarkers in patients in remission by sampling a tiny drop of blood with a dip stick. His sensor is groundbreaking not only in its simplicity, but also in its portability. It’s meant to be used at home. “Cancer patients in remission need to be kept informed at all times about the status of their disease, so a point-of-care test that they can administer themselves makes sense,” noted Basuray, an assistant professor of chemical and materials engineering. “We’re designing one that is non-invasive,...

Kamela Chandrika, a soft-spoken third-year biomedical engineering major, remembers some of the challenges she faced during her first days at NJIT — like going to the Bursar’s Office to pay her tuition bill, but not knowing how to fill out a check. Even before arriving at the university she faced school-related hurdles, particularly in navigating the application and financial aid processes. Filing a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), for instance, proved frustrating because she did not know what information she needed to complete it. And while her parents were very supportive...

A blow to the head or powerful shock wave on the battlefield can cause immediate, significant damage to a person’s skull and the tissue beneath it. But the trauma does not stop there. The impact sets off a chemical reaction in the brain that ravages neurons and the networks that supply them with nutrients and oxygen. It is the secondary effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can lead to long-term cognitive, psychological and motor system damage, that piqued the interest of a team of NJIT biomedical engineers. To counter them, they are developing a therapy, to be injected at the...

A five-woman team of undergraduate engineering students is tackling a problem experienced by a diverse and growing population: balance instability. For the elderly, people recovering from strokes and accidents or those living with disorders that affect movement, such as Parkinson’s disease, falls present the risk of grave injury. With funding from the Hearst Foundations, the team is taking aim at the mechanics that lie at the heart of the problem, determining with precision – and on a step-by-step basis – when, where and how an individual loses stability. While balance training and...