• Clinical trials
• Research projects
• Research labs

Children and Disability

Health and Human Performance

Rehabilitation Engineering

Rehabilitation of Neurological Illness and Injury

Veterans

Vocational Rehabilitation

• Resident research projects

Research Labs: Rehabilitation Engineering

Rehabilitation Engineering: engaged in the design, development, and utilization of state-of-the-art human technology interfaces in the operation of assistive technologies, including eye- and head-tracking controls, motion-activated controls, voice-activated controls, and related activities.

Eye Tracking and Head Tracking Laboratory

Director: Paul Wetzel, Ph.D.
VCU Department of Biomedical Engineering

The Eye Tracking and Head Tracking Laboratory contains instrumentation, computers and software used to objectively measure a variety of eye and head movements including basic horizontal and vertical eye movement, the measurement of head and limb position, the coordination between eye and head movement, and pupillary and accommodative response dynamics. The laboratory supports the development of human machine interfaces using eye and head position-based measurement and control. The laboratory is involved with visual task analysis, data acquisition, signal processing and algorithm development, and the effect of diseases and disabilities on eye, head and limb control.

More information:
Eye Tracking and Head Tracking Laboratory
Paul Wetzel, Ph.D.
Phone: (804) 827-0487
Email: pawetzel@vcu.edu

Haptic Laboratory

Director: Dianne Pawluk, Ph.D.
VCU Department of Biomedical Engineering

The laboratory facilities include 4 personal computers, several National Instruments I/O boards, an oscilloscope, a multi-meter, frequency generator, several power supplies and power amplifiers, Reprotronics Tactile Image Enhancer for making raised line drawings, one Emprint Braille embosser and two touch screens, the VT Player, an accelerometer system, including an interface board to a computer, and specialized MATLAB toolboxes for image processing and wavelet analysis. as well as miscellaneous mechanical and electronic laboratory supplies. Each PC is interconnected to the School of Engineering computer network, the university network, and the internet.

More information:
Dianne Pawluk, Ph.D.
Phone: (804) 828-9491
Email: dtpawluk@vcu.edu

Neuromuscular Control and Performance Laboratory, Richmond

Director: Peter Pidcoe, Ph.D.
VCU Department of Physical Therapy

This laboratory includes a full gait analysis system with 6 degree of freedom motion analysisk several force plates for ground reaction forces, an 8 channel Electotherapeutics EMG system, a 4 channel Noraxon EMG system, a 2D sonic digitizer to monitor body position changes, several pentium based computeres with A/D and D/A cards and associated electronics.

More information:
Neuromuscular Control and Performance Laboratory, Richmond
Peter Pidcoe, Ph.D.
Phone: (804) 828-0234
Email: pepidcoe@vcu.edu

Orthopaedic Research Laboratory

Director: Jennifer Wayne, Ph.D.
VCU Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

The Orthopaedic Research Laboratory occupies approximately 2,300 square feet of laboratory/office space. The laboratory efforts are focused on elucidating the function of the musculoskeletal system in normal, injured and repaired states and devising creative ways to restore normal function through interdisciplinary approaches.

More information:
Orthopaedic Research Laboratory
Jennifer Wayne, Ph.D.
Phone: (804) 828-2595
Email: jswayne@vcu.edu

Speech Recognition Laboratory

Director: Gerald Miller, Ph.D.
VCU Department of Biomedical Engineering

The Speech Recognition Laboratory houses equipment, computers and software to monitor and analyze the human voice with extraneous/ambient acoustic noise, among multiple speakers or altered by injury or illness. Students are involved in the measurement of human speech and analysis of speech patterns in both the time and frequency domains with the aid of several software packages or via customized programs. Sensitive voice-recording equipment and computer algorithms for segmental analysis of speech patterns are utilized for a variety of biomedical and rehabilitation applications.

More information:
Speech Recognition Laboratory
Gerald Miller, Ph.D.
Phone: (804) 828-7263
Email: gemiller@vcu.edu