Dr. Gerald Loeb is a member of the BME faculty here, and it’s an understatement to say that his research is amazing. I’ve seen him present multiple times at events for the Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering, and I’ve taken lots of students on tours to his lab for campus visit events, and the research he’s doing never ceases to amaze me. He holds 51 patents, has been published over 200 times, and he still teaches undergrads (many of my friends are in his class right now!).
He helped develop cochlear implant technology, and one of his most notable recent inventions is the BioTac system, which is essentially a highly realistic model of the human finger, incorporating sensors temperature, pressure, vibration, and more. Check out this sweet video about it:
USC is very focused on translational research – often referred to as “bench to bedside,” where an emphasis is placed on taking novel research from the lab and making a commercial product that can actually be put to use. To that end, Dr. Loeb and several students from his lab started a company – SynTouch, to produce and market BioTac sensors, and recently the Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering and the Graduate Students of Biomedical Engineering were invited to go visit their site, which is just down the street from campus, and it was really cool.
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- They showed us a tech demo similar to what Dr. Loeb shows on lab tours
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- It’s amazing what the BioTac can do
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- SynTouch attends many trade conventions to advertise its products
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- This is called a shadow hand, and BioTacs can be placed on each “finger”
We learned about taking a research concept and establishing a start-up around it, and we’ll definitely be staying in touch with SynTouch and inviting them to campus for ASBME events.
@SyntouchLLC @ASBME_USC it was great! We definitely learned a lot! Thanks for letting us visit and see your amazing product
— Steve W (@IAmWolfman) March 29, 2013
I am taking BME 416: Development and Regulation of Medical Products with him and he amazes me every single class! His teaching and research is absolutely brilliant.