Zhao Laboratory for Biomedical Microsystems

Zhao Laboratory for Biomedical Microsystems

We apply micro/nanoengineering principles to design and develop medical devices at various scales for improving human well-being. 

 

Laboratory for Biomedical Microsystems
294 Bevis Hall
1080 Carmack Road
Columbus, OH 43210

zhao.178@osu.edu
(614) 247-7424 Phone

Research

Electromechanical Microtransducers to Study Cell-Environment Interactions

The interactions between cells and their immediate environment are essential for regulating cell behaviors and the onset and the progression of various diseases. In order to understand the mechanisms underlying such regulation, quantitative measurements of cell-environment interactions are necessary. We are developing microsensors to measure the mechanical and electrical properties changes of live cells upon stimulations that mimics those under various physiological and pathological conditions; and microactuators that apply controlled electromechanical signals locally to live cells at small scales.


Adaptive Optics Using Elastomer-Liquid Lenses

Elastomer-liquid lenses adjust the refractive power by changing the shape of fluid that is encapsulated in transparent elastomer capsules. They have attracted increasing research attention due to the fast responses and the potential of being integrated into mobile devices. We are implementing various imaging capabilities into elastomer-liquid lenses and developing miniaturized devices for optical imaging and illumination. The current research efforts include mobile digital pathlogy, wide angle imaging, depth perception, and stereoscopic vision.


Quantitative Physical Therapies

Physical therapies have been proven effective during the long-time practice. The mechanisms underneath physical theapies however remain unclear. We are developing mechatronic devices to quantify the electromechanical properties changes of subject tissues upon physical therapies. The discovery is expected to identify the optimal schemes of phyical therpies for their maximal efficacy.


Micromanufacturing for Biosensing

Creating engineering micro/nanocomponents with desired geometric, physical and chemical properties is often the first step of scientific investigations at small scales. We are interested in developing and studying technically and commercially feasible manufacturing approaches for creating micro/nanostructures made of materials that are not readily compatible with current micro/nanofabrication approaches. In particular, we are developing afforable manufacturing solutions of creating hybrid micro/nanomaterials, in order to allow sensing and actuation of visous types of biological signals at small scales. 

About Dr. Zhao

Dr. Yi Zhao is a professor in Biomedical Engineering at The Ohio State University and the lead investigator of the Laboratory for Biomedical Microsystems.

Dr. Zhao graduated from Tsinghua University, China with B.S. and M.S. degrees both in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Manufacturing Engineering, with an emphasis on Bio-Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (BioMEMS).

He joined The Ohio State University in 2006 and founded the Laboratory for Biomedical Micorsysytems. His research interests include design and development of medical devices at multiple length scales; lab-on-chip devices; microfluidics, and physical and chemical sensors/actuators.

Related News

Lab Server Access

Recruiting Information

We are actively recruiting visiting scholars and students, graduate and undergraudate researchers, and K-12 researchers. If you are interested in our research topics and are motivated to perform research in the field, please contact Dr. Zhao for details.

News
Lin's paper appears as front cover of Lab Chip
Zhao lab team was selected as a semifinalist in 2019 SPIE Startup Challenge competition
Two visiting doctoral students (Fangsheng Huang and Yue Xue) from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) will conduct research in our laboratory for one year, starting from April 23
The liquid lens technology developed by our group has been licensed to LiveFocus LLC, a startup company for the development of commercial viable products

Publications