Project Themes
An overview of the main themes underlying the Computational Bioengineering Laboratory projects.
Computational Biology
A computational approach within a biological context has several distinct advantages over most experimental methods. The researcher has complete control over every aspect of a numerical experiment, the simulations are usually fast and cheap to perform and are easy to reproduce. The models can be formulated such that they obey fundamental laws such as conservation of mass and energy. Our efforts in this area include work on multicellular networks, describing the niche in which cells interact and the dynamics of cell populations.
Computational Physiology
Physiology is the study of function. Computational Physiology is therefore the development of mathematical and computer models to describe biological functions. Our focus is in the area of muscular electrophysiology, in particular the muscles of the gastrointestinal tract and the heart. The models we develop are multi-scale in nature and aimed at bridging the gap between genetic defects and clinical pathologies.
Current Projects
Gastrointestinal Physiology
Cardiac Physiology
CellML
Biosignal & Bioimage Processing
In this area we are interested in the development of customised, patient specific models as no two patients will be identical. We also use these techniques to develop non-invasive diagnostic tools, particularly for the detection of electrical disturbances within the body.
Current Projects
Biomechanics of the Hand
Integrated Physiology & the Physiome Project
Most people have heard of the genome project and perhaps the proteome project but few have heard about the recently established Physiome project. This is an undertaking on a grand scale with the goal of creating a complete digital representation of a human being, from DNA through to whole body function. Much of what we do falls under this general umbrella and we are working with a number of international collaborators towards this long term goal.