Dr. Inan’s lab is focused on designing technologies for quantifying human health, such as musculoskeletal sound analysis, non-invasive cardiovascular sensing, and non-invasive neuromodulation of stress. 

The Inan Research Lab’s projects center around the design of clinically relevant medical devices and systems and translating them from the lab to patient care applications. The lab’s work involves a tight integration of sensing systems, analog electronics, embedded systems concepts, and physiology-driven data analytics. The group’s philosophy is to work collaboratively and efficiently, with the ultimate objective of improving human health and performance for older Americans, patients, athletes, soldiers, and children alike.

In particular, Dr. Inan’s work has a strong focus on the development of new technologies for monitoring chronic diseases at home, such as heart failure. In addition, his lab’s research focuses on the following main application areas.

RESEARCH GOALS

  • Unobtrusive cardiovascular monitoring: Investigating how to measure ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals using wearable technology, how to interpret BCG signals to assess cardiovascular health parameters
  • Wearable biomechanics: Developing solutions for advancing the state-of-the-art in on-body sensing of biomechanical parameters, with applications for injury rehabilitation and more
  • Non-invasive neuromodulation of stress: Quantifying the physiological effects of neuromodulation devices in humans for eventual use in novel therapies such as non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS)
  • Pediatric bioengineering: Leveraging recent advances in miniaturized sensors and embedded computing to impact pediatric patient safety and quality of life

ACTIVITIES

  • Cardiac health management: Investigating the use of resources such as BCG technology to improve home-based management of chronic concerns such as heart disease
  • Quantification of joint health: Researching how a combination of acoustical emissions from the joint can provide key data about the state of a joint during the progression of injury rehabilitation
  • Application of neuromodulation to central nervous system (CNS) disorders: Applying nVNS in a closed-loop system to modulate sympathetic responses to psychological stress in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder and other CNS conditions
  • Investigation of juvenile musculoskeletal disease: Collaborating with Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to better understand conditions such as idiopathic arthritis in young patients

LEADERSHIP

Dr. Inan is the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in Bioscience and Bioengineering; Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Adjunct Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; and Program Faculty in Bioengineering at Georgia Tech.

He has received numerous awards and is the author of 10+ patents for technologies including wearable devices, at-home medical monitoring technologies, innovations focused on vagus nerve stimulation, and advances in sensors for monitoring joint health.