Auckland Bioengineering Institute The Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) is a centre for research that improves medical diagnosis and treatment of injury and disease. We do this by achieving excellence in research, graduate training and societal impact, through the application of engineering sciences and technical innovation to human physiology and medicine. Our world-leading research is focused on four main themes: • Computational and experimental physiology • Clinical technologies • Medical devices and instrumentation • Biomimetics and augmented human technologies Join our team of renowned researchers, work alongside leaders in their field, and help us make a difference. CLICK TO VIEW CAPABILITY ONLINE
A New Reality The mission of our Empathic Computing Lab is to develop software systems that allow people to share with others what they’re seeing, hearing and feeling.
Our World-Leading Research These examples show a selection of the many notable projects from our research groups. We have more than 20 research groups each is supervised by leaders in their field.
No More Needles Nobody likes needles, so we are developing technologies for delivering drugs and extracting blood without the need to puncture the skin.
We use emerging hardware technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Reality to access what people are experiencing. This team is led by world-renowned Augmented Reality pioneer Professor Mark Billinghurst.
We have applied our patented technology to needle-free delivery of insulin, dental anaesthetic, and nicotine. Our recent innovations include advances in high-volume and viscous drug delivery, new electric motors for injection devices, ‘needle-assisted’ injectors, and clever optical methods for monitoring drug depth.
Innovative Implantable Devices Our group is developing the next generation of implantable devices which will enable truly personalised care. They will be wirelessly powered and the data they retrieve can be sent to the cloud for integration into your health records.
Advanced Diagnosis of Heart Disease Heart disease is a major cause of suffering worldwide. Our research focuses on developing more specific clinical methods for detecting and diagnosing heart diseases.
This will allow health care professionals to actively monitor and adjust treatments before symptoms develop. Our team has people with substantial industry experience in medical device development and covers such diverse areas such as neurosurgery, microfabrication, electronic circuit design, and physiology.
We develop personalised computer models to integrate state-of-the-art images and medical recordings, in order to analyse the physiological status of each patient’s heart.
World’s First Virtual Pregnancy Everything changes when a woman falls pregnant. The physiology of both the mother and baby change throughout those precious months.
The Augmented Human Lab We are developing a range of world-first technologies and devices to improve people’s lives.
We have developed a Virtual Pregnancy model that will help us to better understand how the mother and baby interact during pregnancy.
One example of our work is the Ai-See. The current prototype - a wearable headset - allows blind users to point at products, text phrases etc. and have the results spoken back to them. This solution can empower people with visual impairments, and could greatly improve their interaction and independence.
Evolution of Artificial Intelligence ABI spin-out company Soul Machines is building a HumanOS for Artificial Intelligence so we can communicate, connect and relate to AI in ways that make it accessible, contextual and trusted. By creating a new type of Artificial Intelligence called Experiential Learning - and the world’s first Digital Brain - we radically humanise technology, delivering personalised humanlike experience and connections at scale and operating independently.
Over time we hope to use this model to detect difficulties earlier so that clinicians can better manage these at risk pregnancies to give babies the best start to life.
Breathing Better Diagnosis of common diseases of the lung is complicated. For example, smokingrelated disease has a similar effect on the lungs as normal aging, and current methods to measure lung function give a very incomplete picture. Our research is developing new technologies for advanced treatment planning strategies. These first-of-a-kind tools will provide new capability to estimate the impact of treatment on lung function and quality of life, as well as important new tools for optimising planning for individual patients.
Empowering Women Women face a unique set of health vulnerabilities throughout their lifetime including pregnancy, childbirth and the menopause. One in four women will suffer from urinary incontinence during their lifetime, and a substantial number of women will suffer from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. With JunoFem we are developing new ways to measure metrics of health, new ways to interpret these metrics and new ways to communicate this information to the general public. These new worldfirst technologies include clinical tools, smartphone apps, and consumer devices.
Personalised Orthopaedics We are currently experiencing an epidemic of bone and joint disease, which is due in large part to our ageing, overweight, and increasingly inactive population. Bioengineering technology has the potential to make a tremendous impact in the field of orthopaedics. Our musculoskeletal modelling group specialises in wearable sensors and computational models for orthopaedic applications. Our research covers early diagnosis and prevention, pre-surgical planning, and post-operative care.
The University of Auckland The University supports economic growth locally and nationally by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship to create quality jobs and high-value businesses. Our graduates make a significant contribution to our economy and society, to the benefit of all. The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s world-ranked university. It is the leading New Zealand university in the QS World University Rankings 20191 and in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE)2, and is ranked number one in the world in the sustainability-focused inaugural THE Impact Rankings3.
UniServices
UniServices partners with the University of Auckland to: • Support researchers and help them grow their research portfolios, increasing the impact of research on society and expanding the value of research outputs. • Develop mutually-beneficial relationships with research funders and commercial clients, bringing the external worldview into the University research environment. • Identify, protect and develop the intellectual property of the University that arises from world-class research. • Commercialise University-sourced technology and innovations, developing and investing in the commercial potential of new ideas produced by University staff and students. • Deliver social and economic benefits of research outputs to the wider community in New Zealand and beyond.
CONTACT research@uniservices.co.nz | www.uniservices.co.nz Level 10, 49 Symonds St, Auckland. Private Bag 92019 Victoria St West Auckland 1142 New Zealand
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At UniServices, we bring ideas to life. We partner with the best minds at the University of Auckland to apply intelligent thinking to ideas that have the potential to change the world. Together with our partners, we look to the future, imagine the possibilities, and innovate for public and private good. For over 30 years, we’ve collaborated with hundreds of organisations on thousands of projects in New Zealand and around the world. We are the most innovative university in New Zealand in Reuters’ Top 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities rankings.4