PhD Studentship in Cardio-engineering and Wireless Medical Devices (2018)

What you get

£14,777 tax free stipend plus UK/EU fees waiver.

The studentship will include a three year stipend at a standard rate (currently £14,777 per annum) and, in addition, fees at the UK/EU rate. Since the studentship only covers fees at the UK/EU rate, overseas applicants are kindly requested to state in their application how they propose to cover the difference between the UK/EU rate and the overseas fees (for more details visit: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/fees-and-scholarships).

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

Project objectives

Globally, premature births are the leading cause of neonatal mortality due to organ immaturity and associated complications. Approximately up to 1.8 million still births and premature newborn deaths occur every year worldwide according to WHO. In the UK each year, around 61,000 babies are born prematurely and 1,000 babies die needlessly according to UK’s Action-medical-research.

The aim of this project is to perform research towards developing novel medical devices including electronics, sensor developments and wireless IoT interfaces. In particular, the design and development of a smart platform for cardiorespiratory monitoring of babies during labour and after birth.

This will be achieved by exploiting novel electronic designs based on electrometer-based sensor technology. Perform research and development of a wireless portable and reliable multi-parameter tool to assess the fundamental vital signs of babies such as ECG, heart and respiratory rates.

This PhD position will produce a medical device suitable to be used within the delivery room (i.e. considering external electrical noise signals), increase student expertise on non-invasive instrumentation development, and investigate human factors, biocompatibility and design requirements to apply the device onto the baby skin.

The selected candidate will join an interdisciplinary research centre with state of the art electronics and robotics facilities. Some of the research areas you may come in contact during your PhD include electronics design, RF communications, data acquisition, signal conditioning and processing, GUI development, big data etc.

References:

Rendon Morales, E, Prance, R J, Prance, H and Aviles-Espinosa, R (2017) A novel non-invasive biosensor based on electric field detection for cardio-electrophysiology in zebrafish embryos. Procedia Technology, 24 (2017). pp. 242-243. ISSN 2212-0173

Rendon-Morales, Elizabeth, Prance, Robert, Prance, Helen and Aviles-Espinosa, Rodrigo (2015) Non-invasive electrocardiogram detection of in vivo zebrafish embryos using electric potential sensors. Applied Physics Letters, 107 (19). 193701-1-193701-4. ISSN 0003-6951.

Eligibility

Skills required

Candidates should have a master’s degree in electronics engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or equivalent. They should have strong interest in research and outstanding hands on technical skills. Hardware and Software DAQ knowledge will be a plus.

We are looking for people who is passionate about contributing to the development of next generation of medical devices, and that has a strong interest in research at the crossroads of signal processing, sensor technologies and their applications in medicine. A self-motivated student with the ability to work independently and in an interdisciplinary environment is required.

Applicants should have excellent written and spoken English skills and committed to pursue leading research and publish results in high quality conferences and journals. The candidate must demonstrate the right skillset and provide a research plan to support his/her application.

Deadline

30 July 2018 17:00

How to apply

First contact Dr. Elizabeth Rendon-Morales (er241@sussex.ac.uk) with your CV to discuss the position.

Apply for an Engineering PhD for September 2018 using this step by step guide: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply

In the ’Finance information’ section of the application form clearly state you are applying for the 'PhD scholarship in Cardio-engineering and wireless medical devices'.

 

Contact us

• Prior to applying, contact Dr. Elizabeth Rendon-Morales (er241@sussex.ac.uk), for a discussion.
• More information about the Sensor Technology Research Centre: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/strc