Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurology
Education
- Doctoral Degree, Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
- Bachelor's Degree, Human Biology, Johns Hopkins University
Biography
Dr. Loeb was born in New Brunswick,NJ , received his B.A. (’69) and M.D. (’72) from Johns Hopkins University , and trained in surgery at the University of Arizona . He spent 15 years in the Laboratory of Neural Control at the National Institutes of Health and 12 years at Queen’s University where he was Professor of Physiology and Director of the Bio-Medical Engineering Unit. He served as Chief Scientist (consulting) for Advanced Bionics Corp. of Sylmar, California , from 1994-1999. Dr. Loeb serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for SynTouch Inc. and Chief Scientist (consulting) for General Stim,Inc. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles, a book on electromyography and holds 70 US patents.
Research Summary
Dr. Loeb works on neural prosthetics - interfaces between electronic devices and the nervous system that are used to replace sensory and motor functions and correct dysfunctions in people with neurological problems. He was one of the developers of the cochlear implant now used to restore functional hearing to the deaf and continues to pursue improvements in this mature technology. His research group developed BIONs - BIOnic Neurons that are small enough to be injected into paralyzed muscles where they receive power and send and receive data by radio links with an external controller. They also developed the BioTac, a biomimetic tactile sensor now commercialized by SynTouch Inc (see www.SynTouchInc.com). In addition to developing and testing technology, Dr. Loeb has been active in basic neurophysiological studies of the sensorimotor nervous system in order to understand normal biological control. Computer models based on experimental data from muscles, motoneurons and proprioceptors are being developed to test new theories of control that may permit the reanimation of paralyzed limbs via functional electrical stimulation ( FES ). Similar models and interfaces are also being applied to the design and control of powered prosthetic arms and hands. Details of these projects and complete recent reports can be found at http://mddf.usc.edu.
Awards
- - Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry Magazine 100 Notable People in the Medical Device Industry
- - U. S. Public Health Service Commendation Medal
- - American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow
- - National Academy of Sciences International Exchange Fellowship to Bulgaria
- - Queen's University Queen's National Scholar
- - Seeing Eye, Inc. Fellowship
- - World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer
- - Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Innovator Award
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