Old wisdom meets new tech: Traditional Chinese medicine inspires pulse sensors

Pulse sensor image

By Sarah Small

Continuously monitoring a person’s pulse can provide meaningful medical information, such as heart rate and, indirectly, blood pressure. However, pulse waves can vary dramatically from person to person and even within the same person at different times of day and during different activities. These variations make it difficult for current wearable pulse sensors to accurately record useful data, which is especially problematic for those with cardiovascular disease or high-risk factors for those diseases. 

Pepinsky: Ray Pepinsky

Pepinsky and the X-RAC

As Wheeler Davey’s tenure as leader of the X-ray diffraction group came to an end with his retirement in 1949, other important faculty came to Penn State to lead X-ray diffraction into the second half of the 20th Century. One was Ray Pepinsky, who joined the Penn State faculty soon after Davey’s retirement. Pepinsky was a leading expert in the field of determination of structures, atomic locations, polarity, and bonding through detailed X-ray analysis.

Brantley: Susan Brantley

Susan Brantley

Predicting the Future from the Critical Zone

Susan Brantley joined the Penn State Geoscience Faculty in 1986. Brantley’s research focused on low-temperature fluid-mineral interactions, biological reactions in water-rich soils, and the geochemical processes transforming rock into soil. From these natural weathering processes, she established key mechanisms and rates to predict geological stability, landscape evolution, and contaminant movement through soil and rocks.

Hogg: Richard Hogg

Richard Hogg

Breathe Easier - Hogg Crushed Materials

The particle technology innovator also enabled cleaner air for mineral workers

Richard Hogg’s research impacted the mining and energy industries with breakthroughs in many areas of particle technology that enabled both more efficient processing of coal and other minerals, and safer conditions for employees working with these materials. Hogg joined the Penn State faculty in 1969 in the Department of Material Preparation, which later became the Department of E

Rank: David H. Rank

David H. Rank

David H. Rank - Chased the Speed of Light

A pioneer in the field of optics, especially infrared spectroscopy

David H. Rank’s wide range of breakthroughs in the field of optics all came while working at Penn State, where the Pennsylvania native spent his entire career from the moment he joined the University as a graduate student in 1930 to his retirement in 1972.

Xiaogang Hu

Xiaogang Hu

Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Neurorehabilitation Associate Professor

(e) xxh120@psu.edu
205 Reber Building

https://sites.psu.edu/nml1/