STEM lecture monitors biomedical engineering

In the television world, medical monitors are large racks of machines that take up half a wall. In Warren Smith’s world, those monitors are so small, they can be worn.

Smith, a Sacramento State professor who specializes in biomedical engineering, will describe his work in biomedical engineering at the first Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) lecture, 6 p.m. Sept. 22, in the University Union Redwood Room.

Smith has developed new medical monitors that use miniature electronics and computers, digital signal processing and wireless technologies. He and several of his students are working in collaboration with researchers at the Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, to develop miniature wearable monitors to automatically detect falls and activity levels in children with cerebral palsy.

His inventions are also being used to monitor patients put under anesthesia and record the stresses experienced by surgeons performing operations.

Smith has taught biomedical engineering at Sacramento State since 1973. In May, he received the University’s Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award.

Smith has a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a post-doctorate degree from the School of Medicine at the University of New Mexico.