Health & Biomedical

Southwest Research Institute bolsters the biomedical and health care industry, developing biomaterials and pharmaceuticals while supporting human performance, community health and food safety initiatives.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents potentially harmful substances in the bloodstream from reaching the brain and central nervous system, poses a challenge when trying to treat neurological diseases. A new in-vitro screening method developed at SwRI mimics the interaction of drug compounds with the cells that make up the BBB. The technique measures the permeation rates of molecules passing into the brain to identify effective pharmaceuticals along with the best delivery mechanisms to penetrate the BBB. 

SwRI developed a set of algorithms to detect and track novel objects from multiple views. These algorithms estimate the full six-degrees-of-freedom pose of an object and how it moves through space. We are applying this research to improve our ENABLE^™ markerless motion capture technology, which uses video to quantify and analyze biomechanical movement with practical applications for healthcare, the military and athletics. 

SwRI collaborated with the city of San Antonio to create a data fusion tool designed to help understand and mitigate the effects of urban heat islands (UHIs). The tool integrates over 230 datasets collected from several city departments and public databases with the goal of helping the city protect populations particularly vulnerable to UHIs. The project demonstrated how the tool can help create targeted mitigation techniques to reduce the impacts of UHIs.