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Russell S. Witte, PhD

Professor, Radiology & Imaging Sci (Tenured)
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Applied Mathematics
Professor, Neuroscience
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Professor, Neurosurgery
Professor, Optical Sciences
Professor, Surgery

PO Box 245067
Building: Bioscience Research Labs (#242)
Room #: 248

(520) 626-0346
rwitte@arizona.edu

Selected Publications

Witte, R.S., K. Kim, B. J. Martin, M. O'Donnell. "Effect of fatigue on muscle elasticity in the human forearm using ultrasound strain imaging." Proc. 28th IEEE EMBS in New York, SaA15.5: 4490-4493, 2006.
 
Witte, R.S., R. Olafsson, M. O'Donnell. "Acoustoelectric Detection of Current Flow in a Neural Recording Chamber." Proc. 2006 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium 5-8, 2006.
 
Witte, R.S., S Huang, S Ashkenazi, K. Kim, M O'Donnell. "Contrast-enhanced photoacoustic imaging of live lobster nerve cord." Proc. 2007 SPIE 6437: 64370J, 2007.
 
Huang, S., S. Ashkenazi, Y. Hou, R.S. Witte, M. O'Donnell. "Toward fiber-based high-frequency 3D ultrasound imaging." Proc. 2007 SPIE 6437: 643728, 2007.
 
Olafsson, R., R.S. Witte, M. O'Donnell. "Measurement of a 2D Electric Dipole Field using the Acousto-Electric Effect." Proc. 2007 SPIE Medical Imaging 6513: 65130S, 2007.
 
Witte, R.S., S Huang, S Ashkenazi, M O'Donnell. "Hybrid imaging system for developing novel neural contrast agents." Proc IEEE EMBS Neural Engineering Conference NER07, 229-232, 2007.
 
Shi, Y., R.S. Witte, M. O'Donnell, "Identification of vulnerable plaque using IVUS-based thermal strain imaging," IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 5: 844-850, 2005.
 
Witte, R.S. and D.R. Kipke. "Enhanced contrast sensitivity in auditory cortex as cats learn to discriminate sound frequencies." Cognitive Brain Research May 23 (2-3): 171-184, 2005.
 
Witte, R.S., P.J. Rousche and D.R. Kipke. "Fast wave propagation in auditory cortex of an awake cat using a microelectrode array." Journal of Neural Engineering, 4: 68-78, 2007.
 

Patents

Kim, K., S-W Huang, R. S. Witte, and M. O'Donnell. "Thermal Strain Imaging With a Linear Array." UM FILE 3530 (patent pending), Univ. of Michigan.
 
Witte, R.S., R. Olafsson, M. O'Donnell. "Current Mapping of Biopotentials using the Acousto-Electric Effect." UM FILE 3236, prov. patent (Feb 2007), Univ. of Michigan.
 
Witte, R.S., R. Olafsson, S-W Huang, T. Hall, M. O'Donnell. "Conducting Phase-Sensitive Acoustoelectric Hydrophone," UM FILE 3677, invention disclosure (Feb 2007), Univ. of Michigan.
 
Ashkenazi, S., R. Kopelman, R.S. Witte, Tom Horvath, Guangseon Kim. "Photoacoustic Indicators." UM FILE 3693 (patent pending), Univ. of Michigan.
 

Sponsored Research Through MSRP

Leelina Kidane, (MSRP 2009): "B-mode and M-mode ultrasonic imaging of aortic stiffness"
 
Victoria Vo, (MSRP 2011): "Electromechanical Coupling of a Tissue Engineered Patch for Restoring Cardiac Function"
 
Nicholas Barney, (MSRP 2018): "Electrophysiological Mapping of the Swine Somatosensory Cortex"
 

NIH Undergraduate Diversity Program

Nathan O. Allen, 2011, 2012 "Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Contrast Agents for Targeted Imaging and Therapy"; 2013, "Ultrasound and Magnetism"
 
Retonica Maize, 2012, "Dynamic Ultrasound Studies"
 
Andres Nuncio Zuniga, 2016; " Quantification of Mechanical Properties of the Posterior Tibial Tendon using Ultrasound"
 
Andres Barragan, 2017; "Ultrasound Imaging of Iron in a Brain Phantom with Real Human Skull"; 2018, Acoustic-Electric Effect and Ultrasound Imaging of Iron in a Phantom"; 2019, "Acoustic-Electric Effect and Ultrasound Imaging of Iron in a Brain Phantom with Real Human Skull"
 
Alex Burton, 2017; "Non-Invasive Medical Imaging of the Brain Using Ultrasound"
 
Teodoro Trujillo, 2019, "Acoustoelectric Hydrophone Model and Solidworks Design"
 
Lance Perez, 2023, "Ultrasonic Vibration Technology Development"; 2024, "Experimental Ultrasound & Neural Imaging Laboratory  [EUNIL]"
 
Parker Harris, 2024, "Experimental Ultrasound and Neural Imaging Laboratory"; 2025, Integration of a Hand Task with Transcranial Acoustoelectric Brain Imaging System"
 
Zoe Huestis, 2025, "Current Source Visualization in the Brain"
 

NIH High School Student Research Program

Jerad Jiangtao Lu, University High School, 2008
Nathan Allen, Cienega High School, 2009
Roberto Reyes, Nogales High School, 2010
Retonica Maize, Page High School, 2012
Juan Mosqueda, San Luis High School, 2013
Naomi Nabahe, Mountain View High School, 2014
Daniela Hernandez, San Luis High School, 2015
Andres Barragan, Desert View High School, 2016
Richardson Whiterock, Shonto Prep Tech High School (Shonto, AZ), 2017
Brandon Fimbres, Pueblo High School, 2018
Andrea Borbon, Douglas High School (Douglas, AZ), 2019
Emilio Armenta, Yuma Catholic High School (Yuma, AZ), 2024, 2025

Degrees

  • University of Arizona, 1993 (B.S., Physics)
  • Arizona State University, Tempe, 2001 (M.S.E., Bioengineering)
  • Arizona State University, Tempe, 2002 (Ph.D., Bioengineering)
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2002-2007 (Postdoctorate, Experimental Ultrasound)

Awards

  • Nugent Scholarship, University of Arizona 1988-1991
  • "Most Imaginative" Undergraduate Research Project, University of Arizona 1990
  • B.S. with Honors, Cum Laude, University of Arizona 1993
  • Slipher Scholarship in Physics, University of Arizona 1992
  • First Place, Biomedical Engineering Poster Competition, Arizona State University 1998, 2000
  • Arizona Regents Scholarship, Arizona State University 2000
  • "Outstanding Paper" in Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2005
  • Travel Award, IEEE-EMBS Neural Engineering Conference 2007

Research Interests

Russell Witte received his B.S. degree with Honors from the University of Arizona in 1993. After extensive travel to Europe and Brazil, he returned to the United States for graduate school in Bioengineering at Arizona State University and embarked on a research project using chronic microelectrode arrays to describe sensory coding and cortical plasticity in the mammalian brain. After earning his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2002, Dr. Witte moved to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to develop new ultrasound contrast mechanisms for imaging especially excitable tissue (i.e., brain, nerve and muscle). As a member of the Biomedical Ultrasonics Laboratory, he helped devise several new imaging techniques, such as ultrasound current source density imaging for detecting current flow in biological tissue. In July 2007, Dr. Witte became Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Arizona. As Director of the Experimental Ultrasound and Neural Imaging Laboratory, he continues to develop new imaging methods using a combination of light, ultrasound, radiofrequency, electrical currents and other mechanisms to create noninvasive, fast, and relatively inexpensive images that provide a greater amount of more specific information. These technologies can be applied to study a variety of medical disorders from neuromuscular disease to cancer angiogensis.