"The most common cause of death in neurosurgical patients is raised intracranial pressure and therefore it is essential that accurate monitoring of this pressure is undertaken clinically. Currently there are no non-invasive methods available. The overall aim of this research proposal is to develop a novel method for monitoring intracranial pressure. The overall aim will be achieved by undertaking the following complementary research objectives:1) To measure the viscoelastic properties of skull and brain tissue;2) To create a computational model of the skull and brain tissue to develop an understanding of the relationship between strain in the skull and intracranial pressure;3) To establish a real-time monitoring system for intracranial pressure;4) To develop a physical model that can be used to validate the computational model.The Bio-medical Engineering Research Group at the University of Birmingham has a wide range of skills and expertise in the application of engineering to solving medical problems. The research areas have traditionally been orthopaedics and cardiovascular. The Incoming Fellow, Dr Xianfang Yue from the University of Science and Technology (Beijing, China), will bring a new research area in neurological structures and the aim is for the knowledge to be transferred to the University of Birmingham and embedded within the researchers of the Bio-medical Engineering Research Group. The knowledge transfer objectives are:1) To transfer Dr Xianfang Yue’s state of the art knowledge to the host;2) To transfer knowledge to the wider bio-medical engineering community in UK and Europe;3) To transfer knowledge of bio-medical engineering techniques at the University of Birmingham to Dr Xianfang Yue."