Automated Home Apnea System, Collin G. Howser, Trevor Grieco

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Subaxial Cervical Spine Trauma And Surgical Treatment Through Biomechanical Simulation And Kinematic Analysis, Stewart D. Mclachlin

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In vitro biomechanical investigations can help to identify changes in subaxial cervical spine (C3-C7) stability following injury, and determine the efficacy of surgical treatments through controlled joint simulation experiments and kinematic analyses. However, with the large spectrum of cervical spine trauma, a large fraction of the potential injuries have not been examined biomechanically. This includes a lack of studies investigating prevalent flexion-distraction injuries. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to investigate the changes in subaxial cervical spine kinematic stability with simulated flexion-distraction injuries and current surgical instrumentation approaches using both established and novel biomechanical techniques.

Three in vitro ...

Sol-Gel Derived Biodegradable And Bioactive Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Biomaterials For Bone Tissue Engineering, Bedilu A. Allo

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Treatments of bone injuries and defects have been largely centered on replacing the lost bone with tissues of allogeneic or xenogeneic sources as well as synthetic bone substitutes, which in all lead to limited degree of structural and functional recovery. As a result, tissue engineering has emerged as a viable technology to regenerate the structures and therefore recover the functions of bone tissue rather than replacement alone. Hence, the current strategies of bone tissue engineering and regeneration rely on bioactive scaffolds to mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) as templates onto which cells attach, multiply, migrate and function.

In this ...

A Microfluidic Pretreatment Isoelectric Focusing Dc-Field Assisted H-Filter For The Separation Of Charged Particles, Cameron Sean Carroll

Biomedical Eng/General Eng.

Microfluidic devices are small portable diagnostic chips that allow for analysis of a biologic sample at relatively low cost. This makes them ideal for settings where a hospital is unavailable. The microfluidic pretreatment isoelectric focusing DC-field assisted H-filter is a device that allows for the separation of differently charged particles in a biologic sample. It does this by employing the concepts of diffusion, electrophoresis, and isoelectric focusing. This is perfect for isolation of a desired analyte or separation of waste from a sample in order to achieve better diagnostic results. The device was first modeled mathematically and visually using Comsol ...

Customizable Embedded Sensors Via Additive Manufacturing For Monitoring In Medical Applications, Richard G. Ranky

Mechanical Engineering Dissertations

The research presented investigates a new method and design of embedded sensors for medical applications using an injected piezoresistive elastomer inside a structure built using Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods as the exemplary fabrication. The sensing element is embedded into specifically designed geometry for hollow cavities and voids. Depending on the geometry and applied loads it can be used to sense different types of physical loads like force and torque. This expands the design capabilities of health care practitioners for such devices by not just building a custom-shaped part, but having the ability to monitor their interaction with the human, and ...

Efficient Inductively Coupled Resonant Power Transfer For An Implantable Electroencephalography Recording Device, Andrew Czarnecki

Electrical and Computer Engineering Master's Theses

This thesis presents an implantable EEG recording system which was designed and constructed from discrete components. The implanted device has a novel form factor which utilizes flexible circuit materials to provide a versatile, minimally invasive platform for long term ambulatory EEG recording. Power and telemetry are provided through inductive coupling between the implant and external reader. Resonance is used to create an efficient inductive link capable of operating at a coil separation of up to several centimeters with load-impedance modulation of the data onto the resonant frequency carrier. In this work an alternative architecture is also considered with separate inductively ...

On The Importance Of Modeling Stent Procedure For Predicting Arterial Mechanics, Shijia Zhao, Linxia Gu, Stacey R. Froemming

Mechanical & Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The stent-artery interactions have been increasingly studied using the finite element method for better understanding of the biomechanical environment changes on the artery and its implications. However, the deployment of balloon-expandable stents was generally simplified without considering the balloon-stent interactions, the initial crimping process of the stent, its overexpansion routinely used in the clinical practice, or its recoil process. In this work, the stenting procedure was mimicked by incorporating all the above-mentioned simplifications. The impact of various simplifications on the stent-induced arterial stresses was systematically investigated. The plastic strain history of stent and its resulted geometrical variations, as well as ...

Optimal Inertial Sensor Placement And Motion Detection For Epileptic Seizure Patient Monitoring, Babak Kamalizonouzi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Use of inertial sensory systems to monitor and detect seizure episodes in patients suffering from epilepsy is investigated via numerical simulations and experiments. Numerical simulations employ a mathematical model that is able to predict human body dynamic responses during a typical epileptic seizure. An optimized inertial sensor placement procedure is developed to address achievement of highest possible sensing resolution in determining angular accelerations with minimal errors. In addition, a joint torque estimation procedure is formulated to assist in the future development of a possible detection scheme. Experimental motion data obtained from an epileptic seizure patient as well as a healthy ...

Development Of Simulation Platform For Oropharyngeal Airway Placement And Design Evaluation Of The Bardo Airway, Lewis On Hang Lee

Master's Theses and Project Reports

Off-label use of traditional Oropharyngeal Airway (OPA) as a bite-block, and the subsequential procedure of force exertion of the device by physician has caused many cases of patient’s teeth damage and monetary loss, as the patient’s incisors were damaged while clenching on the OPA during an adverse scenario called “Emergency Clenching”. To remedy this harmful situation, Bardo OPA was developed by Dr. Theodore Burdumy. The Bardo airway has unique design to transfer the clenching force from incisor to the molar. However, the Bardo OPA is one-sized, and cannot fit most of the patients like the commonly-used OPAs, such ...

Morphometric, Biochemical, And Raman Spectral Analyses Of Muscle Damage In Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease: Providing Objective Criteria For Diagnosis And Treatment Monitoring, Kim Cluff

Biological Systems Engineering--Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which affects approximately 10 million Americans, is characterized by atherosclerosis of the non-coronary arteries. PAD produces a progressive accumulation of ischemic injury to the limbs that is reflected in a gradual worsening in the myofiber morphology and oxidative damage in the gastrocnemius muscle. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that quantitative morphological and biochemical parameters of gastrocnemius myofibers change in a consistent manner during the progression of PAD, provide an objective grading of muscle degeneration in the ischemic limb, and correlate to clinical stage of PAD. Myofiber morphometrics were determined precisely with mathematical equations that ...

Hydrodynamic Focused Passive Separation Under Continuous Flow In A Microfluidic Chip, Jad Kanbar

Master's Theses and Project Reports

A continuous flow, passive separation device was designed using an equivalent circuit to create variable flow rates for hydrodynamic focusing to drain channels and collection outlets. By varying the diameter of the sample inlet connection into the reservoir, the particle position was influenced significantly, which enabled desired separations. Additionally it was noted that the relative, horizontal position of the inlet also had a significant influence on particle position within the device. A dimensionless number, the Characteristic Sample Inlet, was developed to relate geometric properties of the inlet reservoir to downstream particle distribution. It was found that a 2:1 ratio ...

A Low Cost Motion Analysis System Based On Kinect, Jonathan Michael Cardinale, Tracy N. Jennemann, Vitaliy Sinyuk, Sam Kenji Yokoyama

Undergraduate Research Posters 2012

The project focused on the validation of using the Kinect sensor to build a low cost motion analysis system for physical therapy and rehabilitation, and the identification of the types of the motions that cannot be captured well by the Kinect sensor and are in need of inertial sensors.

Calcium Phosphate-Based Resorbable Biomaterials For Bone Regeneration, Daniel O. Costa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Bone defects are a prevalent problem in orthopedics and dentistry. Calcium phosphate-based coatings and nanocomposites offer unique solutions towards producing scaffolds with suitable physical, mechanical and biological properties for bone regeneration.

We developed a novel method to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HA) particles with high aspect ratio using sol-gel chemistry and hydrothermal treatment. We obtained tunable pure-phase carbonated-HA in the form of micro/nanorods and nanowires (diameters 25-800 nm). To mimic the structure of bone, HA nanowires were homogenously mixed within poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) to produce nanocomposites with improved mechanical properties as determined by uniaxial tensile testing.

Surface chemistry and topography of ...

Development Of A Novel Handheld Device For Active Compensation Of Physiological Tremor, Abhijit Saxena

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In microsurgery, the human hand imposes certain limitations in accurately positioning the tip of a device such as scalpel. Any errors in the motion of the hand make microsurgical procedures difficult and involuntary motions such as hand tremors can make some procedures significantly difficult to perform. This is particularly true in the case of vitreoretinal microsurgery. The most familiar source of involuntary motion is physiological tremor. Real-time compensation of tremor is, therefore, necessary to assist surgeons to precisely position and manipulate the tool-tip to accurately perform a microsurgery. In this thesis, a novel handheld device (AID) is described for compensation ...

Regularized Latent Variable Methods In The Presence Of Structured Noise And Their Application In The Analysis Of Electroencephalogram Data, Siamak Salari Sharif

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

This thesis provides new regression methods for the removal of structured noise in datasets. With multivariable data, the variables and the noise can be both temporally correlated (i.e. auto correlated in time) and contemporaneously correlated (i.e. cross-correlated at the same time). In many occasions it is possible to acquire measurements of the noise, or some function of it, during the data collection. Several new constrained latent variable methods (LVM) that are built upon previous LVM regression frameworks are introduced. These methods make use of the additional information available about the noise to decompose a dataset into basis for ...

Responding To Dangerous Accidents Among The Elderly: A Fall Detection Device With Zigbee-Based Positioning, Michael R. Putnam

Master's Theses and Project Reports

The following paper describes a fall detection and activity monitoring system with position detection based on Zigbee transceivers.The main objective is to reduce the time taken for emergency personnel to respond to falls among the elderly. Especially when the victim is unconscious or delirious, position tracking reduces location determination time within a busy hospital or nursing home environment and facilitates immediate treatment. Reduced response times correlate to decreased morbidity and mortality rates. Background is provided on the major wireless network advances currently deployed in a healthcare setting for asset and personnel tracking, etiology of falls, and several methods of ...

A Sensorized Instrument For Minimally Invasive Surgery For The Measurement Of Forces During Training And Surgery: Development And Applications, Ana Luisa Trejos

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The reduced access conditions present in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) affect the feel of interaction forces between the instruments and the tissue being treated. This loss of haptic information compromises the safety of the procedure and must be overcome through training. Haptics in MIS is the subject of extensive research, focused on establishing force feedback mechanisms and developing appropriate sensors. This latter task is complicated by the need to place the sensors as close as possible to the instrument tip, as the measurement of forces outside of the patient's body does not represent the true tool--tissue interaction. Many force ...

Quantification Of Bone And Cement Strains Surrounding A Distal Ulnar Implant With Varying Cement-Stem Interface Conditions, Sayward R. Fetterly

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Implant loosening following joint replacement surgery is a health-care concern. The role of implant-cement debonding on the propensity of loosening has received limited attention. This thesis examines changes in strains within the cement mantle and bone surrounding distal ulnar implants, as a function of cement-stem interface bonding.

A method to embed strain gauges within the cement mantle of the restrictive distal ulnar canal was developed. This technique was applied in 8 cadaveric distal ulnae, where strains were quantified at 2 internal and 5 external (i.e., bone surface) locations under torsion and bending loads with bonded and de-bonded cement-stem interfaces ...

Metrics For Evaluating Surgical Microscope Usage During Myringotomy, Arefin M. Shamsil

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

Although teaching and learning surgical microscope manoeuvring is a fundamental step in middle ear surgical training, currently there is no objective method to teach or assess this skill. This thesis presents an experimental study designed to implement and test sets of metrics capable of numerically evaluating microscope manoeuvrability and qualitatively assessing surgical expertise of a subject during a middle ear surgery called myringotomy. The experiment involved performing a myringotomy on a fixed cadaveric ear. As participants, experienced ear-nose-throat (ENT) surgeons and ENT surgical residents were invited. While performing the procedure, their microscope manoeuvring motions were captured as translational and ...

The Contact Mechanics And Kinematics Of Radial Head Implants, Hannah L. Shannon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A number of commercially available radial head (RH) implants are used for the management of RH fractures. The optimal shape of a RH implant to restore joint mechanics to the native state has not been established. This work compares radiocapitellar contact and kinematics for three implant designs as well as the native RH. These implants include an axisymmetric, a quasi-anatomic and a patient-specific design. When compared to the native RH, only the axisymmetric implant was significantly different in contact area (p=0.008). Active and passive forearm supination was assessed for differences in translations of the RH. Significant differences were ...