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Fabrication And In Vitro Characterization Of An Implant For The Detection Of Metastatic Cancer Cells, Carlos Martin Cantu Aug 2018

Fabrication And In Vitro Characterization Of An Implant For The Detection Of Metastatic Cancer Cells, Carlos Martin Cantu

Bioengineering Theses

Greater than 90% of cancer related deaths are due to metastasis (Hayes & Wicha, 2011). Since current conventional techniques detect the disease by the time that it has become systemic, our lab has developed a hydrogel based cancer trap that can attract metastatic cancer cells via cytokine release. However, for continual monitoring and accessibility to the gel, an implant is needed for delivery, retention, and retrieval of the gel. The research undergone in this thesis seeks to develop such a method. Namely, the objective was to develop a polylactide (PLA) based implant that is capable of delivering and retaining a …


Developmental Steps For A Functional Three-Dimensional Cell Culture System For The Study Of Asymmetrical Division Of Neural Stem Cells, Martina Zamponi Jul 2018

Developmental Steps For A Functional Three-Dimensional Cell Culture System For The Study Of Asymmetrical Division Of Neural Stem Cells, Martina Zamponi

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Stem cells are a cell type present during and following development, which possess self- renewal properties, as well as the ability to differentiate into specific cells. Asymmetrical division is the cellular process that allows stem cells to produce one differentiated and one un-differentiated daughter cell during the same mitotic event. Insights in the molecular mechanisms of such process are minimal, due to the absence of effective methods for its targeted study. Currently, traditional methods of investigation include monolayer cell culture and animal models. The first poses structural limitations to the accurate representation of human tissue and cell structures, while animal …


Preparation And Characterization Of Electrospun Rgo-Poly(Ester Amide) Tissue Engineering Scaffolds, Hilary Stone Jun 2018

Preparation And Characterization Of Electrospun Rgo-Poly(Ester Amide) Tissue Engineering Scaffolds, Hilary Stone

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tissue engineering scaffolds should support tissue maturation through exposure to biologically relevant stimuli and through successful cell infiltration. External electrical stimulation is particularly relevant for cardiac and neural applications, and requires conductive scaffolds to propagate electrical signals; cell infiltration is only possible with scaffolds that have sufficient porosity. The aim of this study was to impart conductivity and increased porosity of electrospun poly(ester amide) (PEA) scaffolds. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was incorporated into blend PEA and coaxial PEA-chitosan fibrous scaffolds, which increased scaffold conductivity and supported cardiac differentiation. The novel combination of ultrasonication and leaching of a sacrificial polymer was …


Osteon Mimetic Scaffolding, Janay Clytus Apr 2018

Osteon Mimetic Scaffolding, Janay Clytus

Senior Theses

The purpose of this research is to provide an alternative to naturally derived bone grafts. There is a gap in the supply of donors and the demand of bone tissue. Artificial scaffold creation can work as an implant and decrease the shortage of bone grafts and increase the range of injuries that can be repaired. Current research focuses on optimizing mechanical properties such as porosity, improving vascularization using cells, and generating osteoconductivity. For osteodifferentiation, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into mesodermal lineages such as chondrocytes, osteoblasts, adipocytes, and tenocytes by supplementing cultures with lineage-specific soluble factors (Marchetti). Co-culturing ECFCs …


3d Bioprinting Systems For The Study Of Mammary Development And Tumorigenesis, John Reid Apr 2018

3d Bioprinting Systems For The Study Of Mammary Development And Tumorigenesis, John Reid

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Understanding the microenvironmental factors that control cell function, differentiation, and stem cell renewal represent the forefront of developmental and cancer biology. To accurately recreate and model these dynamic interactions in vitro requires both precision-controlled deposition of multiple cell types and well-defined three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix (ECM). To achieve this goal, we hypothesized that accessible bioprinting technology would eliminate the experimental inconsistency and random cell-organoid formation associated with manual cell-matrix embedding techniques commonly used for 3D, in vitro cell cultures. The first objective of this study was to adapt a commercially-available, 3D printer into a 3D bioprinter. Goal-based computer simulations were …


Engineering Hyaluronic Acid Carbon Nanotube Nanofibers: A Peripheral Nerve Interface To Electrically Stimulate Regeneration, Elisabeth M. Steel Jan 2018

Engineering Hyaluronic Acid Carbon Nanotube Nanofibers: A Peripheral Nerve Interface To Electrically Stimulate Regeneration, Elisabeth M. Steel

Wayne State University Dissertations

Peripheral nerve injuries annually affect hundreds of thousands of people globally. Current treatments like the gold standard autograft and commercially available nerve guide conduits (NGC) are insufficient to repair long gap peripheral nerve injuries. NGCs can aid recovery but lack key microenvironment cues that promote nerve regeneration. We hypothesized that providing topographical, mechanical, and electrical guidance cues through a nanofibrous composite biopolymer would result in improved neuron growth metrics using an in vitro model. We embedded hydrophilic carbon nanotubes (CNT) within hyaluronic acid (HA) nanofibers by electrospinning. The aims of this study were (1) to define the topographical, nanomechanical, and …


Molded Features In Pdms For Fabricating Bacterial Cellulose For Various Geometries, Mitchell Habegger Jan 2018

Molded Features In Pdms For Fabricating Bacterial Cellulose For Various Geometries, Mitchell Habegger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of producing features on bacterial cellulose (BC) is to facilitate the elongation and alignment for cells, in this case Normal Human Dermal Fibroblast (NHDF) cells. The elongated cells have applications in wound healing, tissue engineering, disease diagnostics, and many other fields. Experiments were run to test the effectiveness of transferring features to BC sheets from features induced by fracturing on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and those duplicated from molds with existing features. The features were duplicated to BC sheets by either air drying or Guided Assembly-Based Biolithography (GAB). The research results showed that fracture inducing on PDMS produced very small …