Engineering Commons^™

Utendo Sleeve- A Tendon To Muscle Fixation Device, Sarah Miller

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Evaluation And Development Of Tourniquet Test Methods, Catherine Pitts

All Theses

Since the beginning of the 21^st century the general perspective on tourniquets has changed to a more positive outlook on their life saving abilities. The US has seen a greater number of mass casualty events, and conflicts across the globe have led to an increased use of tourniquets. The increased demand has also led to faulty counterfeit tourniquets and improvised tourniquets that don not properly occlude blood flow or cause significant nerve damage to the injured limb.

ASTM started designing a tourniquet testing standard with experts in the tourniquet community to cut down on the dangers of tourniquet use. …

An In Vitro Investigation Of Urothelial Cell Function In Response To Hypoxia And Pressure In Relation To Bladder Outlet Obstruction, Britney Hudson

All Dissertations

Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) is a prevalent urological condition and can be characterized by the presence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), such as hesitancy, weak stream, and nocturia. The main cause of BOO is a partial blockage of the urethra, which results in elevated voiding pressure, high storage pressure, and tissue ischemia, which are thought to be the triggers of bladder inflammation and subsequent fibrosis. Often patients do not seek treatment until the conditions get severe. Thus, it would be ideal to have an early diagnostic tool to detect changes in the bladder due to BOO. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) …

The Development And Testing Of A Gyroscope-Based Neck Strengthening Rehabilitation Device, Nicole D. Devos

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Neck pain can be debilitating, and is experienced by the majority of people at some point over the course of their life. Resistance training has been shown to have significant improvement in pain or disability for patients. There are few options available for telerehabilitation, and the use of gyroscope stabilizers is proposed for this use. A biomechanics model of a head--neck--gyroscope system was created. In order to also model the dynamics of such a system, this work proposes a blended method using the Denavit--Hartenberg (DH) convention, popular in the field of robotics, with the Lagrangian mechanics approach to analyze an …

Assessing The Relationship Between Contralateral Limb Synergy And Rock Climbing Efficiency, Jeromy Miramontes

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Rock climbing is a total body sport testing the mental and physical capabilities of athletes. Efficiency of movement can improve the ability of climbers to perform at a higher capacity and reduce the risk of injury. Data on the relationship between the continuous relative phase (CRP) of contralateral joint rotations and time to completion of a bouldering move are ways to assess rock climbing. This study aimed to assess this relationship, as well as the geometric entropy (GE) of the center of mass displacement when completing the bouldering move, and the metabolic efficiency over 4 min of bouldering. The study …

Numerical Investigation Of Subglottal Stenosis Effects On Human Voice Production, Dariush Bodaghi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aimed to advance knowledge of how subglottal stenosis impacts voice production physiology. An in-house fluid-structure-acoustic interaction approach based on the hydrodynamic/acoustic splitting technique was employed. This technique was rigorously verified for simulating phonation by matching the acoustic behavior to a compressible flow solver for phonation-relevant geometries. Simulations of an idealized 2D vocal tract model demonstrated the effects of supraglottal acoustic resonance on vocal fold kinematics and glottal flow waveform. Results showed that the acoustic coupling between higher harmonics and formats generated pressure oscillations, modifying vocal fold dynamics and glottal flow rate.

A major novelty was the incorporation and …

Digital Twins Of The Living Knee: From Measurements To Model, Thor Erik Andreassen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern medicine has dramatically improved the lives of many. In orthopaedics, robotic surgery has given clinicians superior accuracy when performing interventions over conventional methods. Nevertheless, while these and many other methods are available to ensure treatments are performed successfully, far fewer methods exist to predict the proper treatment option for a given person. Clinicians are forced to categorize individuals, choosing the best treatment on “average.” However, many individuals differ significantly from the “average” person, for which many of these treatments are designed. Going forward, a method of testing, evaluating, and predicting different treatment options' short- and long-term effects on an …

Computational Methodology For Generating Patient-Specific Soft Tissue Representations, Ahilan Anantha Krishnan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on modeling specimen-specific soft tissue structures in the context of joint replacement surgery. The research addressed four key aspects. The first study involved developing a workflow for creating finite element models of the hip capsule to replicate its torque-rotational response. Experimental data from ten cadaveric hips were used to calibrate the models, resulting in improved accuracy and relevance for surgical planning and implant design. The second study tackled the challenge of expediting the calibration of mechanical properties of the hip capsule to match patient-specific laxities. A statistical shape function model was proposed to generate patient-specific finite element …

Kinematic Analysis Of Gait And Deep Knee Flexion For Pre- And Post-Operative Total Knee Arthroplasty, Samantha Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a form of arthritis that develops in the joint due to overuse and aging causing pain, discomfort, and disability. Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) is a surgical procedure performed when OA symptoms are severe with an estimated 600,000 patients in the United States currently receiving TKA. Studies have reported dissatisfaction of the knee for 14-39% of patients. This study collected knee kinematics before and after surgery using stereo radiography for precise measurement of gait and deep knee flexion activities. Results showed healthy knee kinematics were not restored and no significant changes could be seen from OA kinematics in …

Bacterial Motion And Spread In Porous Environments, Yasser Almoteri

Dissertations

Micro-swimmers are ubiquitous in nature from soil and water to mammalian bodies and even many technological processes. Common known examples are microbes such as bacteria, micro-algae and micro-plankton, cells such as spermatozoa and organisms such as nematodes. These swimmers live and have evolved in multiplex environments and complex flows in the presence of other swimmers and types, inert particles and fibers, interfaces and non-trivial confinements and more. Understanding the locomotion and interactions of these individual micro-swimmers in such impure viscous fluids is crucial to understanding the emergent dynamics of such complex systems, and to further enabling us to control and …

Designing And Modeling A Fail-Safe Mechanism To Be Used In Attachment Of A Transcutaneous Femoral Implant To A Prosthetic Device, Emma Sperry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amputations are quite common and even modern prosthetic devices are plagued by problems. There are approximately 2 million people living with limb loss in the U.S. and on average 185,000 amputations occur yearly. Common attachment mechanisms for external prosthetic components to a residual limb, that is, sockets, pose numerous challenges. Issues include skin irritation, discomfort, socket fit issues, and immobility. Issues include skin irritation, discomfort, socket fit issues, and immobility. Transcutaneous implants have great potential as a connection method for external prosthetic components to a residual limb but because the implants are typically solid, they correlate to extremely high infection …

Understanding The Mechanisms By Which Cable Sway Produces Motion Artifact In Mobile Electroencephalography, David Rojas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Mobile brain/body imaging utilizes electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity during human walking in dynamic environments. Motion artifact from cable sway affects the quality of EEG signals collected from the scalp, masking contributions of synchronously firing neurons. Previous studies have explored cable sway-induced motion artifact, but only during vigorous exercise or controlled sinusoidal motion. Therefore, a need remains to further understand the underlying mechanisms of this artifact, as it may help with developing real-time mitigation methods, reducing reliance on offline signal processing. In this thesis, I aimed to show that controlled cable sway could produce specific motion artifact waveforms in …

Finite Element Modeling Of Patient-Specific Total Shoulder Arthroplasty, Ignacio Rivero Crespo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (TSA) is a surgical procedure designed to improve joint functionality by replacing the articulation between the humeral head and the glenoid fossa. Anatomic Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (aTSA) and Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (rTSA) are two types of replacement surgery to relieve pain and restore function of the shoulder. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of variation of certain patient and implant alignment parameters that may influence long-term outcomes of these surgical procedures, including kinematics, joint loads and contact mechanics. Computational models of six TSA subjects, three aTSA and three rTSA, were created …

An Automated, Deep Learning Approach To Systematically & Sequentially Derive Three-Dimensional Knee Kinematics Directly From Two-Dimensional Fluoroscopic Video, Viet Dung Nguyen

Doctoral Dissertations

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA), also known as total knee replacement, is a surgical procedure to replace damaged parts of the knee joint with artificial components. It aims to relieve pain and improve knee function. TKA can improve knee kinematics and reduce pain, but it may also cause altered joint mechanics and complications. Proper patient selection, implant design, and surgical technique are important for successful outcomes. Kinematics analysis plays a vital role in TKA by evaluating knee joint movement and mechanics. It helps assess surgery success, guides implant and technique selection, informs implant design improvements, detects problems early, and improves patient …

Development And Application Of A Microfluidic Platform For Quantifying Intra-Tumoral Compressive Stress., Zachary P. Fowler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer progression is linked to the emergence of aberrant mechanical signaling in the tumor microenvironment. Modulation of extrinsic signals, such as ECM stiffness and composition, have been thoroughly explored. However, the development of solid stresses within the tumor remains poorly understood. To address this, we have developed a microfluidic platform that generates deformable alginate microbeads that allow for the quantification of compressive stresses generated within a growing glioblastoma (GBM) tumorsphere. PDMS microfluidic devices were fabricated via SU-8 mold with channels ranging from 10µm-40µm in diameter. Fluorescently labeled sodium alginate underwent a cross-linking reaction within the device to generate monodisperse beads …

Subject-Specific Human Knee Fea Models For Transtibial Amputees Vs Control Tibial Cartilage Pressure In Gait, Cycling And Elliptical Training, Ali Yazdkhasti

Master's Theses

Millions of individuals around the globe are impacted by osteoarthritis, which is the prevailing type of arthritis. This condition arises as a result of gradual deterioration of the protective cartilage that safeguards the ends of the bones. This is especially true of transtibial amputees, who have a significantly higher incidence of osteoarthritis of the knee in their intact limb than non-amputees. Engaging in regular physical activity, managing weight effectively, and undergoing specific treatments can potentially slow down the advancement of the disease and enhance pain relief and joint function. Nevertheless, the relationship between the type of exercise and its impact …

Patient Movement Monitoring Based On Imu And Deep Learning, Mohsen Sharifi Renani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the leading cause of disability among the aging population in the United States and is frequently treated by replacing deteriorated joints with metal and plastic components. Developing better quantitative measures of movement quality to track patients longitudinally in their own homes would enable personalized treatment plans and hasten the advancement of promising new interventions. Wearable sensors and machine learning used to quantify patient movement could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders. The purpose of this dissertation was to overcome technical challenges associated with the use of wearable sensors, specifically Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), as a …

Bespoke Bicycle Enclosure, Thomas Link, Kyle Mcafee, Marc Monier, Hunter Walden

Mechanical Engineering

Brian Higgins is an American veteran with retinitis pigmentosa who relies on cycling for transportation. The motivation for this project is to design and manufacture a refined prototype bicycle attachment to support him while biking in the rain and cold. The attachment will serve to enclose him for optimal protection from inclement weather, while maintaining sufficient mobility for daily cycling. Mr. Higgins’ bicycle is equipped with an attached sensor system which assists his visual impairment by using an ultrasonic sensor. Therefore, the attachment cannot adversely affect the function of the sensor system. The project timeline is set at approximately 7 …

Novel Microfluidic Devices To Model The Interactions Between Lymphatics And Breast Cancer, Jade Weber

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The lymphatic system is responsible for immune circulation and fluid balance in the body. It accomplishes this by draining interstitial fluid from local tissue and transferring it to lymph nodes and back into blood circulation. However, this process is implicated in many pathologies, one of the most dangerous being breast cancer metastasis to the lymph nodes. The largest factor in breast cancer patient mortality is metastasis. Lymphangiogenesis, the growth of new lymphatic vessels, has been thought to play a dynamic role in aiding breast cancer metastasis. Breast cancer tumor cells have been shown to remodel the functionality of local lymph …

Dpd Guided Insight On The Formation Process Of Polyethersulfone Membranes By Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation And The Effects Of Additives, Eric Ledieu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a coarse grain simulation method, was applied to the membrane formation process of non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) to gain further insight on the mechanism of certain variables and how they affect the final morphology. NIPS involves two solutions, an organic polymer dissolved in an organic solvent colloquially called the dope and an aqueous coagulation bath, brought into contact with one another. The solvents then mix, causing the polymer to fall out of solution as an asymmetric membrane with a dense surface layer and a more open subsurface layer in response to the decreasing solubility. Polyethersulfone …

Polymeric Biomaterials Approaches For Engineering The In Vitro Cellular Microenvironment For Mscs, Mahsa Letter-Mahsa Haseli

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cell therapy is a technology that relies on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy functioning ones. One of the cells used for such advanced therapies are stem cells, owing to their ability to differentiate into specific cells required for repairing damaged or defective tissues or cells. The majority of cell-based products are intended to transiently persist in the patient, secreting factors which then allow the patient’s body to heal; in these products, the cells are subsequently eliminated from the body. Furthermore, unique manufacturing platforms, in addition to novel commercialization strategies, will be required to create a successful, sustainable cell …

Mitral Valve Imaging And Biomechanics: A Workflow Towards Computational Modeling And Validation, Sam Stephens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The mitral valve serves a critical role in healthy cardiac function by ensuring the unidirectional flow of oxygenated blood from the left atrium into the left ventricle. It experiences the highest pressures found within the heart and its closure is the result of a complex interaction of several different structures that, furthermore, are unique to each individual. Despite the valve’s vital role however, the specific function of these constituent structures is not fully understood. This, confounded by its asymmetric, personalized nature, make surgical interventions for the mitral valve far less effective than for its neighboring aortic valve. Efforts to overcome …

Effect Of Human Decellularized Skeletal Muscle On Recovery From Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury, Jacob Schluns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) overwhelms muscle’s robust capacity for regeneration. A key event in the etiology of VML injury is the bulk loss of structural cues provided by the underlying extracellular matrix (ECM). While muscle is a highly structured tissue, with cell and ECM alignment in the direction of contractile force production, the impact of scaffold alignment on recovery remains unclear. Bulk human decellularized skeletal muscle (DSM) tissues were sectioned into 10 x 1-2 mm fibers. VML defects were repaired using multi-fiber implants consisting of approximately 8 fibers per defect arranged into two layers. Fibers were oriented 1) to the …

Effect Of Amputation On Muscle Structure Properties In A Rabbit Model, Roy Caleb Stubbs

Masters Theses

After amputation, muscles in the residual limb are detached from their insertion points and no longer span the missing joints. Our objective was to quantify the effect of amputation-induced disuse on residual muscle structure, an indirect indicator of muscle force-generating capacity. One hind paw was surgically removed at the ankle joint of ten rabbits. At two weeks (n=5) and 4 weeks (n=5) post-amputation and for select muscles (gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis cranialis, extensor digitorum, and flexor digitorum superficialis), we measured and computed several muscle structure properties. Additionally, we qualitatively assessed the muscle fiber appearance of histological samples at each timepoint. At …

Estimating Rotator Cuff Injury Risk During Rear-End Vehicle Collisions Using Opensim, Brandon Fugger

Health and Kinesiology Theses

Automobile collisions in the United States lead to a staggering number of fatalities and injuries every year. Rear-end collisions account for over a quarter of all injury-producing collisions and often involve shoulder injuries. There is little, if any, research utilizing modern computational human body models to analyze rotator cuff injury risk during rear-end impacts. The goal of this research is to simulate rear-end impact crash forces using OpenSim and analyze the injury mechanism and risk to the rotator cuff muscles. OpenSim is an open-source software used for biomechanical modeling and simulation that enables the analysis of muscle behaviors that are …

Using Statistics, Computational Modelling And Artificial Intelligence Methods To Study And Strengthen The Link Between Kinematic Impacts And Mtbis, Andrew Luke Mcconnell Patterson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) are frequently occurring, yet poorly understood, injuries in sports (e.g., ice hockey) and other physical recreation activities where head impacts occur. Helmets are essential pieces of equipment used to protect participants’ heads from mTBIs. Evaluating the performance of helmets to prevent mTBIs using simulations on anatomically accurate computational head finite element models is critically important for advancing the development of safer helmets. Advancing the level of detail in, and access to, such models, and their continued validation through state-of-the-art brain imaging methods and traditional head injury assessment procedures, is also essential to improve safety. The …

Making Sense Of Big (Kinematic) Data: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Movement Parameters In A Diverse Population, Naomi Wilma Nunis

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to determine how kinematic, big data can be evaluated using computational, comprehensive analysis of movement parameters in a diverse population.

METHODS

Retrospective data was collected, cleaned, and reviewed for further analysis of biomechanical movement in an active population using 3D collinear resistance loads. The active sample of the population involved in the study ranged from age 7 to 82 years old and respectively identified as active in 13 different sports. Moreover, a series of exercises were conducted by each participant across multiple sessions. Exercises were measured and recorded based on 6 distinct biometric …

Defining Sagittal Plane Gait Mechanics And Joint Loading In People With Marfan Syndrome, Justin Melan Pol

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a genetic condition that is associated with altered muscle composition, which leads to muscle dysfunction. People with MFS exhibit high instances of lower extremity (LE) joint pain that inhibits their ability to perform activities of daily living, such as walking. Despite these detrimental impacts of MFS, there have been no attempts to characterize the effects of MFS on LE joint loading and health during walking that are associated with LE pain and dysfunction. As people with MFS exhibit a high incidence rate of osteoarthritis (OA), the need to understand the potential alterations in LE extremity mechanics …

Development Of A Crosslinked Osteochondral Xenograft And A Collagen Stabilizing Intra-Articular Injection To Remediate Cartilage Focal Lesions To Prevent Osteoarthritis, Mark Lewis Mosher

Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common causes of disability in adults in America. It is a progressive and degenerative disease where the articular cartilage is broken down and lost from the surfaces of bones causing chronic pain and swelling in the joints, and currently has no cure. The most commonly osteoarthritis starts from a focal lesion on the cartilage surface, which will expand on the surface and downwards through the thickness of the tissue. The current gold standard for correcting cartilage focal lesions is the osteochondral autograft/allograft transplantation (OAT), which replaces the defect with a fresh osteochondral graft. The …

In Vitro Bioreactor For Mechanical Control And Characterization Of Tissue Constructs, Samuel Coeyman

All Dissertations

Heart failure (HF) currently affects over 6 million Americans, 50% of whom die within 5 years of their initial diagnosis. A major contributor to the onset of HF is cardiac fibrosis in the myocardium, which arises when fibroblasts (FBs) are activated in response to heightened mechanical stress from overload conditions like hypertension. Activated FBs remodel the extracellular matrix (ECM) and secrete ECM proteins including collagen. FB remodeling has been studied in the past by applying forces and/or deformations to three-dimensional, cell-seeded gels and tissue constructs in vitro. Unfortunately, previous stretching platforms have traditionally not enabled mechanical property assessment to be …