Engineering Commons^™

Nanofiber-Hydrogel Composite Scaffold Fabrication Methods For Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Jacob Lee Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Nerve graft conduits (NGCs) are a rapidly advancing field for treating peripheral nerve injuries that aim to guide the growth of regenerating axons across damaged gaps. A more effective NGC can be manufactured by combining the use of nanofibers to act as guidewires within a 3-D hydrogel that imitates the extracellular matrix of nerve tissue. Several methods have been developed to embed aligned nanofibers in an ordered architecture within a hydrogel matrix. The first method involves layer-by-layer additive manufacturing to create NGCs with rows of polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers surrounded by a gelatin methacrylate (GelMe) hydrogel in a 3-D structure. A …

A Novel Perfused Contusion Spinal Cord Injury Model To Assess Rapid Mechanical Properties Changes After Blood Spinal Cord Barrier Breakdown, Laura De Marchi

Theses and Dissertations

Blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) disruption exacerbates the tissue damage caused by spinal cord injury (SCI), but the mechanisms and dynamics of how the barrier breakdown affects the mechanical properties of the tissue remain unclear. The perfused bovine ex vivo indentation injury model described here represents a new platform to investigate the short-term effects of altered blood flow and vascular permeability following traumatic spinal cord injury. Our results indicate that injured cords exhibit changes to bulk perfusion, as evidenced by laser speckle contrast imaging, in addition to decreased barrier function shortly after injury. Indentation tests that simultaneously simulate a crush injury …

Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Augmented With A Reinforced Bioinductive Implant Is Biomechanically Similar To The Native Medial Patellofemoral Ligament At Time Zero In A Cadaveric Model, Sean Mcmillan, Seth Sherman, Zachary Brown, Erik Brewer, Elizabeth Ford

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Purpose: To biomechanically compare primary medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) repair (MPFLr) augmented with a reinforced bioinductive implant (RBI) to the native MPFL ligament and a semitendinosus (semi-T) MPFL reconstruction (MPFLR) at time zero. Methods: Four fresh-frozen matched pair cadavers (8 knees) were used to biomechanically compare the native MPFL to augmented MPFLr (n = 4) and semi-T MPFLR (n = 4). The native MPFL (n = 8) was isolated, preserving the femoral and patellar attachments, and pulled to failure. The semi-T was harvested from 1 of the matched pairs and whipstitched, as was a 250-mm × 5-mm RBI. A standard …

Robust Ai-Driven Segmentation Of Glioblastoma T1c And Flair Mri Series And The Low Variability Of The Mrimath© Smart Manual Contouring Platform, Yassine Barhoumi, Abdul Hamid Fattah, Nidhal Carla Bouaynaya, Fanny Moron, Jinsuh Kim, Hassan M. Fathallah-Shaykh, Rouba A. Chahine, Houman Sotoudeh

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) continue to face a dire prognosis. Developing accurate and efficient contouring methods is crucial, as they can significantly advance both clinical practice and research. This study evaluates the AI models developed by MRIMath© for GBM T1c and fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) images by comparing their contours to those of three neuro-radiologists using a smart manual contouring platform. The mean overall Sørensen–Dice Similarity Coefficient metric score (DSC) for the post-contrast T1 (T1c) AI was 95%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 93% to 96%, closely aligning with the radiologists’ scores. For true positive …

Comparison Of Four In Vitro Test Methods To Assess Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device Expulsion Risk, Tamanna Rahman, Matthew J. Kibble, Gianluca Harbert, Nigel Smith, Erik Brewer, Nicholas Newell

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Background: Nucleus replacement devices (NRDs) are not routinely used in clinic, predominantly due to the risk of device expulsion. Rigorous in vitro testing may enable failure mechanisms to be identified prior to clinical trials; however, current testing standards do not specify a particular expulsion test. Multiple methods have therefore been developed, complicating comparisons between NRD designs. Thus, this study assessed the effectiveness of four previously reported expulsion testing protocols; hula-hoop (Protocol 1), adapted hula-hoop (Protocol 2), eccentric cycling (Protocol 3), and ramp to failure (Protocol 4), applied to two NRDs, one preformed and one in situ curing. Methods: Nucleus material …

Comparison Of Four In Vitro Test Methods To Assess Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device Expulsion Risk, Tahmanna Rahman, Matthew J. Kibble, Gianluca Harbert, Nigel Smith, Erik Brewer, Thomas P. Schaer, Nicolas Newell

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Background

Nucleus replacement devices (NRDs) are not routinely used in clinic, predominantly due to the risk of device expulsion. Rigorous in vitro testing may enable failure mechanisms to be identified prior to clinical trials; however, current testing standards do not specify a particular expulsion test. Multiple methods have therefore been developed, complicating comparisons between NRD designs. Thus, this study assessed the effectiveness of four previously reported expulsion testing protocols; hula-hoop (Protocol 1), adapted hula-hoop (Protocol 2), eccentric cycling (Protocol 3), and ramp to failure (Protocol 4), applied to two NRDs, one preformed and one in situ curing.

Methods

Nucleus material …

Tunable Dual-Phase Dual-Drug Delivery System Using A Plga Microparticle/Pva Hydrogel Composite, Timothy John Eck

Theses and Dissertations

Current drug-eluting coatings have demonstrated controlled long-term, sustained release but have only tried to mitigate short-term burst release as a negative side effect. For applications like wound healing, there is a need for a drug-eluting coating which is adjustable in both short- and long-term release, independent of each other. We present a tunable dual-phase dual-drug delivery coating composed of drug-loaded polymer microparticles and drug-loaded hydrogel which can control short term and long term release individually in this study. This coating was created using lidocaine and dexamethasone encapsulated in poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) particles combined with lidocaine- and dexamethasone-loaded poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel. Hydrogel drug …

Engineering Transcriptional Regulation For Cell-Based Therapies., Matthias Recktenwald, Evan Hutt, Leah Davis, James Macaulay, Nichole M. Daringer, Peter Galie, Mary Staehle, Sebastian Vega

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

A major aim in the field of synthetic biology is developing tools capable of responding to user-defined inputs by activating therapeutically relevant cellular functions. Gene transcription and regulation in response to external stimuli are some of the most powerful and versatile of these cellular functions being explored. Motivated by the success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, transmembrane receptor-based platforms have been embraced for their ability to sense extracellular ligands and to subsequently activate intracellular signal transduction. The integration of transmembrane receptors with transcriptional activation platforms has not yet achieved its full potential. Transient expression of plasmid DNA is …

Synthesis And Photopatterning Of Synthetic Thiol-Norbornene Hydrogels, Umu S. Jalloh, Arielle Gsell, Kirstene Gultian, James Macaulay, Abigail Madden, Jillian Smith, Luke Siri, Sebastian Vega

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Hydrogels are a class of soft biomaterials and the material of choice for a myriad of biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and highly tunable mechanical and biochemical properties. Specifically, light-mediated thiol-norbornene click reactions between norbornene-modified macromers and di-thiolated crosslinkers can be used to form base hydrogels amenable to spatial biochemical modifications via subsequent light reactions between pendant norbornenes in the hydrogel network and thiolated peptides. Macromers derived from natural sources (e.g., hyaluronic acid, gelatin, alginate) can cause off-target cell signaling, and this has motivated the use of synthetic macromers such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). In this study, commercially available …

Mri Image Regression Cnn For Bone Marrow Lesion Volume Prediction, Kevin Yanagisawa

Theses and Dissertations

Bone marrow lesions (BMLs), occurs from fluid build up in the soft tissues inside your bone. This can be seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and is characterized by excess water signals in the bone marrow space. This disease is commonly caused by osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative join disease where tissues within the joint breakdown over time [1]. These BMLs are an emerging target for OA, as they are commonly related to pain and worsening of the diseased area until surgical intervention is required [2]–[4]. In order to assess the BMLs, MRIs were utilized as input into a regression …

No Difference In Pullout Strength Between A Bio-Inductive Implant And A Semitendinosus Tendon Graft In A Biomechanical Study Of Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Repair Augmentation, Austin Wetzler, Sean Mcmillan, Erik Brewer, Aakash Patel, Samuel Handy, Merrick Wetzler

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Purpose: To compare the pullout strength of a bio-inductive implant (BI) used to augment a medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) repair with the pullout strength of semitendinosus graft in a biomechanical cadaveric model. Methods: Six matched pairs of cadavers (12 knees) were used in the biomechanical testing comparing semitendinosus tendon (Semi-T) versus a BI. The Semi-T was harvested from 1 of the matched pairs. A standard double-bundle technique using 2 sockets in the upper two-thirds of the patella 15 mm apart was performed. After docking of the graft into the patella, the patella was dissected free of soft tissues and potted …

Fibrin Glue Acutely Blocks Distal Muscle Contraction After Confirmed Polyethylene Glycol Nerve Fusion: An Animal Study., Alec H Fisher, Parker H Johnsen, Andrew Simon, Cameron J Burns, Vineeth Romiyo, Elliot B Bodofsky, Sebastian Vega, David A Fuller

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a synthetic, biodegradable, and hyperosmotic material promising in the treatment of acute peripheral nerve injuries. Our team set out to investigate the impact of fibrin glue upon PEG fusion in a rat model.

METHODS: Eighteen rats underwent sciatic nerve transection and PEG fusion. Electrophysiologic testing was performed to measure nerve function and distal muscle twitch. Fibrin glue was applied and testing repeated. Due to preliminary findings, fibrin glue was applied to an uncut nerve in five rodents and testing was conducted before and after glue application. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare median values …

Development Of A Xenograft For Annular Repair Using Pulsed Electric Field Exposures For Enhanced Decellularization, Prince Mensah Kwaku Atsu

Theses and Dissertations

Severe back injuries and chronic pain necessitate surgical replacement of damaged intervertebral disc (IVD) cartilage in advanced disease stages. Bovine IVD tissue has been exposed to an upper threshold pulsed electric field (PEF) dose, causing cell death without thermal damage to the tissue. Subsequent PEF exposures at lower magnitudes have accelerated the removal of immunogenic biomolecules though electrokinetic extraction using optimized aqueous solutions. This approach yields a natural scaffold, ready for biocompatibility and mechanical strength assessment. The effects of microsecond pulsed electric fields (µsPEF) on primary bovine AF fibroblast-like cells have been characterized in vitro. PEFs of 10 and 100 …

Cancer Treatment By Targeting Hdac4 Translocation Induced By Microsecond Pulsed Electric Field Exposure: Mechanistic Insights Through Kinases And Phosphatases, Zahra Safaei

Theses and Dissertations

Epigenetic modifications, arising from sub-cellular shifts in histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity and localization, present promising strategies for diverse cancer treatments. HDACs, enzymes responsible for post-translational histone modifications, induce these epigenetic changes by removing acetyl groups from ε-N-acetyl-lysine residues on histones, thereby suppressing gene transcription. Within the HDAC group, class IIa HDACs are notable for their responsiveness to extracellular signals, bridging the gap between external stimuli, plasma membrane, and genome through nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation. This localization offers two significant mechanisms for cancer treatment: nuclear accumulation of HDACs represses oncogenic transcription factors, such as myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C), triggering various cell death …

Systematic Development Of Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles For Placental Mrna Delivery Using A Design Of Experiments Approach, Rachel E. Young, Katherine Nelson, Samuel I. Hofbauer, Tara Vijayakumar, Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh, Drew Weissman, Charalampos Papachristou, Jason P Gleghorn, Rachel S. Riley

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have gained attention as mRNA delivery platforms for vaccination against COVID-19 and for protein replacement therapies. LNPs enhance mRNA stability, circulation time, cellular uptake, and preferential delivery to specific tissues compared to mRNA with no carrier platform. However, LNPs are only in the beginning stages of development for safe and effective mRNA delivery to the placenta to treat placental dysfunction. Here, we develop LNPs that enable high levels of mRNA delivery to trophoblasts in vitro and to the placenta in vivo with no toxicity. We conducted a Design of Experiments to explore how LNP composition, including …

Molecular Separation By Using Active And Passive Microfluidic Chip Designs: A Comprehensive Review, A. Ebrahimi, K. Icoz, R. Didarian, C.-H. Shih, A. Akpek, Berivan Cecen, Sabanci A. Bal-Ozturk, K. Güleç, Y.-C.E Li, S. Shih, B. Sirma Tarim, H.C. Tekin, E. Alarçin, H. Ghorbanpoor, C. Özel, A. Eker Sarıboyacı, Guzel F. Dogan, N. Bassous, S.R. Shin, H. Avci

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Separation and identification of molecules and biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharides from complex fluids are known to be important due to unmet needs in various applications. Generally, many different separation techniques, including chromatography, electrophoresis, and magnetophoresis, have been developed to identify the target molecules precisely. However, these techniques are expensive and time consuming. “Lab-on-a-chip” systems with low cost per device, quick analysis capabilities, and minimal sample consumption seem to be ideal candidates for separating particles, cells, blood samples, and molecules. From this perspective, different microfluidic-based techniques have been extensively developed in the past two decades to separate …

Combining Adhesive And Nonadhesive Injectable Hydrogels For Intervertebral Disc Repair In An Ovine Discectomy Model., Christopher J Panebianco, Caroline Constant, Andrea J. Vernengo, Dirk Nehrbass, Dominic Gehweiler, Tyler J Distefano, Jesse Martin, David J Alpert, Saad B Chaudhary, Andrew C Hecht, Alan C Seifert, Steven B Nicoll, Sibylle Grad, Stephan Zeiter, James C Iatridis

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc (IVD) disorders (e.g., herniation) directly contribute to back pain, which is a leading cause of global disability. Next-generation treatments for IVD herniation need advanced preclinical testing to evaluate their ability to repair large defects, prevent reherniation, and limit progressive degeneration. This study tested whether experimental, injectable, and nonbioactive biomaterials could slow IVD degeneration in an ovine discectomy model.

METHODS: Ten skeletally mature sheep (4-5.5 years) experienced partial discectomy injury with cruciate-style annulus fibrosus (AF) defects and 0.1 g nucleus pulposus (NP) removal in the L1-L2, L2-L3, and L3-L4 lumbar IVDs. L4-L5 IVDs were Intact controls. IVD injury …

Occlusive Membranes For Guided Regeneration Of Inflamed Tissue Defects., Woojin Choi, Utkarsh Mangal, Jin-Young Park, Ji-Yeong Kim, Taesuk Jun, Ju Won Jung, Moonhyun Choi, Sungwon Jung, Milae Lee, Ji-Yeong Na, Du Yeol Ryu, Jin Man Kim, Jae-Sung Kwon, Won-Gun Koh, Sangmin Lee, Patrick T J Hwang, Kee-Joon Lee, Ui-Won Jung, Jae-Kook Cha, Sung-Hwan Choi, Jinkee Hong

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Guided bone regeneration aided by the application of occlusive membranes is a promising therapy for diverse inflammatory periodontal diseases. Symbiosis, homeostasis between the host microbiome and cells, occurs in the oral environment under normal, but not pathologic, conditions. Here, we develop a symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane by mimicking the tooth enamel growth or multiple nucleation biomineralization processes. We perform human saliva and in vivo canine experiments to confirm that the symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane induces a symbiotic healing environment. Moreover, we show that the membrane exhibits tractability and enzymatic stability, maintaining the healing space during the entire guided bone regeneration …

Real-Time Arrhythmia Detection Using Convolutional Neural Networks, Thong Vu, Tyler Petty, Kemal Yakut, Muhammad Usman, Wei Xue, Francis M. Haas, Robert A. Hirsh, Xinghui Zhao

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and congestive heart failure, are the leading cause of death both in the United States and worldwide. The current medical practice for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases is not suitable for long-term, out-of-hospital use. A key to long-term monitoring is the ability to detect abnormal cardiac rhythms, i.e., arrhythmia, in real-time. Most existing studies only focus on the accuracy of arrhythmia classification, instead of runtime performance of the workflow. In this paper, we present our work on supporting real-time arrhythmic detection using convolutional neural networks, which take images of electrocardiogram (ECG) segments as input, and classify …

Evolutionary Conservation And Times Of Action Of Heterochronic Genes, Maria Ivanova

Theses and Dissertations

The heterochronic pathway of C. elegans is the most well-characterized system to date for controlling the sequence and timing of developmental events. However, we still have critical unanswered questions to address. First, little is known about the evolution of the heterochronic pathway, and of developmental timing in general. To determine if the roles of major heterochronic genes are conserved, I made mutants in orthologs of these genes in C. briggsae, using CRISPR/Cas9. My studies revealed a significant drift in the roles of some of the genes, although all of them are still involved in the developmental timing regulation, and several …

Advanced Processing Techniques For Electrospun Nanofibers: Investigating Annealing And Laser Zone-Drawing Effects On Material Characteristics, Matthew D. Flamini

Theses and Dissertations

Electrospun nanofibers hold potential for a wide range of commercial and scientific applications; however, their properties must be optimized through post-processing treatments to achieve optimal performance. This dissertation investigates the effects of annealing and laser zone-drawing on electrospun nanofiber properties. Annealing polycaprolactone nanofibers at 70°C results in the highest rate of crystallization and molecular alignment, impacting long-term stability and mechanical properties. A multivariate linear model incorporating crystallinity and molecular alignment predicts the material properties resulting from annealing under different conditions. Laser zone-drawing experiments reveal that polylactide fiber thinning under laser irradiation primarily occurs due to drawing rather than ablation. Steady-state …

Cell Encapsulation In Gelatin Methacryloyl Bioinks Impairs Microscale Diffusion Properties, Elvan Dogan, Christina Holshue, Anant Bhusal, Roshni Shukla, Amir K. Miri

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Light-assisted bioprinted gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) constructs have been used for cell-laden microtissues and organoids. GelMA can be loaded by desired cells, which can regulate the biophysical properties of bioprinted constructs. We study how the degree of methacrylation (MA degree), GelMA mass concentration, and cell density change mass transport properties. We introduce a fluorescent-microscopy-based method of biotransport testing with improved sensitivity compared to the traditional particle tracking methods. The diffusion capacity of GelMA with a higher MA significantly decreased compared to a lower MA. Opposed to a steady range of linear elastic moduli, the diffusion coefficient in GelMA varied when cell …

Efficient Scopeformer: Toward Scalable And Rich Feature Extraction For Intracranial Hemorrhage Detection, Yassine Barhoumi, Nidhal Carla Bouaynaya, Ghulam Rasool

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

The quality and richness of feature maps extracted by convolution neural networks (CNNs) and vision Transformers (ViTs) directly relate to the robust model performance. In medical computer vision, these information-rich features are crucial for detecting rare cases within large datasets. This work presents the “Scopeformer,” a novel multi-CNN-ViT model for intracranial hemorrhage classification in computed tomography (CT) images. The Scopeformer architecture is scalable and modular, which allows utilizing various CNN architectures as the backbone with diversified output features and pre-training strategies. We propose effective feature projection methods to reduce redundancies among CNN-generated features and to control the input size of …

Evalattai: A Holistic Approach To Evaluating Attribution Maps In Robust And Non-Robust Models, Ian E. Nielsen, Ravi Ramachandran, Nidhal Carla Bouaynaya, Hassan M. Fathallah-Shaykh, Ghulam Rasool

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Eyes are one of the main critical organs of the body that provide our brain with the most information about the surrounding environment. Disturbance in the activity of this informational organ, resulting from different ocular diseases, could affect the quality of life, so finding appropriate methods for treating ocular disease has attracted lots of attention. This is especially due to the ineffectiveness of the conventional therapeutic method to deliver drugs into the interior parts of the eye, and the also presence of barriers such as tear film, blood-ocular, and blood-retina barriers. Recently, some novel techniques, such as different types of …

Chemical And Polymer Characterization Of The Potential Modes Of Degradation Of An Injectable Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device, Antonio G. Abbondandolo

Theses and Dissertations

HYDRAFIL™ is a poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogel nucleus pulposus replacement device that is injected in situ and has demonstrated efficacy in lowering the prevalence and pain associated with back. In this work, we developed a method to analyze HYDRAFIL™ polymer composition using (TGA) and characterized intermolecular bonding interactions within the hydrogel through (FTIR). To function as a permanent implant for nucleus pulposus replacement, HYDRAFIL™ must be stable when exposed to a multitude of degradation pathways, namely, thermal, chemical, and mechanical. We subjected HYDRAFIL™ to accelerated thermal and chemical degradation pathways and described compositional, physical and chemical property changes using a …

Recent Advances In Antimicrobial Peptide Hydrogels, Aryanna Copling, Maxwell Akantibila, Raaha Kumaresan, Gilbert Fleischer, Dennise Cortes, Rahul S Tripathi, Valerie J. Carabetta, Sebastian Vega

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Departmental Research

Advances in the number and type of available biomaterials have improved medical devices such as catheters, stents, pacemakers, prosthetic joints, and orthopedic devices. The introduction of a foreign material into the body comes with a risk of microbial colonization and subsequent infection. Infections of surgically implanted devices often lead to device failure, which leads to increased patient morbidity and mortality. The overuse and improper use of antimicrobials has led to an alarming rise and spread of drug-resistant infections. To overcome the problem of drug-resistant infections, novel antimicrobial biomaterials are increasingly being researched and developed. Hydrogels are a class of 3D …

Application Of Convergent Science And Technology Toward Ocular Disease Treatment, Ayca Bal-Öztürk, Ece Özcan-Bülbül, Hazal Ezgi Gültekin, Berivan Cecen, Ebru Demir, Atefeh Zarepout, Sibel Cetinel, Ali Zarrabi

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Eyes are one of the main critical organs of the body that provide our brain with the most information about the surrounding environment. Disturbance in the activity of this informational organ, resulting from different ocular diseases, could affect the quality of life, so finding appropriate methods for treating ocular disease has attracted lots of attention. This is especially due to the ineffectiveness of the conventional therapeutic method to deliver drugs into the interior parts of the eye, and the also presence of barriers such as tear film, blood-ocular, and blood-retina barriers. Recently, some novel techniques, such as different types of …

Efficient Scopeformer: Towards Scalable And Rich Feature Extraction For Intracranial Hemorrhage Detection Using Hybrid Convolution And Vision Transformer Networks, Yassine Barhoumi

Theses and Dissertations

The field of medical imaging has seen significant advancements through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. The success of deep learning models in this area has led to the need for further research. This study aims to explore the use of various deep learning algorithms and emerging modeling techniques to improve training paradigms in medical imaging. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are the go-to architecture for computer vision problems, but they have limitations in mapping long-term dependencies within images. To address these limitations, the study explores the use of techniques such as global average pooling and self-attention mechanisms. Additionally, the …

Impact Of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells On Aortic Tensile Strength In A Model Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, Keshav Kooragayala, Johanna Lou, Vaishali Krishnadoss, Brian Zilberman, Nicholas Deleo, Olga Ostrovsky, Ping Zhang, Iman Noshadi, Spencer Brown, Jeffrey P. Carpenter

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Introduction: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a highly morbid condition and is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Treatment options are limited to operative interventions, with minimal non-operative options. Prior literature has demonstrated a benefit to the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in attenuating AAA formation. We demonstrate the utility of MSCs in treating AAA in swine, focusing on the mechanical and structural characteristics of aortic tissue after treatment. Methods: 16 Yorkshire pigs underwent retroperitoneal exposure of the infrarenal aorta, with subsequent induction of AAA with peri-adventitial elastase and collagenase. A 1 × 4 cm …

Self-Healing Properties Of Augmented Injectable Hydrogels Over Time, Connor Castro, Zachary R. Brown, Erik Brewer

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Injectable polymers offer great benefits compared to other types of implants; however, they tend to suffer from increased mechanical wear and may need a replacement implant to restore these mechanical properties. The purpose of this experiment is to investigate an injectable hydrogel's self-healing ability to augment itself to a previously molded implant. This was accomplished by performing a tensile strength test to examine potential diminishing mechanical properties with increasing time, as well as dye penetration tests to examine the formation of interfacial bonds between healed areas of hydrogels. There were several time points in between injections that were explored, from …