Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 16 of 16

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Strain Distribution In The Porcine Lumbar Laminae Under Asymmetric Loading, Colin Bright, Stephen Tiernan, Fiona Mcevoy, Patrick Kiely Jan 2017

Strain Distribution In The Porcine Lumbar Laminae Under Asymmetric Loading, Colin Bright, Stephen Tiernan, Fiona Mcevoy, Patrick Kiely

Conference Papers

If the articular facets of the vertebra grow in an asymmetric manner, the developed geometry causes an asymmetry of loading. When the loading environment is altered by way of increased activity, the likelihood of acquiring a stress fracture may be increased. The combination of geometric asymmetry and increased activity is hypothesised to be the precursor to the stress fracture under investigation in this study, spondylolysis. This vertebral defect is an acquired fracture with 7% prevalence in the paediatric population. This value increases to 21% among athletes who participate in hyperextension sports. Tests were carried out on porcine lumbar vertebrae, on …


A Collagen‐Glycosaminoglycan‐Fibrin Scaffold For Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Applications, Claire Brougham, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas Flanagan, Fergal O'Brien Sep 2014

A Collagen‐Glycosaminoglycan‐Fibrin Scaffold For Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Applications, Claire Brougham, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas Flanagan, Fergal O'Brien

Conference Papers

The field of heart valve biology and tissue engineering a heart valve continue to expand. The presentatio ns at this meeting reflect the advances made in both areas due to the multi-disciplinary approach taken by many laboratories.


Intelligibility Of Electrolarynx Speech Using A Novel Hands-Free Actuator, Brian Madden, Mark Nolan, Ted Burke, James Condron, Eugene Coyle Jan 2011

Intelligibility Of Electrolarynx Speech Using A Novel Hands-Free Actuator, Brian Madden, Mark Nolan, Ted Burke, James Condron, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

During voiced speech, the larynx provides quasi-periodic acoustic excitation of the vocal tract. In most electrolarynxes, mechanical vibrations are produced by a linear electromechanical actuator, the armature of which percusses against a metal or plastic plate at a frequency within the range of glottal excitation. In this paper, the intelligibility of speech produced using a novel hands-free actuator is compared to speech produced using a conventional electrolarynx. Two able-bodied speakers (one male, one female) performed a closed response test containing 28 monosyllabic words, once using a conventional electrolarynx and a second time using the novel design. The resulting audio recordings …


Augmented Control Of A Hands-Free Electrolarynx, Brian Madden, James Condron, Eugene Coyle Jan 2011

Augmented Control Of A Hands-Free Electrolarynx, Brian Madden, James Condron, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

During voiced speech, the larynx acts as the sound source, providing a quasi-periodic excitation of the vocal tract. Following a total laryngectomy, some people speak using an electrolarynx which employs an electromechanical actuator to perform the excitatory function of the absent larynx. Drawbacks of conventional electrolarynx designs include the monotonic sound emitted, the need for a free-hand to operate the device, and the difficulty experienced by many laryngectomees in adapting to its use. One improvement to the electrolarynx, which clinicians and users frequently suggest, is the provision of a convenient hands-free control facility. This would allow more natural use of …


Attitudes Of Health Professionals To Electronic Data Sharing Within An Integrated Care Electronic Health Record (Icehr), Charyl O'Malley, Damon Berry, Mary Sharp Nov 2010

Attitudes Of Health Professionals To Electronic Data Sharing Within An Integrated Care Electronic Health Record (Icehr), Charyl O'Malley, Damon Berry, Mary Sharp

Conference Papers

It is estimated that 98,000 people die in hospitals yearly in the USA as a result of medical errors (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2009). Electronic Health Records (EHR) can offer improved patient safety. EHRs are being implemented by many countries, however, not all health professionals have welcomed them (MORI Social Research Institute, 2006). As outlined in the National Health Information Strategy (NHIS) document, Ireland has plans to introduce an EHR. Attitudes of health professionals are a significant factor for the successful implementation and adoption of a new clinical information system. This study aimed to gauge the attitude of …


Intelligibility Of Electrolarynx Speech Using A Novel Actuator, Brian Madden, Mark Nolan, Ted Burke, James Condron, Eugene Coyle Jun 2010

Intelligibility Of Electrolarynx Speech Using A Novel Actuator, Brian Madden, Mark Nolan, Ted Burke, James Condron, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

During voiced speech, the larynx provides quasi-periodic acoustic excitation of the vocal tract. Following a laryngectomy, some people speak using an electrolarynx which replaces the excitatory function of the absent larynx. Drawbacks of conventional electrolarynx designs include the buzzing monotonic sound emitted, the need for a free hand to operate the device, and difficulty experienced by many laryngectomees in adapting to its use. Despite these shortcomings, it remains the preferred method of speech rehabilitation for a substantial minority of laryngectomees. In most electrolarynxes, mechanical vibrations are produced by a linear electromechanical actuator, the armature of which percusses against a metal …


Archetype Alignment: A Two-Level Driven Semantic Matching Approach To Interoperability In The Clinical Domain, Damon Berry, Jesus Bisbal Jan 2009

Archetype Alignment: A Two-Level Driven Semantic Matching Approach To Interoperability In The Clinical Domain, Damon Berry, Jesus Bisbal

Conference Papers

Semantic interoperability between electronic health record systems and other information systems in the health domain implies agreement about the structure and the meaning of the information that is communicated. There are still a number of similar but different EHR system approaches. Some of the newer approaches adopt the two-layer model approach where a generic reference model is constrained by archetypes into valid clinical concepts which can be exchanged. The meaning of the concepts that are represented by an archetype can be conveyed by embedding codes from a commonly recognised terminology at appropriate points in the archetype. However, as the number …


Patient-Centred Laboratory Validation Using Software Agents, John Mcgrory, Jane Grimson, Frank Clarke, Peter Gaffney Jan 2008

Patient-Centred Laboratory Validation Using Software Agents, John Mcgrory, Jane Grimson, Frank Clarke, Peter Gaffney

Conference Papers

Guidelines are self-contained documents which healthcare professionals reference to obtain knowledge about a specific condition or process. They interface with these documents and apply known facts about specific patients to gain useful supportive information to aid in developing a diagnosis or manage a condition. To automate this process a series of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and workflow processes are constructed using the contents of these documents in order to manage the validation flow of a patient sample. These processes decompose the guidelines into workflow plans, which are then called using condition triggers controlled by a centralised management engine. The software …


Cutting Rate Effect On Temperature During Cortical Bone Sawing, Hamid Khalili Parsa, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack Jan 2006

Cutting Rate Effect On Temperature During Cortical Bone Sawing, Hamid Khalili Parsa, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack

Conference Papers

When bone is cut the occurrence of thermal damage to the bone is of major concern to the surgeon. If the temperature exceeds 44°C for longer than 1 min, bone repair is impaired (Eriksson et al, 1984) and necrosis may occur. Repeated use of cutting blades may reduce the cutting efficiency (Wevers et al, 1987; Toksvig-Larsen et al, 1992). Wevers et al also found that there is a greater force required to cut cortical bone using a blunt saw compared to new one.


Indentation Fracture Of Bovine Cortical Bone: Acoustic Emission Technique, Ashkan Safari, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack Jan 2006

Indentation Fracture Of Bovine Cortical Bone: Acoustic Emission Technique, Ashkan Safari, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack

Conference Papers

Indentation cutting may result in microcracking and main crack growth which was previously reported. In this study, we recorded the AE signals produced by cracking processes during cutting on cortical bone, measuring the cutting force and correlating between load-displacement curves and AE activities.


Analysis Of Indentation Loading Of Cortical Bone Using Acoustic Emission Techniques, Ashkan Safari, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack Dec 2005

Analysis Of Indentation Loading Of Cortical Bone Using Acoustic Emission Techniques, Ashkan Safari, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack

Conference Papers

In this study, we recorded the number of Acoustic emission (AE) hits and related AE energy during indentation fracture of cortical bone using a PAC PCI-2 card and pico sensor. A threshold value of 43dB was used to filter premature trigger due to background noise. Registered AE hits had more than one count (threshold crossing). Amplifier gain was set at 40dB with a (0.1-1) MHz band pass filter. 8mm cubes of cortical bones were indented in the longitudinal direction at constant crosshead speed of 1 mm min-1 using a large 2D, 50˚ wedge indenter. We hypothesised that signals occurring as …


Detection Of Microcracks During Bone Cutting Using Acoustic Emission Techniques, Ashkan Safari, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack Sep 2005

Detection Of Microcracks During Bone Cutting Using Acoustic Emission Techniques, Ashkan Safari, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack

Conference Papers

Surgeons may use a number of cutting instruments such as osteotomes and chisels to cut bone during operative procedures. The initial loading of cortical bone during the cutting process results in the formation of microcracks in the vicinity of the cutting zone with main crack propagation to failure occurring with continued loading; microcracking acts as a stimulus for main crack formation and has also been shown to occur during the propagation of the main crack. It has also been reported that Acoustic Emission (AE) is generated due to microcrack formation and crack growth, prior to, and during final fracture in …


An Experimental Technique For Measurement Of Heat Generated During Bone Sawing, Hamid Khalili Parsa, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack Sep 2005

An Experimental Technique For Measurement Of Heat Generated During Bone Sawing, Hamid Khalili Parsa, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack

Conference Papers

Orthopaedic bone cutting processes such as osteotomy and hip arthroplasty involve the cutting of one with the aid of various manual and powered cutting instruments including manual and powered bone saws. The extent of surgically induced bone necrosis at the point of the cutting tool and the bone is mainly due to the frictional heat generated by bone cutting. Bone necrosis has an impact on bone regeneration, and the rate of healing of the bone post operation. The threshold temperature for impaired regeneration of bone is in the range of 44°C to 47°C. Overheating also affects the sharpness life of …


Sequential Labelling And Acoustic Emission Analysis Of Damage Occurring In Cortical Bone During Indentation Cutting, Ger Reilly, Ashkan Safari, David Taylor, Brendan Mccormack Jul 2005

Sequential Labelling And Acoustic Emission Analysis Of Damage Occurring In Cortical Bone During Indentation Cutting, Ger Reilly, Ashkan Safari, David Taylor, Brendan Mccormack

Conference Papers

When a surgeon uses a wedge shaped blade or an osteotome to cut cortical bone during an operative procedure the bone will fail by a process of microcracking and primary crack propagation. It has previously been observed that crack propagation is dependent on the direction of cutting relative to the main axis of the bone. It has also been observed that microcracks occurring during fracture release acoustic signals that facilitate real-time monitoring of a cutting process. In these novel studies, we labelled damage accumulation during cutting of cortical bone using sequential chelating dyes and we correlated recorded AE signals during …


An Investigation Of The Heat Affected Zone In Cortical Bone Sawing, Hamid Khalili Parsa, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack, Andrew Macey Jan 2005

An Investigation Of The Heat Affected Zone In Cortical Bone Sawing, Hamid Khalili Parsa, Ger Reilly, Brendan Mccormack, Andrew Macey

Conference Papers

Surgical procedures such as osteotomy and hip replacement involve the cutting of bone with the aid of various manual and powered cutting instruments including manual and powered bone saws. Frictional rubbing between the blade of the saw and the bone results in the generation of localised heating of the cut bone and increased cutting forces (Ark et al, 1997). Overheating in localised areas can cause bone necrosis and have an impact on the rate of healing of the bone post operation and overheating also affects the sharpness life of the blade. A review of the literature indicates that work has …


Design Of A Wireless System For Patient-Hospital Communication And Result Validation In Point Of Care Testing, John Mcgrory, Owen Lynch, Eugene Coyle Jan 2005

Design Of A Wireless System For Patient-Hospital Communication And Result Validation In Point Of Care Testing, John Mcgrory, Owen Lynch, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

This paper discuses mobile phone (cell phone) and wireless applications for linking patients who manage their healthcare outside the hospital using Point of Care Testing (POCT) to hospital information systems (HIS). Certain medical conditions require patients to manage their healthcare by performing on themselves POC testing and act faithfully on the result. This raises quality control issue, as these POC samples and testing procedures are not independently overseen by professional hospital staff. In hospitals, samples taken by clinicians are validated by hi-tech computerised validation systems to ensure plausibility, before physicians rely on them. Patients in the home must often use …