Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Biodegradable Nano-Hybrid Polymer Composite Networks For Regulating Cellular Behavior, Charles Henley Sprague

Masters Theses

Photo-crosslinkable polymeric biomaterials have emerged in the field of biomedical research to promote tissue regeneration. For example, scaffolds that can be crosslinked and hardened in situ have been known to make suitable implant alternatives. Since injectable and photo-crosslinkable biomaterials offer the advantage of being minimally invasive, they have emerged to compete with autografts, a current highly invasive method to repair diseased tissue. A series of novel photo-crosslinkable, injectable, and biodegradable nano-hybrid polymers consisting of poly(ε-caprolactone fumarate) (PCLF) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) has been synthesized in our laboratory via polycondensation. To engineer the material properties of the nano-hybrid networks, varied …

Joint Reaction Force And Contributions Of Surrounding Muscles To Knee Joint Load During Stair Ascent In Total Knee Replacement Patients And Healthy Individuals, Robert Jacob Rasnick

Masters Theses

Total knee replacement (TKR) is commonly used to correct end stage knee osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joint. Unfortunately, difficulty with stair climbing has been seen to exist, prolonging the challenges of TKR patents. Complete understanding of loading at the knee is of great interest in order to aid patient populations, implant manufacturers, rehabilitation, and future research. The outcome of a TKR is intended to reestablish normal motion and loading of the knee. Musculoskeletal modeling provides a means to accurately approximate joint loading and the corresponding muscle contributions during a movement.

The purpose of the present study was to examine …