Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Methodology For Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded Cardiac Tissue Analysis, Leah G. Gutzwiller, Colleen Crouch

Haslam Scholars Projects

No abstract provided.

Development And Implementation Of A Computational Modeling Tool For Evaluation Of Tha Component Position, Thang Dac Nguyen

Doctoral Dissertations

The human body is a complicated structure with muscles, ligaments, bones, and joints. Modeling human body with computational tools are becoming a trend [1]. More importantly, using computational tools to evaluate human body is a non-invasive technique that could help surgeons and researchers evaluate implant products [2]. Therefore, the development of a model which can analyze both implant sizing suggestion and kinematics of subject specific data could prove valuable. For total hip arthroplasty, one common complication is in vivo separation and dislocation of the femoral head within the acetabular cup [3] [4]. Developing a successful computational tool to address this …

Medical Simu-Vest, Noah Presley Robison, Sarah Meeks, Mckenzie England, Tyler Morris

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Temperature Driven Nitinol Expandable For Intramedullary Fixation, Ethan Connor, Tony George, Prem Patel, Jamie Pouncey

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

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 …

A Rapid And Ultra-Sensitive Biosensing Platform Based On Tunable Dielectrophoresis For Robust Poc Applications, Yu Jiang

Doctoral Dissertations

With the ongoing pandemic, there have been increasing concerns recently regarding major public health issues such as abuse of organophosphorus compounds, pathogenic bacterial infections, and biosecurity in agricultural production. Biosensors have long been considered a kernel technology for next-generation diagnostic solutions to improve food safety and public health. Significant amounts of effort have been devoted to inventing novel sensing mechanisms, modifying their designs, improving their performance, and extending their application scopes. However, the reliability and selectivity of most biosensors still have much to be desired, which holds back the development and commercialization of biosensors, especially for on-site and point-of-care (POC) …

Clinical Retractable Infant Barrier, Josh Duzan, Kalani Carter, Jack Oberman, Hunter Thomas

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Medical Sound Simu-Vest, Daniel P. Woods, Luke M. Stanley, Megan Hines, Chris Cochran

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Medical Sound Simuvest, Jordan Grant

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Medical Sound Simuvest, Luke Stanley, Daniel Woods, Megan Hines, Chris Cochran

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Quantifying And Reversing Compensatory Movements By Persons Post-Stroke In The Ambient Setting, Aaron Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

Nearly 800,000 people in the United States suffer stroke annually. Following the onset of stroke, survivors will exhibit deficits, such as hemiplegia, which will limit their function and ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). In order to regain independence, many stroke survivors will employ maladaptive compensatory strategies to help with the completion of tasks. Compensation is generally defined as any performance of a task that is different than the way it may have been performed before the onset of a neurodegenerative disorder. While for some severely impaired individuals, compensation may be necessary, for most these maladaptive strategies ultimately …

Enhancing Biomechanical Function Through Development And Testing Of Assistive Devices For Shoulder Impairment And Total Limb Amputation, Patrick Hall

Doctoral Dissertations

Assistive devices serve as a potential for restoring sensorimotor function to impaired individuals. My research focuses on two assistive devices: a passive shoulder exoskeleton and a muscle-driven endoprosthesis (MDE). Previous passive shoulder exoskeletons have focused on testing during static loading conditions in the shoulder. However, activities of daily living are based on dynamic tasks. My research for passive shoulder exoskeletons analyzes the effect that a continuous passive assistance has on shoulder biomechanics. In my research I showed that passive assistance decreases the muscular activation in muscles responsible for positive shoulder exoskeleton. An MDE has the potential to have accurate and …

Non-Contact Techniques For Human Vital Sign Detection And Gait Analysis, Farnaz Foroughian

Doctoral Dissertations

Human vital signs including respiratory rate, heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and body temperature are important physiological parameters that are used to track and monitor human health condition. Another important biological parameter of human health is human gait. Human vital sign detection and gait investigations have been attracted many scientists and practitioners in various fields such as sport medicine, geriatric medicine, bio-mechanic and bio-medical engineering and has many biological and medical applications such as diagnosis of health issues and abnormalities, elderly care and health monitoring, athlete performance analysis, and treatment of joint problems. Thoroughly tracking and understanding the normal …

Automated Intelligent Cueing Device To Improve Ambient Gait Behaviors For Patients With Parkinson's Disease, Nader Naghavi

Doctoral Dissertations

Freezing of gait (FoG) is a common motor dysfunction in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). FoG impairs walking and is associated with increased fall risk. Although pharmacological treatments have shown promise during ON-medication periods, FoG remains difficult to treat during medication OFF state and in advanced stages of the disease. External cueing therapy in the forms of visual, auditory, and vibrotactile, has been effective in treating gait deviations. Intelligent (or on-demand) cueing devices are novel systems that analyze gait patterns in real-time and activate cues only at moments when specific gait alterations are detected. In this study we developed methods …

Analysis And Enhancement Of Human Cognitive Control Using Noninvasive Brain-Computer Interfaces, Soheil Borhani

Doctoral Dissertations

Cognitive control including attention and working memory are crucial to human daily life. Whether a civilian who walks across a street or a military service member who is responsible for navigating a mission, cognitive control is involved, entirely. This ability is subject to impairment. People with attention disorder are easily disposed to distraction and lacks the ability to maintain the focus to a task. Multiple treatment strategies have been suggested which most of them has been pharmaceutical. Evidently, the medical treatment has side effects for long-term use. Moreover, it has a risk of drug misuse. Another line of treatment is …

Camera-Based Remote Photoplethysmography For Estimation Of Heart Rate Using Single Board Computers, Benjamin Sweely

Masters Theses

The objective of this project was to develop a wireless, noncontact monitoring system that measures multiple physiological parameters in human faces from a distance using a camera. Compared to traditional sensors, this monitoring system does not use wires or adhesives, providing a safer, more user-friendly application. The goal of the monitoring systems was to estimate heart rate (HR). The current practices of measuring HR involve collecting electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from adhesive electrodes placed on various parts of the body and using a pulse oximeter (PO) typically placed on the ear lobe or finger. We were able to successfully create 2 …

Emergency Eye Simulation Model, Gavin L. Warrington, Christopher Forsyth, Lexus Morris, Natalie Ledezma

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Final Design Report For The Bioburden Pre-Cleaning Device And Dr. Mark Rasnake At The University Of Tennessee Medical Center, Katherine Elizabeth Stiles, Megan Pitz, Kayla Franklin, Simran Dayal, Austin Bullock

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

System Fault Tolerancing And Self-Reported Usability Of A Closed-Loop Robotic System For Reading Comprehension Skill Development In Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Miroslava I. Migovich

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing often suffer from low literacy and reading comprehension rates [1]. Over the past 50 years, research had concluded that literacy rates for these children rarely pass a fourth-grade level [2]. However, little research has been done regarding interventions for reading comprehension skill development [3]. Our long-term study seeks to incorporate social robotics and reading comprehension development to provide an option for in-home and in-school reading focused interventions. In the current study, we present an initial validation of a closed-loop social robotic system for reading comprehension testing. Results suggest our robot-based system is …

Design Of A Robotic Instrument Manipulator For Endoscopic Deployment, Ryan Ponten

Masters Theses

This thesis describes the initial design process for an application of continuum robotics to endoscopic surgical procedures, specifically dissection of the colon. We first introduce the long-term vision for a benchtop dual-instrument endoscopic system with intuitive haptic controllers and then narrow our focus to the design and testing of the instrument manipulator itself, which must be actuated through the long, winding channel of a standard colonoscope.

Based on design requirements for a target procedure, we analyze simulations of two types of continuum robots using recently established kinematic and mechanic modeling approaches: the concentric-tube robot (CTR) and the concentric agonist-antagonist robot …

Characterization And Manipulation Of Lipid Self-Assembly To Construct Stable, Portable Synthetic Lipid Bilayers, Guru Anand Venkatesan

Doctoral Dissertations

The overarching goal of this research work is to further our understanding of lipid self-assembly and its organization at an oil-water interface to support the development of synthetic lipid bilayer systems that can be used in biologically relevant fields such as membrane biophysics, protein electrophysiology, development of synthetic biomolecules, drugs, nanoparticles and other applications. Self-assembly kinetics and interfacial properties of lipid monolayers formed at a liquid-air and liquid-liquid interface are characterized using Langmuir-Blodgett trough and pendant drop tensiometer. Insights gained from these studies not only allow us to answer questions related to droplet interface bilayer (DIB; a promising technique to …

Modeling, Analysis, Force Sensing And Control Of Continuum Robots For Minimally Invasive Surgery, Caroline Bryson Black

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes design, modeling and application of continuum robotics for surgical applications, specifically parallel continuum robots (PCRs) and concentric tube manipulators (CTMs). The introduction of robotics into surgical applications has allowed for a greater degree of precision, less invasive access to more remote surgical sites, and user-intuitive interfaces with enhanced vision systems. The most recent developments have been in the space of continuum robots, whose exible structure create an inherent safety factor when in contact with fragile tissues. The design challenges that exist involve balancing size and strength of the manipulators, controlling the manipulators over long transmission pathways, and …

Final Design Report For The Gastrointestinal Anastomosis Device And Lawrence Lee, Md, University Heart Surgeons, Sara Parker, Chloe O'Dell, M Jake Potter, Jordan Failla

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Next Generation In-Vivo Forward Solution Physiological Model Of The Human Lower Limb To Predict Implanted Knee Mechanics, Bradley Allen Meccia

Doctoral Dissertations

Current total knee arthroplasty (TKA) evaluation methods are both time consuming and expensive. They require fabrication of the TKA and then utilize a wear or cadaveric simulator which does not necessarily replicate in-vivo conditions. Other analysis methods involve following the long-term success of TKA in subjects for five or more years. Mathematical modeling of TKA provide an efficient method at a greatly reduced cost for evaluating TKA. Obviously, the accuracy of a mathematical model is extremely important to the validity of the results.

Mathematical modeling of the knee faces many difficulties. The number of muscles actuating the knee is much …

A Feasibility Study Of Just-In-Time Asthma Self-Management Intervention, Phillip Charles Scruggs

Masters Theses

Quality asthma care requires not only an initial diagnosis, but long term follow up care and education on long term control. Preventable symptoms continue to reduce the quality of life for chronic asthma sufferers and place an unnecessary burden on emergency services and the health care system at large. A mobile health (mHealth) solution is proposed to effectively improve outcomes for patients while ultimately reducing the overall burden of mismanagement on the healthcare system as a whole. The Just-in-Time Asthma Self- Management and Intervention (JASMIN) system provides a way for a patient or user to track, self-manage, and interact with …

Adaptive Kernel Estimation For Enhanced Filtering And Pattern Classification Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Novel Techniques For Evaluating The Biomechanics And Pathologic Conditions Of The Lumbar Spine, Nicholas Vincent Battaglia

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the contribution the lumbar spine musculature has on etiological and pathogenic characteristics of low back pain and lumbar spondylosis. This endeavor necessarily required a two-step process: 1) design of an accurate post-processing method for extracting relevant information via magnetic resonance images and 2) determine pathological trends by elucidating high-dimensional datasets through multivariate pattern classification. The lumbar musculature was initially evaluated by post-processing and segmentation of magnetic resonance (MR) images of the lumbar spine, which characteristically suffer from nonlinear corruption of the signal intensity. This so called intensity inhomogeneity degrades the efficacy of traditional intensity-based segmentation algorithms. Proposed …

Wheelchair Fatigue Reducer, Aaron Miller, Dennis Andre Norfleet

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Lost And Found: Use Of Gps Technology To Improve Storage Of Patient Belongings In Hospital Setting, Shelby A. Sievers, Griffin M. Heise, Min G. Kang, Michael Totty

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Icloudecg: A Mobile Cardiac Telemedicine System, David S. Clifford

Masters Theses

With rising healthcare costs and a substantially growing number of patients 65 or over, the benefits of telemedicine and patient self-monitoring systems are becoming increasingly evident. Patients, physicians, hospitals, and even insurance providers benefit from vigilant, cost-effective patient monitoring systems. This thesis describes the development of a portable, smart-phone connected system for continuous cardiac monitoring. The system is capable of continuously monitoring the conditions of the heart, automated detection of cardiac arrhythmias, and real-time notifying patients and physicians of the detected abnormalities. The system consists of four main subsystems: 1) a Bluetooth capable chest-strap ECG, 2) an Android-enabled mobile device, …

In Vivo Mechanics Of Cam-Post Engagement In Fixed And Mobile Bearing Tka And Vibroarthrography Of The Knee Joint, Sumesh M. Zingde

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to determine the mechanics of the cam-post mechanism for subjects implanted with a Rotating Platform (RP) PS TKA, Fixed Bearing (FB) PS TKA or FB Bi-Cruciate Stabilized (BCS) TKA. Additionally, a secondary goal of this dissertation was to investigate the feasibility of vibroarthrography in correlating in-vivo vibrations with features exhibited in native, arthritic and implanted knees. In-vivo, 3D kinematics were determined for subjects implanted with nine knees with a RP-PS TKA, five knees with a FB-PS TKA, and 10 knees with a FB-BCS TKA, while performing a deep knee bend. Distance between the cam-post …