Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

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 …

Motor Control-Based Assessment Of Therapy Effects In Individuals Post-Stroke: Implications For Prediction Of Response And Subject-Specific Modifications, Ashley Rice

Doctoral Dissertations

Producing a coordinated motion such as walking is, at its root, the result of healthy communication pathways between the central nervous system and the musculoskeletal system. The central nervous system produces an electrical signal responsible for the excitation of a muscle, and the musculoskeletal system contains the necessary equipment for producing a movement-driving force to achieve a desired motion. Motor control refers to the ability an individual has to produce a desired motion, and the complexity of motor control is a mathematical concept stemming from how the electrical signals from the central nervous system translate to muscle activations. Exercising a …

Susceptibility Of Riverine Fishes To Anthropogenically-Linked Trauma: Strikes From Hydropower Turbine Blades, Ryan K. Saylor

Doctoral Dissertations

Hydropower accounts for nearly 40% of renewable electricity generation in the US; however, dams significantly impact the surrounding aquatic ecosystems. One of the most visible impacts of hydropower―beyond the dam itself―is the direct negative impacts (injury or death) to fish populations that must pass through hydropower turbines to access desired downstream habitat. During passage, fishes face many potential stressors that can cause severe injuries and often leads to high rates of mortality. In this dissertation, I have focused on quantifying how fishes respond to impacts from turbine blades that may occur during turbine passage. Laboratory research into blade strike impact …

Optically Active Rare-Earth Doped Films Synthesized By Pulsed Laser Deposition For Biomedical Applications, Charles William Bond

Doctoral Dissertations

Optically active materials are used in many biomedical applications ranging from medical imaging to light therapies. Investigating the effects of differing nanostructure configurations on the optical performance of these materials can improve tunability, efficiency, and practicality for their respective applications. This work utilizes pulsed laser deposition (PLD) to develop nanostructured thin films and determines their optical performance for applications in computed radiography for medical imaging and in LEDs which can be used in biomedical applications such as photobiomodulation.

In computed radiography, scattering of the stimulation light by the storage phosphor crystal grain boundaries in imaging plates negatively impacts spatial resolution. …

Engineered Switch Protein Inspired By Novel Protein Affinity Transition Mode, Liang Fang

Doctoral Dissertations

Many natural proteins involved in complex biological processes such as ligand binding and protein folding demonstrate multiple, allosterically-regulated conformational states, with protein activity regulated by effector molecules. The alpha L integrin and its inserted domain (I domain) is one example of such a protein. The binding of the effector molecule such as talin or filamin to the cytoplasmic domain of the integrin increases the binding affinity between I- domain and its ligand intercellular adhesion molecule-1, known as ICAM-1.There are multiple models attempting to describe the mechanism responsible for the change in binding affinity. According to research conducted by our lab, …