Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Age-Related Differentiation Of Sensorimotor Control Strategies During Pursuit And Compensatory Tracking, Megan L. Heenan, Robert A. Scheidt, Scott A. Beardsley

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Motor control deficits during aging have been well-documented. Various causes of neuromotor decline, including both peripheral and central neurological deficits, have been hypothesized. Here, we use a model of closed-loop sensorimotor control to examine the functional causes of motor control deficits during aging. We recruited 14 subjects aged 19-61 years old to participate in a study in which they performed single-joint compensatory and pursuit tracking tasks with their dominant hand. We found that visual response delay and visual noise increased with age, while reliance on visual feedback, especially during compensatory tracking decreased. Increases in visual noise were also positively correlated …

A Modular Low-Clearance Wrist Orthosis For Improving Wrist Motion In Children With Cerebral Palsy, Devon Holley, Michelle Johnson, Gerald F. Harris, Scott A. Beardsley

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) often exhibit impairments in the coordination of the grip and lift phases of arm movements that directly impact their ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). The application of assistive robotic therapy to children with spastic hemiplegic CP has shown that augmented movement training can lead to improved functional outcomes and improved arm kinematics. Assistive robotic therapy of the wrist has been shown to help improve motor skills in stroke patients, but the devices employed are often large and obtrusive, focusing on a repeated motion rather than a task-based itinerary. Here, we propose a …

Which Design And Biomaterial Factors Affect Clinical Wear Performance Of Total Disc Replacements? A Systematic Review, Sai Y. Veruva, Marla J. Steinbeck, Jeffrey M. Toth, Dominik D. Alexander, Steven M. Kurtz

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Total disc replacement was clinically introduced to reduce pain and preserve segmental motion of the lumbar and cervical spine. Previous case studies have reported on the wear and adverse local tissue reactions around artificial prostheses, but it is unclear how design and biomaterials affect clinical outcomes.

Questions/purposes

Which design and material factors are associated with differences in clinical wear performance (implant wear and periprosthetic tissue response) of (1) lumbar and (2) cervical total disc replacements?

Methods

We performed a systematic review on the topics of implant wear and periprosthetic tissue response using an advanced search in MEDLINE and Scopus …

Evaluation Of Upper Extremity Movement Characteristics During Standardized Pediatric Functional Assessment With A Kinect®-Based Markerless Motion Analysis System, Jacob R. Rammer, Joseph J. Krzak, Susan A. Riedel, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A recently developed and evaluated upper extremity (UE) markerless motion analysis system based on the Microsoft® Kinect® has potential for improving functional assessment of patients with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. 12 typically-developing adolescents ages 12-17 were evaluated using both the Kinect-based system and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Upper Extremity Evaluation (SHUEE), a validated measure of UE motion. The study established population means of UE kinematic parameters for each activity. Statistical correlation analysis was used to identify key kinematic metrics used to develop automatic scoring algorithms. The Kinect motion analysis platform is technically sound and can be applied to standardized task-based …

Simultaneous Robotic Manipulation And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Feasibility In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Nicole Marie Gregor Salowitz, Bridget K. Dolan, Rheanna Remmel, Amy V. Van Hecke, Kristine M. Mosier, Lucia S. Simo, Robert A. Scheidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

An unanswered question concerning the neural basis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is how sensorimotor deficits in individuals with ASD are related to abnormalities of brain function. We previously described a robotic joystick and video game system that allows us to record functional magnetic resonance images (FMRI) while adult humans make goal- directed wrist motions. We anticipated several challenges in extending this approach to studying goal-directed behaviors in children with ASD and in typically developing (TYP) children. In particular we were concerned that children with autism may express increased levels of anxiety as compared to typically developing children due to …

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Of The Spinal Cord: Insights From Animal And Human Studies, Aditya Vedantam, Michael B. Jirjis, Brian D. Schmit, Marjorie C. Wang, John L. Ulmer, Shekar N. Kurpad

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides a measure of the directional diffusion of water molecules in tissues. The measurement of DTI indexes within the spinal cord provides a quantitative assessment of neural damage in various spinal cord pathologies. DTI studies in animal models of spinal cord injury indicate that DTI is a reliable imaging technique with important histological and functional correlates. These studies demonstrate that DTI is a noninvasive marker of microstructural change within the spinal cord. In human studies, spinal cord DTI shows definite changes in subjects with acute and chronic spinal cord injury, as well as cervical spondylotic myelopathy. …

Benefits Of Industry Involvement In Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Courses, Jay R. Goldberg, Vikram Cariapa, George Corliss, Kate Kaiser

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Opportunities for industry involvement in capstone design courses go beyond industry sponsorship of capstone design projects. Representatives from industry can serve as guest lecturers, curriculum advisors, and design project sponsors and team mentors. Since 2000, industry participation has been a core part of the capstone design course at Marquette University. Practicing engineers provide a relevant, practical real-world perspective of their topic, reinforcing its importance to professional engineering practice. Students and faculty benefit from the up-to-date treatment of the topic provided by guest speakers from industry who have expertise in the topic and are willing to share their experiences with students. …

Emerging Optical Techniques For Detection Of Oral, Cervical And Anal Cancer In Low-Resource Settings, Bing Yu, Daron G. Ferris, Yang Liu, Vivek K. Nagarajan

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Cancers of the oral and anogenital regions are a growing global health problem that disproportionately impact women and men living in developing countries. The high death rate in developing countries is largely due to the fact that these countries do not have the appropriate medical infrastructure and resources to support the organized screening and diagnostic programs that are available in the developed world. Emerging optical diagnostics techniques, such as optical spectroscopy, reflectance imaging, and fluorescence imaging, are noninvasive techniques that are sensitive to multiple cancer biomarkers and have shown the potential as a cost–effective and fast tool for diagnosis of …

Bone Material Properties In Osteogenesis Imperfecta: A Matter Of Quantity Over Quality, Carolyne Albert, John Jameson, Gerald F. Harris, Peter Smith

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Developing An At-Home System For Evaluating Manual Wheelchair Propulsion And Directing Rehabilitative Training To Optimize Biomechanical Efficiency, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Arm Motion (Amd) Detection Test, Maria C. Bengston, Leigh A. Mrotek, Tina M. Stoeckmann, Claude Ghez, Robert A. Scheidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Stroke can lead to sensory deficits that impair functional control of arm movements. Here we describe a simple test of arm motion detection (AMD) that provides an objective, quantitative measure of movement perception related proprioceptive capabilities in the arm. Seven stroke survivors and thirteen neurologically intact control subjects performed the AMD test. In a series of ten trials that took less than 15 minutes to complete, participants used a two-button user interface to adjust the magnitude of hand displacements produced by a horizontal planar robot until the motions were just perceptible (i.e. on the threshold of detection). The standard deviation …

Submovements During Reaching Movements After Stroke, Lucia S. Simo, Davide Piovesan, Jozsef Laczko, Claude Ghez, Robert A. Scheidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Neurological deficits after cerebrovascular accidents very frequently disrupt the kinematics of voluntary movements with the consequent impact in daily life activities. Robotic methodologies enable the quantitative characterization of specific control deficits needed to understand the basis of functional impairments and to design effective rehabilitation therapies. In a group of right handed chronic stroke survivors (SS) with right side hemiparesis, intact proprioception, and differing levels of motor impairment, we used a robotic manipulandum to study right arm function during discrete point-to-point reaching movements and reciprocal out-and-back movements to visual targets. We compared these movements with those of neurologically intact individuals (NI). …

Impedance Control And Internal Model Formation When Reaching In A Randomly Varying Dynamical Environment, C. D. Takahashi, Robert A. Scheidt, D. J. Reikensmeyer

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We investigated the effects of trial-to-trial, random variation in environmental forces on the motor adaptation of human subjects during reaching. Novel sequences of dynamic environments were applied to subjects' hands by a robot. Subjects reached first in a “mean field” having a constant gain relating force and velocity, then in a “noise field,” having a gain that varied randomly between reaches according to a normal distribution with a mean identical to that of the mean field. The unpredictable nature of the noise field did not degrade adaptation as quantified by final kinematic error and rate of adaptation. To achieve this …

Characterization Of A Human Powered Nebulizer Compressor For Resource Poor Settings, Christopher J. Hallberg, Mary Therese Lysaught, Christopher E. Zmudka, William K. Kopesky, Lars E. Olson

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Respiratory disease accounts for three of the ten leading causes of death worldwide. Many of these diseases can be treated and diagnosed using a nebulizer. Nebulizers can also be used to safely and efficiently deliver vaccines. Unfortunately, commercially available nebulizers are not designed for use in regions of the world where lung disease is most prevalent: they are electricity-dependent, cost-prohibitive, and not built to be reliable in harsh operating conditions or under frequent use.

To overcome these limitations, the Human Powered Nebulizer compressor (HPN) was developed. The HPN does not require electricity; instead airflow is generated manually through a …

Virtual Capstone Design Teams: Preparing For Global Innovation (Conference Proceeding), Jay R. Goldberg, Susannah Howe

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Global innovation requires collaboration between groups of people located in different parts of the world, and is a growing trend in industry. Virtual teams are often used to manage new product development projects. These teams are similar to traditional teams but are geographically separated and rely heavily on virtual methods of communication (email, Skype, teleconferencing, etc.) instead of regular face-to-face meetings. Experience working as a member of a virtual capstone design team can help prepare students for this growing trend. To begin preparing students for work on virtual teams in industry, we co-advised two virtual capstone design projects with students …