Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Systematic Development Of Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles For Placental Mrna Delivery Using A Design Of Experiments Approach, Rachel E. Young, Katherine Nelson, Samuel I. Hofbauer, Tara Vijayakumar, Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh, Drew Weissman, Charalampos Papachristou, Jason P Gleghorn, Rachel S. Riley

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have gained attention as mRNA delivery platforms for vaccination against COVID-19 and for protein replacement therapies. LNPs enhance mRNA stability, circulation time, cellular uptake, and preferential delivery to specific tissues compared to mRNA with no carrier platform. However, LNPs are only in the beginning stages of development for safe and effective mRNA delivery to the placenta to treat placental dysfunction. Here, we develop LNPs that enable high levels of mRNA delivery to trophoblasts in vitro and to the placenta in vivo with no toxicity. We conducted a Design of Experiments to explore how LNP composition, including …

Adjuvant Pluronic F68 Is Compatible With A Plant Root-Colonizing Probiotic, Pseudomonas Chlororaphis O6, Amanda R. Streeter, Anthony Cartwright, Mohammad Zargaran, Anagha Wankhade, Anne J. Anderson, David W. Britt

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Plant probiotic bacteria are being increasingly used to maximize both the productivity and quality of field crops. Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 (PcO6) is a plant root colonizer with probiotic activities. This bacterium produces an array of metabolites, including a group of phenazines that are functional in plant protection. The paper reports responses of PcO6 to a nonionic triblock copolymer surfactant, Pluronic F68. This Pluronic exhibits membrane "healing" activity and improves cryopreservation recovery in eukaryotic cells. The product is FDA-approved and is applied as an adjuvant in formulations used in agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology. Growth of PcO6 on …

Quantification Of Intervertebral Disc Strain From High-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging During Dynamic Loading, Diya Sakhrani

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

High-resolution ultrasound imaging employs high-frequency sound waves that can be used to noninvasively visualize the structures within the body, facilitating medical diagnosis without the need for open surgery. The widespread utilization of ultrasound is attributed to its affordability, non-invasive characteristics, and use of non-ionizing radiation. Nevertheless, ultrasound is prone to artifacts originating from the surrounding environment, gas-liquid interfaces, or dense tissue. These artifacts are common in ultrasound images and can cause dropout, noise, and degraded resolution. In this study we analyzed intervertebral disc (IVD) strain during two axial compression testing cycles of bovine intervertebral discs with a 2-dimensional direct deformation …

Modular Open-Source Design Of Pyrolysis Reactor Monitoring And Control Electronics, Finn K. Hafting, Daniel G. Kulas, Etienne Michels, Sarvada Chipkar, Stefan Wisniewski, David Shonnard, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Industrial pilot projects often rely on proprietary and expensive electronic hardware to control and monitor experiments. This raises costs and retards innovation. Open-source hardware tools exist for implementing these processes individually; however, they are not easily integrated with other designs. The Broadly Reconfigurable and Expandable Automation Device (BREAD) is a framework that provides many open-source devices which can be connected to create more complex data acquisition and control systems. This article explores the feasibility of using BREAD plug-and-play open hardware to quickly design and test monitoring and control electronics for an industrial materials processing prototype pyrolysis reactor. Generally, pilot-scale pyrolysis …

Perfusability And Immunogenicity Of Implantable Pre-Vascularized Tissues Recapitulating Features Of Native Capillary Network, Dhavan Sharma, Archita Sharma, Linghao Hu, Te An Chen, Sarah Voon, Kayla J. Bayless, Jeremy Goldman, Alex J. Walsh, Feng Zhao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Vascularization is a key pre-requisite to engineered anatomical scale three dimensional (3-D) constructs to ensure their nutrient and oxygen supply upon implantation. Presently, engineered pre-vascularized 3-D tissues are limited to only micro-scale hydrogels, which meet neither the anatomical scale needs nor the complexity of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) environments. Anatomical scale perfusable constructs are critically needed for translational applications. To overcome this challenge, we previously developed pre-vascularized ECM sheets with long and oriented dense microvascular networks. The present study further evaluated the patency, perfusability and innate immune response toward these pre-vascularized constructs. Macrophage-co-cultured pre-vascularized constructs were evaluated in vitro to …

Surface Antibody Changes Protein Corona Both In Human And Mouse Serum But Not Final Opsonization And Elimination Of Targeted Polymeric Nanoparticles, Sara Capolla, Federico Colombo, Luca De Maso, Prisca Mauro, Paolo Bertoncin, Thilo Kähne, Alexander Engler, Luis Núñez, Gustavo Larsen, Et Al.

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background: Nanoparticles represent one of the most important innovations in the medical field. Among nanocarriers, polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) attracted much attention due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and capacity to increase efficacy and safety of encapsulated drugs. Another important improvement in the use of nanoparticles as delivery systems is the conjugation of a targeting agent that enables the nanoparticles to accumulate in a specific tissue. Despite these advantages, the clinical translation of therapeutic approaches based on nanoparticles is prevented by their interactions with blood proteins. In fact, the so-formed protein corona (PC) drastically alters the biological identity of the particles. Adsorbed …

Molecular Separation By Using Active And Passive Microfluidic Chip Designs: A Comprehensive Review, A. Ebrahimi, K. Icoz, R. Didarian, C.-H. Shih, A. Akpek, Berivan Cecen, Sabanci A. Bal-Ozturk, K. Güleç, Y.-C.E Li, S. Shih, B. Sirma Tarim, H.C. Tekin, E. Alarçin, H. Ghorbanpoor, C. Özel, A. Eker Sarıboyacı, Guzel F. Dogan, N. Bassous, S.R. Shin, H. Avci

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Separation and identification of molecules and biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharides from complex fluids are known to be important due to unmet needs in various applications. Generally, many different separation techniques, including chromatography, electrophoresis, and magnetophoresis, have been developed to identify the target molecules precisely. However, these techniques are expensive and time consuming. “Lab-on-a-chip” systems with low cost per device, quick analysis capabilities, and minimal sample consumption seem to be ideal candidates for separating particles, cells, blood samples, and molecules. From this perspective, different microfluidic-based techniques have been extensively developed in the past two decades to separate …

Combining Adhesive And Nonadhesive Injectable Hydrogels For Intervertebral Disc Repair In An Ovine Discectomy Model., Christopher J Panebianco, Caroline Constant, Andrea J. Vernengo, Dirk Nehrbass, Dominic Gehweiler, Tyler J Distefano, Jesse Martin, David J Alpert, Saad B Chaudhary, Andrew C Hecht, Alan C Seifert, Steven B Nicoll, Sibylle Grad, Stephan Zeiter, James C Iatridis

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc (IVD) disorders (e.g., herniation) directly contribute to back pain, which is a leading cause of global disability. Next-generation treatments for IVD herniation need advanced preclinical testing to evaluate their ability to repair large defects, prevent reherniation, and limit progressive degeneration. This study tested whether experimental, injectable, and nonbioactive biomaterials could slow IVD degeneration in an ovine discectomy model.

METHODS: Ten skeletally mature sheep (4-5.5 years) experienced partial discectomy injury with cruciate-style annulus fibrosus (AF) defects and 0.1 g nucleus pulposus (NP) removal in the L1-L2, L2-L3, and L3-L4 lumbar IVDs. L4-L5 IVDs were Intact controls. IVD injury …

Characterizing Intervertebral Disc Strain Under Dynamic Loading Conditions Using Ultrasound Texture Analysis, Radhika Kulkarni

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Herniated discs in the spine are a significant patient burden, with potential links to lower back and leg discomfort and a considerable impact on daily life. These discs, located between spinal vertebrae, are comprised of the annulus fibrosus (AF) and the nucleus pulposus (NP). Herniations happen when the NP protrudes through a full-thickness annular tear, possibly compressing spinal nerves. The mechanical factors underlying herniated discs are poorly understood, necessitating research into these mechanisms and accessible diagnostic techniques. Our study employs high-resolution ultrasound and texture correlation to quantify strain patterns in intervertebral discs during dynamic loading.

A motion segment from the …

Occlusive Membranes For Guided Regeneration Of Inflamed Tissue Defects., Woojin Choi, Utkarsh Mangal, Jin-Young Park, Ji-Yeong Kim, Taesuk Jun, Ju Won Jung, Moonhyun Choi, Sungwon Jung, Milae Lee, Ji-Yeong Na, Du Yeol Ryu, Jin Man Kim, Jae-Sung Kwon, Won-Gun Koh, Sangmin Lee, Patrick T J Hwang, Kee-Joon Lee, Ui-Won Jung, Jae-Kook Cha, Sung-Hwan Choi, Jinkee Hong

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Guided bone regeneration aided by the application of occlusive membranes is a promising therapy for diverse inflammatory periodontal diseases. Symbiosis, homeostasis between the host microbiome and cells, occurs in the oral environment under normal, but not pathologic, conditions. Here, we develop a symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane by mimicking the tooth enamel growth or multiple nucleation biomineralization processes. We perform human saliva and in vivo canine experiments to confirm that the symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane induces a symbiotic healing environment. Moreover, we show that the membrane exhibits tractability and enzymatic stability, maintaining the healing space during the entire guided bone regeneration …

Real-Time Arrhythmia Detection Using Convolutional Neural Networks, Thong Vu, Tyler Petty, Kemal Yakut, Muhammad Usman, Wei Xue, Francis M. Haas, Robert A. Hirsh, Xinghui Zhao

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and congestive heart failure, are the leading cause of death both in the United States and worldwide. The current medical practice for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases is not suitable for long-term, out-of-hospital use. A key to long-term monitoring is the ability to detect abnormal cardiac rhythms, i.e., arrhythmia, in real-time. Most existing studies only focus on the accuracy of arrhythmia classification, instead of runtime performance of the workflow. In this paper, we present our work on supporting real-time arrhythmic detection using convolutional neural networks, which take images of electrocardiogram (ECG) segments as input, and classify …

Differential Impact Of Blood Pressure Control Targets On Epicardial Coronary Flow After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, Brennan Vogl, Alejandra Chavez-Ponce, Adam Wentworth, Eric Erie, Pradeep Yadav, Vinod H. Thourani, Lakshmi Prasad Dasi, Brian Lindman, Mohamad Alkhouli, Hoda Hatoum

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Background: The cause for the association between increased cardiovascular mortality rates and lower blood pressure (BP) after aortic valve replacement (AVR) is unclear. This study aims to assess how the epicardial coronary flow (ECF) after AVR varies as BP levels are changed in the presence of a right coronary lesion. Methods: The hemodynamics of a 3D printed aortic root model with a SAPIEN 3 26 deployed were evaluated in an in vitro left heart simulator under a range of varying systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). ECF and the flow ratio index were calculated. Flow index value …

Transport Barriers Influence The Activation Of Anti-Tumor Immunity: A Systems Biology Analysis, Mohammad R. Nikmaneshi, James W. Baish, Hengbo Zhou, Lance L. Munn

Faculty Journal Articles

Effective anti-cancer immune responses require activation of one or more naïve T cells. If the correct naïve T cell encounters its cognate antigen presented by an antigen presenting cell, then the T cell can activate and proliferate. Here, mathematical modeling is used to explore the possibility that immune activation in lymph nodes is a rate-limiting step in anti-cancer immunity and can affect response rates to immune checkpoint therapy. The model provides a mechanistic framework for optimizing cancer immunotherapy and developing testable solutions to unleash anti-tumor immune responses for more patients with cancer. The results show that antigen production rate and …

S-Net: A Multiple Cross Aggregation Convolutional Architecture For Automatic Segmentation Of Small/Thin Structures For Cardiovascular Applications, Nan Mu, Zonghan Lyu, Mostafa Rezaeitaleshmahalleh, Cassie Bonifas, Jordan Gosnell, Marcus Haw, Joseph Vettukattil, Jingfeng Jiang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

With the success of U-Net or its variants in automatic medical image segmentation, building a fully convolutional network (FCN) based on an encoder-decoder structure has become an effective end-to-end learning approach. However, the intrinsic property of FCNs is that as the encoder deepens, higher-level features are learned, and the receptive field size of the network increases, which results in unsatisfactory performance for detecting low-level small/thin structures such as atrial walls and small arteries. To address this issue, we propose to keep the different encoding layer features at their original sizes to constrain the receptive field from increasing as the network …

Microbial Glycosylation Of Antitubercular Agent Chlorflavonin, Jie Ren, Jixun Zhan

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Flavonoids have shown health-benefiting properties, such as antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities, and are commonly used as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. Although flavonoids are predominantly identified from plants, several filamentous fungal species have also been reported to produce bioactive flavonoids, including chlorflavonin from Aspergillus candidus, a novel halogenated flavonoid with potent antifungal and antitubercular (anti-TB) activities. Unfortunately, the low water-solubility of this molecule may hinder its bioavailability. Glycosylation is an effective method to enhance the polarity of natural products and alter their physicochemical properties. This work focuses on the development of novel water-soluble chlorflavonin derivatives to combat the threat of drug-resistant …

Bioinspired Materials For Underwater Adhesion With Pathways To Switchability, Chanhong Lee, Huiqi Shi, Jiyoung Jung, Bowen Zheng, Kan Wang, Ravi Tutika, Rong Long, Bruce Lee, Grace X. Gu, Michael D. Bartlett

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Strong adherence to underwater or wet surfaces for applications like tissue adhesion and underwater robotics is a significant challenge. This is especially apparent when switchable adhesion is required that demands rapid attachment, high adhesive capacity, and easy release. Nature displays a spectrum of permanent to reversible attachment from organisms ranging from the mussel to the octopus, providing inspiration for underwater adhesion design that has yet to be fully leveraged in synthetic systems. Here, we review the challenges and opportunities for creating underwater adhesives with a pathway to switchability. We discuss key material, geometric, modeling, and design tools necessary to achieve …

Corrosion Of Implant Materials In The Human Body, Maedeh Barzmehri

Corrosion Research

This paper extensively examines the complex problem of implant corrosion occurring within the human body. The corrosion of implants gives rise to substantial challenges, encompassing compromised implant durability, patient safety concerns, and potential adverse impacts on the long-term functionality of the medical device. The study's primary objectives include offering a concise overview of the various corrosion mechanisms that impact a range of implant materials and outlining health complications linked to the byproducts of implant corrosion. Furthermore, it delves into a cost analysis specific to hip or knee revision arthroplasty, which has become a prevalent scenario in implant failure cases on …

Eeg Functional Connectivity In Infants At Elevated Familial Likelihood For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Christian O'Reilly, Scott Huberty, Stefon Van Noordt, James Desjardins, Nicky Wright, Julie Scorah, Sara Jane Webb, Mayada Elsabbagh, Basis Team

Publications

Background

Many studies have reported that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with atypical structural and functional connectivity. However, we know relatively little about the development of these differences in infancy.

Methods

We used a high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) dataset pooled from two independent infant sibling cohorts, to characterize such neurodevelopmental deviations during the first years of life. EEG was recorded at 6 and 12 months of age in infants at typical (N = 92) or elevated likelihood for ASD (N = 90), determined by the presence of an older sibling with ASD. We computed the functional connectivity between …

Homocysteine Reduction For Stroke Prevention: Regarding The Recent Aha/Asa 2021 Prevention Of Stroke In Patients With Stroke And Transient Ischemic Attack, Craig Brown, Jianhua Wang, Hong Jiang, Merrill F. Elias

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Reduction of secondary ischemic stroke risk following an initial stroke is an important goal. The 2021 Prevention of Stroke in Patients With Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack assembles opportunities for up to 80% secondary stroke reduction. Homocysteine reduction was not included in the recommendations. The reduction of homocysteine with low doses of folic acid has been shown to reduce ischemic stroke and all stroke. This has been obscured by studies using high doses of folic acid and cyanocobalamin in patients with renal failure and Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms. The confounding impacts of high dose folic acid and cyanocobalamin toxicity in …

Time-Lapse Imaging Of Colorectal Cancer Tumors, Jasmeet Sandhu

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project was aimed to test and validate a newly constructed live-cell imaging system that allows for imaging and live cells and tissues. This system is comprised of an incubation chamber that controls that temperature and pH of live cell culture while on a microscope.

Upper Limb Tensegrity Exoskeleton, Emily Mendyke, Sha'anan Levy, Alan Zhang

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Tensegrity structures are composed of stiff rods and elastic cables suspended in a flexible tension network. Their inherent properties have several key advantages when used in assistive medical devices such as supportive braces or rehabilitation exoskeletons: 1) the lightweight and natural compliance reduces the power consumption required to operate the system; 2) the system stiffness and pretension can be individually tuned to accommodate the user’s needs; and 3) the impact-resistant properties can protect users in the event of collisions and falls. This project explores the design space of assistive tensegrity devices to augment human dexterity in the upper limb. Suitable …

The Effect Of Slow Strain Rate Tension And Cyclic Loading On Biodegradable Zn–2%Fe–0.8%Mn Alloy In A Simulated Physiological Environment, Lital Ben Tzion-Mottye, Adi Bahar, Tomer Ron, Galit Katarivas Levy, Jeremy Goldman, Dan Eliezer, Eli Aghion

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Zinc-based alloys have gained increased interest as biodegradable structural materials for medical applications due to their adequate biocompatibility, crucial roles in many physiological functions and attractive antibacterial properties. However, the major drawbacks of zinc alloys relate to their inadequate mechanical properties and tendency to provoke fibrous encapsulation due to relatively high standard potential. Based on the promising effect of Mn on properties of Zn-based alloys, the present study aimed at evaluating the suitability of Zn–2%Fe–0.8%Mn alloy as a potential biodegradable implant under in-vitro conditions. This evaluation focused on the passivation characteristics as determined by cyclic potentiodynamic polarization analysis, immersion test, …

Validation Of A Biomechanical Injury And Disease Assessment Platform Applying An Inertial-Based Biosensor And Axis Vector Computation, Wangdo Kim, Emir A. Vela, Sean S. Kohles, Victor Huayamave

Publications

Inertial kinetics and kinematics have substantial influences on human biomechanical function. A new algorithm for Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based motion tracking is presented in this work. The primary aims of this paper are to combine recent developments in improved biosensor technology with mainstream motion-tracking hardware to measure the overall performance of human movement based on joint axis-angle representations of limb rotation. This work describes an alternative approach to representing three-dimensional rotations using a normalized vector around which an identified joint angle defines the overall rotation, rather than a traditional Euler angle approach. Furthermore, IMUs allow for the direct measurement of …

Cell Encapsulation In Gelatin Methacryloyl Bioinks Impairs Microscale Diffusion Properties, Elvan Dogan, Christina Holshue, Anant Bhusal, Roshni Shukla, Amir K. Miri

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Light-assisted bioprinted gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) constructs have been used for cell-laden microtissues and organoids. GelMA can be loaded by desired cells, which can regulate the biophysical properties of bioprinted constructs. We study how the degree of methacrylation (MA degree), GelMA mass concentration, and cell density change mass transport properties. We introduce a fluorescent-microscopy-based method of biotransport testing with improved sensitivity compared to the traditional particle tracking methods. The diffusion capacity of GelMA with a higher MA significantly decreased compared to a lower MA. Opposed to a steady range of linear elastic moduli, the diffusion coefficient in GelMA varied when cell …

Hierarchical Based Classifcation Method Based On Fusion Ofgaussian Map Descriptors Foralzheimer Diagnosis Using T1‑Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nourhan Zayed, Shereen E. Morsy, Inas A. Yassine

Mechanical Engineering

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is considered one of the most spouting elderly diseases. In 2015, AD is reported the US’s sixth cause of death. Substantially, non-invasive imaging is widely employed to provide biomarkers supporting AD screening, diagnosis, and progression. In this study, Gaussian descriptors-based features are proposed to be efcient new biomarkers using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T1-weighted images to diferentiate between Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Normal controls (NC). Several Gaussian map-based features are extracted such as Gaussian shape operator, Gaussian curvature, and mean curvature. The aforementioned features are then introduced to the Support Vector Machine (SVM). …

Engineering Multifunctional Adhesive Hydrogel Patches For Biomedical Applications, Aishik Chakraborty, Shana Alexander, Wei Luo, Narisse Al-Salam, Mia Van Oirschot, Sudhir H. Ranganath, Subrata Chakrabarti, Arghya Paul

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Publications

Traditional patches, such as sticking plaster or acrylic adhesives used for over a hundred years, lack functionality. To address this issue of poor functionality, adhesive hydrogel patches have emerged as an efficient bioactive multifunctional alternative. Hydrogels are three-dimensional, water-swellable, and polymeric materials closely resembling the native tissue architecture. The physicochemical properties of hydrogels can be modified easily, allowing them to be suitable for various biomedical applications. Moreover, adhesive properties can be imparted to hydrogels through physicochemical manipulations, making them ideal candidates for supplementing or replacing traditional sticking plaster. As a result, sticky hydrogel patches are widely used for transdermal drug …

Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis Of Murine Renal, Aortic, And Cardiac Tissue, Sarah E. Grev, Luke E. Schepers, Jennifer Anderson, Craig J. Goergen

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a tool that provides detailed insight into objects invisible to the human eye. As the name suggests, an electron beam is used to create an image down to the nanometer scale. The beam focuses on the surface of a sample using lenses in the electron column. In this project, we use SEM to study three types of murine tissue. First, we examine the glomerulus, found in the kidney, that is primarily responsible for filtering blood. Following a left renal vein (LRV) stenosis, SEM is used to observe changes to the glomeruli. Differences in the left …

Efficient Scopeformer: Toward Scalable And Rich Feature Extraction For Intracranial Hemorrhage Detection, Yassine Barhoumi, Nidhal Carla Bouaynaya, Ghulam Rasool

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Faculty Scholarship

The quality and richness of feature maps extracted by convolution neural networks (CNNs) and vision Transformers (ViTs) directly relate to the robust model performance. In medical computer vision, these information-rich features are crucial for detecting rare cases within large datasets. This work presents the “Scopeformer,” a novel multi-CNN-ViT model for intracranial hemorrhage classification in computed tomography (CT) images. The Scopeformer architecture is scalable and modular, which allows utilizing various CNN architectures as the backbone with diversified output features and pre-training strategies. We propose effective feature projection methods to reduce redundancies among CNN-generated features and to control the input size of …

Magnesium-Based Nanocomposites: A Review From Mechanical, Creep And Fatigue Properties, S. Abazari, A. Shamsipur, H. R. Bakhsheshi-Rad, J. W. Drelich, J. Goldman, S. Sharif, A. F. Ismail, M. Razzaghi

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

The addition of nanoscale additions to magnesium (Mg) based alloys can boost mechanical characteristics without noticeably decreasing ductility. Since Mg is the lightest structural material, the Mg-based nanocomposites (NCs) with improved mechanical properties are appealing materials for lightweight structural applications. In contrast to conventional Mg-based composites, the incorporation of nano-sized reinforcing particles noticeably boosts the strength of Mg-based nanocomposites without significantly reducing the formability. The present article reviews Mg-based metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) with metallic and ceramic additions, fabricated via both solid-based (sintering and powder metallurgy) and liquid-based (disintegrated melt deposition) technologies. It also reviews strengthening models and mechanisms that …

Assessment Of Knee Flexion In Young Children With Prosthetic Knee Components Using Dynamic Time Warping, Mark Daniel Geil, Zahra Safaeepour

Faculty and Research Publications

Introduction: Analysis of human locomotion is challenged by limitations in traditional numerical and statistical methods as applied to continuous timeseries data. This challenge particularly affects understanding of how close limb prostheses are to mimicking anatomical motion. This study was the first to apply a technique called Dynamic Time Warping to measure the biomimesis of prosthetic knee motion in young children and addressed the following research questions: Is a combined dynamic time warping/root mean square analysis feasible for analyzing pediatric lower limb kinematics? When provided at an earlier age than traditional protocols dictate, can children with limb loss utilize an articulating …