Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

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 …

S8e10: How Can Nature-Inspired Engineering Improve Human Health?, Ron Lisnet, Caitlin Howell

The Maine Question

Antibiotic resistance has become a growing problem in the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition to minimizing or negating the effects of existing medicine, these antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs,” are mutating faster than the development of new remedies.

Caitlin Howell, University of Maine associate professor of biomedical engineering, is working on new tools that take notes from nature to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Similar to the way in which the human body keeps balance with its own bacterial populations, Howell’s devices use nontoxic, non-invasive surface-based technology to trap bacteria and prevent them from spreading.

In this episode of “The Maine Question” …

Evaluation Of A Portable Gynecological Examination Table On Increasing Access To Cervical Cancer Screenings, Brennan Burrows, Giuliana Motta, Vibhasri Davuluri, Urvee Deo, Aman Tahir, Brindha Rajakumar, Jacob Blumenstein, Eliza Steinberg, Mariam Tobia, Asmita Tuladhar, Abigail Ahn

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: Cervical cancer is a preventable disease affecting millions of women worldwide, with higher prevalence and mortality in developing countries. One explanation of this disparity is due to reduced access to screenings, especially in rural communities where mobile health clinics are limited by what medical equipment they can bring. To address these barriers, an engineering team called Project MESA (Making Examinations Safe and Accessible) designed a gynecological examination table that is portable, lightweight, and easily sanitizable.

Objective: This study aims to (1) evaluate whether the implementation of this device improves the clinician’s ability to perform pap smears as opposed to …