Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Tooth Cusp Radius Of Curvature As A Dietary Correlate In Primates, Michael Anthony Berthaume

Open Access Dissertations

Tooth cusp radius of curvature (RoC) has been hypothesized to play an important role in food item breakdown, but has remained largely unstudied due to difficulties in measuring and modeling RoC in multicusped teeth. We tested these hypotheses using a parametric model of a four cusped, maxillary, bunodont molar in conjunction with finite element analysis. When our data failed to support existing hypotheses, we put forth and tested the Complex Cusp Hypothesis which states that, during brittle food items breakdown, an optimally shaped molar would be maximizing stresses in the food item while minimizing stresses in the enamel. After gaining …

Development And Assessment Of An Impact Apparatus And High-Speed Camera Motion Tracking System To Quantify The Effect Of Static Muscle Loads On Fracture Threshold Measures In The Distal Radius, Jacob M. Reeves

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Distal radius fractures are prevalent, debilitating, and costly. This thesis conducts an in vitro investigation of these injuries, examining the role of static muscle loading on fracture threshold measures (i.e., force, impulse, energy). Initially, an impact apparatus and custom LabVIEW colour-thresholding program were designed and assessed for repeatability and accuracy in quantifying fracture measures and impact kinematics. These tools were then used to test six pairs of cadaveric forearms, with static muscle loads simulated in one specimen from each pair. Distal radius fractures were achieved in 5 pairs, with perilunate dislocations in the remaining pair. None of the …

Numerical Investigation Of The Interdependence Between Humeral Implant Position And Bone Removal Amount For Total Elbow Arthroplasty, Alexander J. Heroux

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Total elbow arthroplasty is a surgical procedure used to replace an afflicted articulation with prosthetic joint components. A good alignment between the native and prosthetic flexion-extension axes of the elbow is required to preserve its functionality. However, this is often unobtainable because of the mismatch between humeral canal and implant stem geometries. To correct this, surgeons are often required to intraoperatively make error-prone decisions when determining an appropriate implant posture that minimizes the amount of cortical bone to be removed while maintaining the alignment between the two flexion-extension axes. To address this issue, the present study has developed computational tools …

Design Of A Minimally Invasive Single Port Hdr Brachytherapy Applicator For The Treatment Of Lung Cancer, Mauricio Nahum Leroy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cancer has become the number one cause of death in Canada and lung cancer is its deadliest form. Surgical resection remains as the treatment of choice for most patients; however, in many cases a less aggressive alternative such as brachytherapy may be preferable. Today, HDR brachytherapy is a relatively common procedure but with current techniques and equipment only tumours close to the main bronchi can be reached.

This project describes the design, development and validation of a first prototype of an ultrasound-guided needle guidance system that would enable physicians to perform HDR brachytherapy for the treatment of lung cancer in …

Subtalar Joint Instability: Diagnosis And Conservative Treatment, Julie Choisne

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Subtalar instability may be caused by various ligamentous injuries. Combined instability at the ankle and subtalar joint is not adequately diagnosed. Further, isolated subtalar instability is usually misdiagnosed which may lead to long term damage to the joint. Developing a non-invasive and clinically practical tool to diagnose subtalar joint instability would be an important asset. The ability of an ankle brace, a common treatment for hindfoot instability, to promote stability for the subtalar joint was not well established. The purposes of this study were to 1) assess the kinematics of the subtalar, ankle, and hindfoot in the presence of isolated …

Beach Wheelchair Project, Rory Aronson, Joshua Marcum, Samuel Coyne, Alex Hayes, Alexa Colburn, Max Hessel, Benedikt Strauss, Marvin Rimmele, Marco Pietsch

Mechanical Engineering

The Beach Wheelchair, Sandcrawler, is a machine intended to help give people with disabilities the full beach experience. The non-profit organization Bridge II Sports sponsored this project, and tasked us with developing the design and fabricating a prototype. This chair has several features including a linkage mechanism that raises and lowers a chair relative to an external frame, hand crank drive with Gates Carbondrive belt and sprockets, buoyant Wheeleez balloon tires, and much more.

Edwards Lifesciences - Skirt To Frame Attachment Manufacturing Aid, Samuel Joda, Cesar Grimaldo, Patrick Hutchinson

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Stent Graft Blush, Vanessa Barrett, Thomas Matzinger, Mike Morelli

Mechanical Engineering

In order to better understand Type IV endoleaks (“blush”), the Cal Poly Senior Project team GraftTest has developed a blush evaluation system able to mimic several of the aorta’s environmental parameters. Capable of both pressure and flow rate control, this bench top system accommodates Medtronic’s wide range of abdominal and thoracic aortic stent grafts. Having researched endoleaks, stent grafts, and numerous other factors affecting stent graft blush, a system was developed with the aim of assessing and comparing the performance of Medtronic’s stent grafts with regard to blush. Furthermore, this system has been designed to provide reliable and repeatable results …

Guidance System, Kayaking For The Visually Impaired, D. Ryan Kirtland, Ryan Phife, William Gardner, Amy Johnson

Biomedical Engineering

Quality Life Plus is working with Team River Runner to develop an assistive guidance system for veterans who want to remain active by kayaking, after sustaining an injury that impairs vision. This system allows these veterans to complete a slalom speed race independent of a personal guide in the water. The system incorporates 3 stations that each contain a speaker connected to a microcontroller system covered by a Pelican Case on a custom made buoy. During the slalom race, a kayaker will travel from shore towards buoy #1 as it omits sound from the speaker. As the kayaker moves around …

Design And Development Of A Stair Ascension Assistive Device For Transfemoral Amputees, Casey Michael Barbarino

Master's Theses

Transfemoral amputees around the world experience increased difficulty in climbing stairs due to lack of muscle, balance, and other factors. The loss of a lower limb greatly diminishes the amount of natural force generation provided that is necessary to propel oneself up stairs. This study investigated possible solutions to the problem of stair ascension for transfemoral amputees by the means of designing and developing an externally attachable device to a prosthesis. The number of amputations from military service has greatly increased since 2008, which shows there is a clear need for assistive devices (Wenke, Krueger, & Ficke, 2012). With the …

Design And Testing Of Novel Mouthguard With Intermediate Nitinol And Foam Layers, Adam Kessler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is the aim of this study to investigate a novel mouthguard design that incorporates the use of a nickel-titanium (Nitinol) layer and thin foam layer in addition to EVA layers. It is thought that the Nitinol layer can distribute the force of an impact and that the thin foam layer may absorb this distributed force better than a solid EVA mouthguard of the same thickness. Rectangular, flat coupons representative of several mouthguard configurations were constructed for testing using an instrumented drop-weight impact tower. The coupon configurations include a control made of laminated EVA, a group of laminated EVA and …

Closed Loop Control Of A Cylindrical Tube Type Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (Ipmc), Benjamin Mead

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this research is to provide a framework for the integration of tube type, cylindrical Ionic Polymer Metal-Composite (IPMC) into conventional devices. IPMCs are one of the most widely used types of electro-active polymer actuator, due to their low electric driving potential and large deformation range. For this research a tube type IPMC was investigated. This IPMC has a circular cross section with four separate electrodes on its surface and a hole through the middle. The four electrodes allow for biaxial bending and accurate control of the tip location. One of the main advantages of using this type …

An Investigation Of Subaxial Cervical Spine Trauma And Surgical Treatment Through Biomechanical Simulation And Kinematic Analysis, Stewart D. Mclachlin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In vitro biomechanical investigations can help to identify changes in subaxial cervical spine (C3-C7) stability following injury, and determine the efficacy of surgical treatments through controlled joint simulation experiments and kinematic analyses. However, with the large spectrum of cervical spine trauma, a large fraction of the potential injuries have not been examined biomechanically. This includes a lack of studies investigating prevalent flexion-distraction injuries. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to investigate the changes in subaxial cervical spine kinematic stability with simulated flexion-distraction injuries and current surgical instrumentation approaches using both established and novel biomechanical techniques.

Three in vitro …

Device For On-Site Production Of Sterile Water For Injection In A Disaster Zone, Chislon M. Richardson, Jeff Hebert

Senior Theses and Projects

This project sought to design and produce a device for the on-site manufacture of sterile water to be subsequently used to produce IV fluid in disaster zone. In order to accomplish this, the water produced must be pure, sterile, non-pyrogenic, and satisfy the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standard for water for injection (WFI). Ideally, the device should be low powered, low cost, robust yet portable and deliver at least 10 liters per hour. Our design incorporated the purification methods of carbon filtration, reverse osmosis and Ultra-violet treatment. However, due to power and cost constraints our device was neither able to …

Novel Approach To Junctional Bleeding: Tourniquet Device Proposal For Battlefield Hemorrhage Control, Kyle W. Cabaniss

Master's Theses

This study investigated possible solutions to the current wartime problem of junctional hemorrhaging, or massive traumatic hemorrhaging in non-tourinquetable areas such as the neck, groin, or armpit. Junctional hemorrhaging has been identified as a major contributor to potentially survivable deaths seen on the battlefield today and therefore is a priority for the U.S. armed and coalition forces (Kragh et al., 2011a; Bozeman, 2011). Common tourniquets today are standard issue and carried by soldiers in the military, but are limited to distal extremity trauma. As the battlefield has changes however, trauma has transformed from commonly seen gunshot wounds to more extreme …

An Acoustic-Based Microfluidic Platform For Active Separation And Mixing, Myeong Chan Jo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Particle separation is of great interest to many biological and biomedical applications. Flow-based methods have been used to sort particles and cells. However, the main challenge with flow based particle separation systems is the need for a sheath flow for successful operation. Existence of the sheath liquid dilutes the analyte, necessitates precise flow control between sample and sheath flow, requires a complicated design to create sheath flow and separation efficiency depends on the sheath liquid composition. In addition, current gold standard active separation techniques are only capable of separation based on particle size; hence, separation cannot be achieved for same-size …

A Novel Resistance Exercise Machine For Use In A Lower Body Negative Pressure Box To Counteract The Effects Of Weightlessness, Christine M. Dailey

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Physiological deconditioning is a critical problem in space, especially during long-term missions. Resistance exercise coupled with lower body negative pressure (LBNP) has been shown to be effective in counteracting some of the deconditioning related problems. This thesis describes the development of a compact and effective resistance exercise machine that works within an existing environmentally controlled LBNP Box and is designed to simulate both exercise and sitting, to prevent microgravity-induced deconditioning by simulating physiological and biomechanical features of upright exercise and daily activities. Theoretical calculations are carried out to determine whether kinematics, musculoskeletal loadings, and metabolic rate during supine exercise within …

Induced Damping And Its Relationship To Beneficial Energy Harvesting In Dielectric Elastomers With Application To Walking, Heather L. Lai

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation presents a novel, interdisciplinary research which addresses the potential of applying soft polymeric materials to strategically harvest biomechanical energy in a beneficial manner for use as a viable, low power source for on-board electronics. Of particular interest are electroactive polymers (EAP), which unlike other types of electromechanical smart materials such as piezoelectric ceramics, which are often brittle, have low elastic modulus and can exhibit large strains without substantial stress generations. One type of EAP, the dielectric elastomer (DE), which utilizes electrostatic forces built up across the dielectric polymer to convert between electrical and mechanical energy, is employed in …

Representing Intersubject Variability With A Statistical Shape And Alignment Model Of The Knee, Chandreshwar Rao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior statistical shape models have not considered multiple structures in the knee joint to characterize anatomic variation which are required to investigate joint mechanics further for the successful knee replacement. Accordingly, the study's objective was to develop statistical shape and alignment model (SSAM) to capture intersubject variability and demonstrate the ability to generate realistic instances for use in finite element analysis (FEA). SSAM described the variability in the training set of 20 subjects with a series of modes of variation obtained by performing principal component analysis (PCA). PCA produced modes of variation with the first 3 modes representing 70% and …