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Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons™
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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Synthesis And Characterization Of A Lubricin Mimic (Mlub) To Reduce Friction On The Articular Cartilage Surface, Alexandra May Lawrence
Synthesis And Characterization Of A Lubricin Mimic (Mlub) To Reduce Friction On The Articular Cartilage Surface, Alexandra May Lawrence
Open Access Theses
The lubricating proteoglycan, lubricin, facilitates the remarkable low friction and wear properties of articular cartilage in the synovial joints of the body. Lubricin lines the joint surfaces and plays a protective role as a boundary lubricant in sliding contact; down-regulation of lubricin is associated with cartilage degradation and the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. An unmet need for early osteoarthritis treatment is the development of therapeutic molecules that mimic lubricin function and yet are also resistant to enzymatic degradation common in the damaged joint. Here, we engineered a lubricin mimic (mLub) that resists enzymatic degradation and binds to the articular surface to …
Cerebrovascular Reactivity Alterations Due To Subconcussive Repetitive Head Trauma In Asymptomatic High School Football Players, Chetas Joshi
Open Access Theses
Chronic neurological damage as a result of chronic repetitive head trauma is a major concern for football athletes today. Repetitive concussions have been linked to many neurological disorders. Recently, it has been reported that repetitive subconcussive events can contribute to long-term neurodegeneration. For these reasons, it is important to understand the effect repetitive subconcussive head trauma has on brain health in young athletes. Past research has demonstrated that cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), an important mediator of cerebrovascular regulation, is impaired following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This impairment increases susceptibility to secondary injury following mTBI. In this study, Breath-Hold (BH) task …
Characterization And Evaluation Of Head Impact Sensors And Varsity Football Helmets, Brian R. Cummiskey
Characterization And Evaluation Of Head Impact Sensors And Varsity Football Helmets, Brian R. Cummiskey
Open Access Theses
An increased understanding of the effects of brain injury in recent years has led to greater attention being given to the topic. A desire to investigate the causal agents of these injuries in athletes has led to the development and use of several devices that track head impacts as well as improving helmet technology to protect players from said impacts. In order to determine which devices are able to best measure head impacts, a Hybrid III headform was used to quantify the accuracy for translational and angular accelerations. Testing was performed by means of administering impacts to a helmet on …
High Density Collagen Fibril Constructs With Tunable Mechano-Biology In Acellular And Cellular Configurations, Kevin Blum
Open Access Theses
Collagen has long been used as a material for tissue engineering due to its prevalence in the extracellular matrix of connective tissues. However, traditional collagen materials utilizing atelocollagen and acid solubilized telocollagen have lacked the mechanical integrity and collagen fibril density found in the in vivo state. Here, we utilize collagen oligomers and confined compression to forcibly remove a portion of the fluid phase component. Materials were created with controlled, substantially increased material properties, including order of magnitude increases in collagen fibril density, elastic modulus, compressive modulus,and resistance to proteolytic degradation. The technique was found to be amenable to cell …
Individual Analysis Of T2*-Weighted Gradient Echo Imaging In Asymptomatic And Symptomatic Athletes, Xianglun Mao
Individual Analysis Of T2*-Weighted Gradient Echo Imaging In Asymptomatic And Symptomatic Athletes, Xianglun Mao
Open Access Theses
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a commonly occurred sports-related injury, especially in contact sports like football and soccer. Hemorrhage will appear as hypointense lesions on T2 *-weighted images, resulting from mTBI. Thus, T 2*-weighted gradient echo pulse sequence can be used to generate magnitude susceptibility-weighted (SW) images, and to further detect negative intensity changes of different regions of interests (ROIs) inside human brains. Our goal was to investigate how the ROI-specific intensity changes in each individual sports athlete over a single competition season and to interrogate whether these changes are correlated with repetitive subconcussive or …
Measurement, Characterization, And Effects Of Head Impacts In Women's Soccer, Emily C. Mccuen
Measurement, Characterization, And Effects Of Head Impacts In Women's Soccer, Emily C. Mccuen
Open Access Theses
The potential for long term neurological deficits resulting from repetitive head trauma is a major concern for collision sport athletes. Research conducted on football played has found neurophysiologic changes in the absence of concussion in athletes as early as high school age. Given that female soccer players show the highest rate of concussion for female athletes and a higher rate of concussion than their male counterparts, it is important to characterize the types of impacts female soccer athletes receive and assess female soccer athletes for neurophysiologic changes due to these impacts. This work paired head impact sensors with functional MRI …
Magnetic Manipulation And Multimodal Imaging For Single Cell Direct Mechanosensing, Robert L. Wilson
Magnetic Manipulation And Multimodal Imaging For Single Cell Direct Mechanosensing, Robert L. Wilson
Open Access Theses
The study of internal mechanics of single cells is paramount to understand mechanisms of mechanoregulation. External loading and cell-mediated force generation result in changes in cell shape, rheology, and the deformation of subcellular structures such as the nucleus. Moreover, alterations in the processes that regulate these responses have been further correlated to specific pathologies. Cellular deformation is often studied through application of forces in the environment of the cell, relying on strain and stress transfer through focal adhesions and the cytoskeletal system. However, the transfer of these external forces to internal mechanics can introduce uncertainties in the interpretation of subcellular …