Shape Memory Alloy Capsule Micropump For Drug Delivery Applications, Youssef Mohamed Kotb

Theses and Dissertations

Implantable drug delivery devices have many benefits over traditional drug administration techniques and have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. By delivering the medication directly to the tissue, they enable the use of larger localized concentrations, enhancing the efficacy of the treatment. Passive-release drug delivery systems, one of the various ways to provide medication, are great inventions. However, they cannot dispense the medication on demand since they are nonprogrammable. Therefore, active actuators are more advantageous in delivery applications. Smart material actuators, however, have greatly increased in popularity for manufacturing wearable and implantable micropumps due to their high energy …

Hypoxic Incubation Chamber, Simone Lisette Helfrich, Makenzie Nicole Jones

Biomedical Engineering: Graduate Reports and Projects

This paper describes the design, manufacturing, and testing of a novel controllable hypoxic incubator with fully functional oxygen gas control and temperature control in a humid environment. On the current market, a majority of the few hypoxic incubators use pre-mixed gas that does not offer precise control over gas concentration. The objective for this project was to create a chamber that allows the user to set the O2 concentration to varying set points of % O2 while maintaining the chamber at a constant body temperature, CO2 level, humidity, and sterility. To start the project, multiple concepts were developed for the …

Development Of An Equation To Correlate Brite Tank Temperature And Pressure To Beverage Carbonation Concentration, Devyn Meyer

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Carbo Rock-It™ is an invention created to carbonate beverages at craft breweries. One of the Carbo Rock-It’s main features is that it does not add a significant volume of undissolved gas bubbles to the brite tank in which the beverage is carbonated. This may allow temperature and pressure readings from the brite tank to be used to determine the concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide in the beverage continuously in real time. This eliminates the need for manual samplings, which could save breweries time and allow for more controlled, accurate carbonation. The goal of this project was to develop an …

Challenges Of Constructing Entrainment Map For Arbitrary Circadian Models, Yuxuan (Nelson) Wu

Honors Theses

The entrainment map, developed by Dr.Diekman and Dr.Bose, is claimed to be a 1-dimensional map that produces a better prediction for phase-locking than methods than the phase response curve for circadian models. In his paper, he constructs the entrainment map for the two-dimensional circadian model, the Novak-Tyson model, and the other two higher-dimensional circadian models. For this thesis, we concentrate on exploring if it is viable to construct the entrainment map for other circadian models that are not included in his paper: the Becker-Weimann model and the Relogio model. In addition, we discuss the challenges of constructing the entrainment map …

Nanomaterial-Based Biosensors For Detection Of Salmonella Typhimurium And Avian Influenza Virus H5n1 In Poultry, Xinge Xi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on developing biosensing method and biosensing device for rapid detection of pathogens in poultry: Salmonella Typhimurium and avian influenza virus H5N1. The first part of the dissertation reports an original research on the development of a portable biosensing device for Salmonella detection. The device was designed and constructed based on a previously developed optical biosensing method, using immuno-magnetic nanoparticles to specifically capture target bacteria, and immuno-quantum dot beads to label the target bacteria for fluorescence detection. All the actions of sample mixing, magnetic separation, and fluorescence detection were controlled automatically in a disposable microfluidic chip in the …

Functional And Dysrhythmic Slow Waves In The Stomach - An In Silico Study, Md Ashfaq Ahmed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peristalsis, the coordinated contraction and relaxation of the muscles of the stomach, is important for normal gastric motility and is impaired in motility disorders. Coordinated electrical depolarizations that originate and propagate within a mutually coupled network of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and smooth muscle cells of the stomach wall as a slow-wave, underly peristalsis. Normally, the gastric slow-wave (GSW) oscillates with a single period and uniform rostro-caudal lag, exhibiting network entrainment. Loss of entrainment in the coupled network and the resulting impairment in slow-wave propagation is associated with various gastric motility disorders. Our study provides an enhanced understanding of …

Design Of Control Logic And The Human-Machine Interface For A Demonstration Plant Growth Chamber Implemented On A Programmable Logic Controller, Rachael Koehler

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This honors thesis covers the planning, development, and implementation of system controls and human-machine interface (HMI) for a demonstration plant growth chamber. The work is a continuation of an ongoing project to be used as an educational and recruiting tool manifesting the skills acquired from the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering. This work includes emergency controls, overall design interface, and controls for both the aeration and lighting subsystems of the growth chamber. Overall design interface controls established included development of two user modes, Administrator and Visitor. The Administrator user will have full …

Development Of Light Actuated Chemical Delivery Platform On A 2-D Array Of Micropore Structure, Hojjat Rostami Azmand, Hojjat Rostami Azmand

Dissertations and Theses

Localized chemical delivery plays an essential role in the fundamental information transfers within biological systems. Thus, the ability to mimic the natural chemical signal modulation would provide significant contributions to understand the functional signaling pathway of biological cells and develop new prosthetic devices for neurological disorders. In this paper, we demonstrate a light-controlled hydrogel platform that can be used for localized chemical delivery in a high spatial resolution. By utilizing the photothermal behavior of graphene-hydrogel composites confined within micron-sized fluidic channels, patterned light illumination creates the parallel and independent actuation of chemical release in a group of fluidic ports. The …

Projecting Water Available For Irrigation Use And Identifying Water Supply Stress Under Climate Change Scenarios In Selected U.S. Fruit And Vegetable Production Regions, Andrew Shaw

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change affects water resources differently across geospatial regions in the United States (U.S). There is a concern of how water availability will be affected by changes in long-term temperature and precipitation patterns, specifically in major production regions for eight fruit and vegetable crops. The effects on surface water available for irrigation use and supply stress in five regions containing 31 Agricultural Statistics Districts (ASDs) were assessed. The Water Supply Stress Index Model was used and modified to project water available for irrigation use across nine climate scenarios driven by historical data, five General Circulation Models, two population scenarios, and …

Ventilation And Recirculation Airway Design For An Autonomous, Climate Controlled, Hydroponic Demonstration Unit, Nicholas Cross

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

For this Honors Thesis project, I designed and fabricated a ventilation and recirculation airway sub-system prototype for a hydroponic demonstration unit to be used as an educational demonstration for prospective students, illustrating the capabilities of biological engineers. This thesis focuses on the design of an autonomous air system that toggles between ventilation and recirculation modes based upon sensor output. In the literature review I discuss how ventilation can be used to achieve a targeted climate, the benefits of hands-on projects for education, and the optimum parameters for growing herbs in a hydroponic system.

In the design and fabrication process, every …

Bio Circuits For Evolutionary Biotech, Camilo Toruno

ENGS 86 Independent Projects (AB Students)

The field of bioengineering has much promise for renewable chemical production, bioremediation, and of course medical applications. Developing new useful microorganisms is extremely time and capital intensive, typically taking 50 million USD and eight years. This is due in large part to the low throughput techniques that are characteristic of the field of metabolic engineering. Here we describe the modification of an existing synthetic biosensor to measure the pharmaceutical dopamine, and the use of a circuit simulator Cadence to predict improvements to the biosensor. This biosensor paired with directed evolution techniques could reach throughputs of 5 million cells per day …

Noncontact Multiscale Diffuse Optical Imaging Of Deep Tissue Hemodynamics In Animals And Humans, Siavash Mazdeyasna

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Blood flow (BF) impacts the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues and the removal of metabolic byproducts from tissues. Imaging of BF distributions helps characterize many diseases associated with tissue hypoxia/ischemia. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a novel, noninvasive, noncontact, high-density camera-based speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography (scDCT) device for use in both animal and human studies. The scDCT uses a galvo-mirror to remotely deliver the focused point near-infrared light to source positions and a sensitive 2D camera to quantify spatial diffuse speckle fluctuations, resulting from the movement of red blood cells in deep …

Final Design Report For The Bioburden Pre-Cleaning Device And Dr. Mark Rasnake At The University Of Tennessee Medical Center, Katherine Elizabeth Stiles, Megan Pitz, Kayla Franklin, Simran Dayal, Austin Bullock

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Microfluidic Tissue Array (Μfta) For Personalized Medicine Using Tumor Biopsies, A.H. R. Ahmed

Dissertations and Theses

Cancer is recognized as a complex disease with both genetic and epigenetic drivers that can vary from one individual to another. While very early research into cancer treated it as a clonal malfunction that could originate from as small as a single deregulated cell, the disease itself manifests itself with several more complexities beyond tumorigenic cells only. The tumor microenvironment itself – from the extracellular matrix to stromal cells - cooperate with tumor cells in a symbiotic manner towards metastatic progression. Clinical studies have provided more information regarding the degree of individualization possible, such that patients with similar genetic makeup …

Neuron-Glial (Ng) Interactions: A Microfluidic Examination Of Ng Emergent Responses For Repair, Tanya Singh

Dissertations and Theses

Neuron-glia communication is crucial to the development, plasticity, and repair of the nervous system (NS). While neurons are well known to conduct electrical impulses that transfer biological information and stimuli throughout the NS, our understanding of the roles of glia continues to evolve from when the cells were largely believed to act solely for neuronal support. Recent decades of research has shown that glia can alter metabolism, conduct impulses and change phenotype for NS repair. NG interactions have, thereby, become heavily researched in varied areas of biomedical engineering, including embryogenesis, neural regeneration, growth, and intracellular synaptic activity. However, while NG …

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Engineering And Computer Science, Fall 2017, Buenaventura "Ven" Basco

Buenaventura "Ven" Basco

No abstract provided.

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Engineering And Computer Science, Fall 2017, Buenaventura "Ven" Basco

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.

A Multi-Channel 3d-Printed Bioreactor For Evaluation Of Growth And Production In The Microalga Dunaliella Sp, Cristian A. Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We explored the capabilities of additive manufacturing using a photo-cured jetted material 3D printer to manufacture a milli-microfluidic device with direct application in microalgae Dunaliella sp growth and intracellular compounds biosynthesis tests. A continuous microbioreactor for microalgae culture was CAD designed and successfully built in 1 hour and 49 minutes using black photopolymer cured by UV and a support material. The microreactor was made up of 2 parts including the bioreactor itself and a microchannel network for culture media fluids and microalgae. Both parts were assembled to form a single unit. Additional optical and auxiliar components were added. An external …

Mechanical Reliability Of Implantable Polyimide-Based Magnetic Microactuators For Biofouling Removal, Christian G. Figueroa-Espada, Qi Yang, Hyowon Lee

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hydrocephalus is a neurological disorder that typically requires a long-term implantation of a shunt system to manage its symptoms. These shunt systems are notorious for their extremely high failure rate. More than 40% of all implanted shunt systems fail within the first year of implantation. On average, 85% of all hydrocephalus patients with shunt systems undergo at least two shunt-revision surgeries within 10 years of implantation. A large portion of this high failure rate can be attributed to biofouling-related obstructions and infections. Previously, we developed flexible polyimide-based magnetic microactuators to remove obstructions formed on hydrocephalus shunts. To test the long-term …

Capillary Electrophoresis For Analysis Of Aβ1-42 Adsorption And Photo-Crosslinking, Jennifer Lynn Kurtz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) oligomers is believed to be the driving force behind Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Due to the metastable nature of Aβ oligomers, the knowledge of Aβ aggregation and accumulation is not well understood. Here, we use capillary electrophoresis (CE) and photo-induced crosslinking of unmodified proteins (PICUP) to learn about the aggregation of Aβ.

First, we explore the effect of capillary coating on Aβ1-42 protein loss using CE. The dynamic coatings tested were PHEA and 50 kDa, 2000 kDa, 5000 kDa, and 8000 kDa PEO. The covalent coating tested was PVA. The results indicated that 2000 kDa …

Design And Development Of Two Component Hydrogel Ejector For Three-Dimensional Cell Growth, Thomas Dunkle, Jessica Deschamps, Connie Dam

Honors Scholar Theses

Hydrogels are useful in wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering applications, but the available methods of injecting them quickly and noninvasively are limited. The medical industry does not yet have access to an all-purpose device that can quickly synthesize hydrogels of different shapes and sizes. Many synthesis procedures that have been developed result in the formation of amorphous hydrogels. While generally useful, amorphous hydrogels exhibit limited capability in tissue engineering applications, especially due to their viscous properties. This endeavor aims to modulate the appropriate gelation parameters, optimize the injection process, and create a prototype that allows for the extrusion …

Metrics For Evaluating Surgical Microscope Usage During Myringotomy, Arefin M. Shamsil

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

Although teaching and learning surgical microscope manoeuvring is a fundamental step in middle ear surgical training, currently there is no objective method to teach or assess this skill. This thesis presents an experimental study designed to implement and test sets of metrics capable of numerically evaluating microscope manoeuvrability and qualitatively assessing surgical expertise of a subject during a middle ear surgery called myringotomy. The experiment involved performing a myringotomy on a fixed cadaveric ear. As participants, experienced ear-nose-throat (ENT) surgeons and ENT surgical residents were invited. While performing the procedure, their microscope manoeuvring motions were captured as translational and …

Robust Dynamic Balance Of Ap-1 Transcription Factors In A Neuronal Gene Regulatory Network., Gregory M Miller, Babatunde A Ogunnaike, James S Schwaber, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

BACKGROUND: The octapeptide Angiotensin II is a key hormone that acts via its receptor AT1R in the brainstem to modulate the blood pressure control circuits and thus plays a central role in the cardiac and respiratory homeostasis. This modulation occurs via activation of a complex network of signaling proteins and transcription factors, leading to changes in levels of key genes and proteins. AT1R initiated activity in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), which regulates blood pressure, has been the subject of extensive molecular analysis. But the adaptive network interactions in the NTS response to AT1R, plausibly related to the development of …

An Investigation Of Reflective Mulches For Use Over Capillary Mat Systems For Winter-Time Greenhouse Strawberry Production, George E. Meyer, Ellen T. Paparozzi, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, Erin E. Blankenship, Stacy A. Adams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Photosynthethically active radiation (PAR) is a principle environmental variable used by horticultural specialists, agronomists and ecosystem modelers to characterize the quantity and quality of light conducive to plant growth and development. Spatial distribution of PAR in a greenhouse can be quite variable and diffuse throughout the day time photoperiod, especially at low sun angles in northern regions of the United States. Four colors of reflective plastic mulches (white, red, olive, and black) were evaluated for winter-time strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) production based on their reflectance and transmittance properties in a double-polyethylene, plastic-glazed Quonset greenhouse inNebraska. The spectral properties …

Robust Dynamic Balance Of Ap-1 Transcription Factors In A Neuronal Gene Regulatory Network., Gregory M Miller, Babatunde A Ogunnaike, James S Schwaber, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The octapeptide Angiotensin II is a key hormone that acts via its receptor AT1R in the brainstem to modulate the blood pressure control circuits and thus plays a central role in the cardiac and respiratory homeostasis. This modulation occurs via activation of a complex network of signaling proteins and transcription factors, leading to changes in levels of key genes and proteins. AT1R initiated activity in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), which regulates blood pressure, has been the subject of extensive molecular analysis. But the adaptive network interactions in the NTS response to AT1R, plausibly related to the development of …

Beyond Biobricks: Synthesizing Synergistic Biochemical Systems From The Bottom-Up, Mark A. Bedau

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Engineers who attempt to discover and optimize the behavior of complex biochemical systems face a dauntingly difficult task. This is especially true if the systems are governed by multiple qualitative and quantitative variables that have non-linear response functions and that interact synergistically. The synthetic biology community has responded to this difficulty by promoting the use of "standard biological parts" called "BioBricks", which are supposed to make biology into traditional engineering and enable engineers to "program living organisms in the same way a computer scientists can program a computer". But the BioBricks research program faces daunting hurdles, because the nonlinearity and …