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Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

2016

Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Computer Engineering

Psychophysiological Analysis Of A Pedagogical Agent And Robotic Peer For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders., Mohammad Nasser Saadatzi Dec 2016

Psychophysiological Analysis Of A Pedagogical Agent And Robotic Peer For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders., Mohammad Nasser Saadatzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by ongoing problems in social interaction and communication, and engagement in repetitive behaviors. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 1 in 68 children in the United States has ASD. Mounting evidence shows that many of these individuals display an interest in social interaction with computers and robots and, in general, feel comfortable spending time in such environments. It is known that the subtlety and unpredictability of people’s social behavior are intimidating and confusing for many individuals with ASD. Computerized learning environments and robots, however, prepare a predictable, …

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Analog Spiking Neuromorphic Circuits And Systems For Brain- And Nanotechnology-Inspired Cognitive Computing, Xinyu Wu Dec 2016

Analog Spiking Neuromorphic Circuits And Systems For Brain- And Nanotechnology-Inspired Cognitive Computing, Xinyu Wu

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Human society is now facing grand challenges to satisfy the growing demand for computing power, at the same time, sustain energy consumption. By the end of CMOS technology scaling, innovations are required to tackle the challenges in a radically different way. Inspired by the emerging understanding of the computing occurring in a brain and nanotechnology-enabled biological plausible synaptic plasticity, neuromorphic computing architectures are being investigated. Such a neuromorphic chip that combines CMOS analog spiking neurons and nanoscale resistive random-access memory (RRAM) using as electronics synapses can provide massive neural network parallelism, high density and online learning capability, and hence, paves …

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Design Of A Flexible Control Platform And Miniature In Vivo Robots For Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site Surgeries, Lou P. Cubrich Dec 2016

Design Of A Flexible Control Platform And Miniature In Vivo Robots For Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site Surgeries, Lou P. Cubrich

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Minimally-invasive laparoscopic procedures have proven efficacy for a wide range of surgical procedures as well as benefits such as reducing scarring, infection, recovery time, and post-operative pain. While the procedures have many advantages, there are significant shortcomings such as limited instrument motion and reduced dexterity. In recent years, robotic surgical technology has overcome some of these limitations and has become an effective tool for many types of surgeries. These robotic platforms typically have an increased workspace, greater dexterity, improved ergonomics, and finer control than traditional laparoscopic methods. This thesis presents the designs of both a four degree-of-freedom (DOF) and 5-DOF …

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Characterization Of Molecular Communication Based On Cell Metabolism Through Mutual Information And Flux Balance Analysis, Zahmeeth Sayed Sakkaff Dec 2016

Characterization Of Molecular Communication Based On Cell Metabolism Through Mutual Information And Flux Balance Analysis, Zahmeeth Sayed Sakkaff

Department of Computer Science and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Synthetic biology is providing novel tools to engineer cells and access the basis of their molecular information processing, including their communication channels based on chemical reactions and molecule exchange. Molecular communication is a discipline in communication engineering that studies these types of communications and ways to exploit them for novel purposes, such as the development of ubiquitous and heterogeneous communication networks to interconnect biological cells with nano and biotechnology-enabled devices, i.e., the Internet of Bio-Nano Things. One major problem in realizing these goals stands in the development of reliable techniques to control the engineered cells and their behavior from the …

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Quantifying Parkinson's Disease Symptoms Using Mobile Devices, Charles R. Aylward Dec 2016

Quantifying Parkinson's Disease Symptoms Using Mobile Devices, Charles R. Aylward

Master's Theses

Current assessments for evaluating the progression of Parkinson’s Disease are largely qualitative and based on small sets of data obtained from occasional doctor-patient interactions. There is a clinical need to improve the techniques used for mitigating common Parkinson’s Disease symptoms. Available data sets for researching the disease are minimal, hindering advancement toward understanding the underlying causes and effectiveness of treatment and therapies. Mobile devices present an opportunity to continuously monitor Parkinson’s Disease patients and collect important information regarding the severity of symptoms. The evolution of digital technology has opened doors for clinical research to extend beyond the clinic by incorporating …

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An Emg-Based Patient Monitoring System Using Zynq Soc Device, Farhad Fallahlalehzari Dec 2016

An Emg-Based Patient Monitoring System Using Zynq Soc Device, Farhad Fallahlalehzari

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis describes the design, development, and testing of an EMG-based patient monitoring system using the Zynq device. Zynq is a system on chip device designed by Xilinx which consists of an ARM dual cortex-A9 processor as well as an FPGA integrated into one chip. This work also analyzes the performance of image-processing algorithms on this system and compares that performance to more traditional PC-based systems. Image processing algorithms, such as Sobel edge detection, dilation and erosion, could be used in conjunction with a camera for the patient monitoring purposes. These algorithms often perform sub-optimally on processors because of their …

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Multi-Classifier Fusion Strategy For Activity And Intent Recognition Of Torso Movements, Abhijit Kadrolkar Nov 2016

Multi-Classifier Fusion Strategy For Activity And Intent Recognition Of Torso Movements, Abhijit Kadrolkar

Doctoral Dissertations

As assistive, wearable robotic devices are being developed to physically assist their users, it has become crucial to develop safe, reliable methods to coordinate the device with the intentions and motions of the wearer. This dissertation investigates the recognition of user intent during flexion and extension of the human torso in the sagittal plane to be used for control of an assistive exoskeleton for the human torso. A multi-sensor intent recognition approach is developed that combines information from surface electromyogram (sEMG) signals from the user’s muscles and inertial sensors mounted on the user’s body. Intent recognition is implemented by following …

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A Haptic Surface Robot Interface For Large-Format Touchscreen Displays, Mark Price Jul 2016

A Haptic Surface Robot Interface For Large-Format Touchscreen Displays, Mark Price

Masters Theses

This thesis presents the design for a novel haptic interface for large-format touchscreens. Techniques such as electrovibration, ultrasonic vibration, and external braked devices have been developed by other researchers to deliver haptic feedback to touchscreen users. However, these methods do not address the need for spatial constraints that only restrict user motion in the direction of the constraint. This technology gap contributes to the lack of haptic technology available for touchscreen-based upper-limb rehabilitation, despite the prevalent use of haptics in other forms of robotic rehabilitation. The goal of this thesis is to display kinesthetic haptic constraints to the touchscreen user …

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Enhancing Student Usability Of 3d Bioprinting, Andrew Chang, Sabrina Cismas Jun 2016

Enhancing Student Usability Of 3d Bioprinting, Andrew Chang, Sabrina Cismas

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

3D bioprinting is an emerging technology that is changing the face of tissue engineering through the ability to print cells, scaffolding and matrix materials, and other bioactive reagents. 3D bioprinters are a culmination of various scientific and engineering disciplines with respect to their operation and bioprints, and as such, offer a prime case study on the convergence of the technical fields in research. In order to capitalize on this fact and make 3D bioprinting more accessible for interdisciplinary education applications, we sought to translate 3D bioprinting into the classroom environment as a tool for education. In collaboration with SE3D Education, …

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Mums: Mobile Urinalysis For Maternal Screening, Blair Koeneman, Amy Miller, Joe Neumeyer, Jake Prince Jun 2016

Mums: Mobile Urinalysis For Maternal Screening, Blair Koeneman, Amy Miller, Joe Neumeyer, Jake Prince

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

Pregnant women in low-income communities often lack access to the necessary healthcare for successful births. This is frequently due to the high costs of medical care, the remote location of patients, and the infrequency of primary care medical visits. To address this inequity, we have created a mobile application and imaging unit that allows for the low-cost implementation of urinalysis testing, which will aid in the detection of warning signs for prenatal health risks. From a single photo taken with a tablet camera, our application digitizes the results of a standard urinalysis test strip, displays the test results, and tracks …

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