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Life Sciences Commons

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Biotechnology

Bard College

Theses/Dissertations

2019

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Agent Based Model Of Cavitation In Spinal Cord Injury, Rahma Ahmed Jan 2019

Agent Based Model Of Cavitation In Spinal Cord Injury, Rahma Ahmed

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Annually, approximately 375,000 people suffer from spinal cord injury (SCI) worldwide and many SCI patients develop secondary health conditions such as respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary/bowel complications which negatively impact their daily lives. SCI occurs when there is damage to the spinal cord resulting in decreased motor functions, decreased sensory functions, or paralysis. Days to weeks after initial impact, the lesion (area of injury) continues to increase in size in a process called progressive cavitation which demyelinates axons and inhibits effective axonal regeneration. In an in vitro model of progressive cavitation, Fitch et al. showed that activated macrophages cause cavities to …