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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Defining The Role Of Elastic Fibers In Tendon Mechanics, Jeremy D. Eekhoff
Defining The Role Of Elastic Fibers In Tendon Mechanics, Jeremy D. Eekhoff
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
Tendons serve as a linking component of the musculoskeletal system by transferring forces between muscle and bone. As such, the structural proteins of the tendon extracellular matrix are of vital importance for the tissue to function properly and maintain its mechanical integrity. Collagen is the principal constituent of tendon and makes up its aligned hierarchical organization. Other structural proteins, such as elastin, are in comparison understudied and not well understood in relation to tendon function. Elastin, the main component of elastic fibers, has unique mechanical properties including high extensibility, fatigue resistance, and elasticity; these properties are important for elastin-rich tissues …
Shear Wave Propagation Speeds And Estimation Of Mechanical Properties In Soft, Fibrous, Nonlinear Anisotropic Materials, Zuoxian Hou
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
The mechanical properties of brain tissue may reflect or influence growth, remodeling, development, aging, and disease. However, brain tissue, especially white matter, is structurally anisotropic and has nonlinear strain-stress relationships, so common methods are not very useful to describe the mechanical properties of brain tissue. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), based on the MRI imaging technique, can be used for measuring tissue mechanical properties non-invasively. Therefore, the mathematical model that describes the relation between wave speed and tissue mechanical properties will essentially influence the accuracy of the prediction. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between shear wave …
Subject-Specific Musculoskeletal Modeling Of Hip Dysplasia Biomechanics, Ke Song
Subject-Specific Musculoskeletal Modeling Of Hip Dysplasia Biomechanics, Ke Song
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is characterized by abnormal bony anatomy, causes pain and functional limitations, and is a prominent risk factor for premature hip osteoarthritis. Although the pathology of DDH is believed to be mechanically-induced, little is known about how DDH anatomy alters hip biomechanics during activities of daily living, partly due to the difficulties with measuring hip muscle and joint forces. Musculoskeletal models (MSMs) are useful for dynamic simulations of joint mechanics, but the reliability of MSMs for DDH research is limited by an accurate model representation of the unique hip anatomy. To address such challenges, this …
Synthetic Gene Circuits For Self-Regulating And Temporal Delivery Of Anti-Inflammatory Biologic Drugs In Engineered Tissues, Lara Pferdehirt
Synthetic Gene Circuits For Self-Regulating And Temporal Delivery Of Anti-Inflammatory Biologic Drugs In Engineered Tissues, Lara Pferdehirt
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
The recent advances in the fields of synthetic biology and genome engineering open up new possibilities for creating cell-based therapies. We combined these tools to target repair of articular cartilage, a tissue that lacks a natural ability to regenerate, in the presence of arthritic diseases. To this end, we developed cell-based therapies that harness disease pathways and the unique properties of articular cartilage for prescribed, localized, and controlled delivery of biologics, creating the next generation of cell therapies and new classes of synthetic circuits. We created tissue engineered cartilage from murine induced pluripotent stem cells that had the ability to …