Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation Commons^™

D.I.Y. Clean Hood, Samuel G. Porter, Ryan E. Shimogaki, Ryan S. Staples

Biomedical Engineering

The DIY Clean Hood is a low-cost, sterile, and accessible scientific workspace intended for installation in the BioElectroFluidics Lab of California Polytechnic State University’s (San Luis Obispo) Biomedical Engineering Department (BMED), under the sponsorship of Dr. Benjamin Hawkins, PhD. As normal Clean Hood, Biosafety Cabinets, and the like are generally too expensive for a university, a competitive solution to an expensive problem can assist research students and professors alike continue their own work with an inexpensive yet effective environment.

Specific design elements that the customer requirements entailed for the project include a low-particle-count air filtration system, positive pressure air flow …

Sandy Feet, Garrett E. Herbst, Jacqueline Chuang, Jerin T. Brust, Parker S. Duncan

General Engineering

Sgt. Brady is a former armed forces member with a transtibial amputation. He walks on sand frequently for work and leisure, but experiences severe pain and inconvenience because his current prosthesis is not meant for use on sand. Sand Foot V2 is a prosthesis that allows Sgt. Brady to walk on sand for long periods of time without issue.

The Effect Of Distal Core Flattening And Heat Treatment On 304 Stainless Steel Guide Wires, Andrew Spencer Yap, Bryce Eric Veit, Matthew Frederick Lopez Villena

Materials Engineering

The mechanical response of 304 stainless steel guide wires due to different temper conditions and amounts of flattening is to be explored in this project. For this specific project, there is no public literature on the mechanical properties of guide wires with the above conditions through tensile testing or Turns to Failure Testing. To address this, the project with Abbott Vascular will measure the mechanical properties of guide wires using the aforementioned factors. Due to a lack of previous literature on this research topic, there are no quantitative goals for the project, however, any new research compiled in this area …

Prosthetic Foot Shell, Ql+, Kathryn Victoria Versteeg, Jackson A. Tucker, Ethan William Frey

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review includes an overview of our project and the steps we have taken to create our final product. We discuss the background research conducted, including various products like the foot shell we are trying to design and its related patents, along with similar past senior projects. As our product is considered a medical device, there are also certain standards that we must comply with. After determining our problem statement, we established what we believe to be the wants and needs of our user. These wants and needs were converted into specifications for our design, with durability as …

Control And Locomotion Of Inertially And Magnetically Actuated Multi-Scale Robotic Systems, Ehab Al Khatib

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

In this research, two actuation systems were introduced, inertial and magnetic actuation. In the inertial actuation, the robot used the transfer of momentum to navigate, and this momentum could be generated by spinning masses and wheels. Recent studies in our System Laboratory proved that a wide range of inertially actuated locomotion systems could be generated. This can be achieved by using a family tree approach, starting from a very simple system, and progressively evolving it to more complex ones. The motion diversity of these robots inspired us to extend their locomotion from a macro scale to millimeter and micro scales. …

Wearable Blood Pressure Device For Detection Of Orthostatic Hypotension, Mariam Hafez

Honors Scholar Theses

Orthostatic hypotension may be described as an inevitable response from the body in the form of a drop in blood pressure after changing positions. This quick drop in blood pressure can cause a syncopal episode, often injuring victims. There are limitations in the currently used cuff-type blood pressure sensor, which is used in healthcare settings, in that it does not continuously measure blood pressure. This research project developed a wearable device that measures heart rate variability (HRV) to detect changes in blood pressure using the correlation between the two measurements. The instrumentation was developed and included a commercially available pulse …

A Microfluidic Platform For High-Throughput Screening Of Aquaporin Performance, Adriana Del Pino Herrera, Jordan Hoydick, Rachel Rauh, Elyssa El-Hajj, Madison Burchfield

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Aquaporins are a family of small integral membrane proteins that transport water across cell membranes in response to osmotic gradients. They facilitate fluid secretion and absorption across epithelial surfaces in kidney tubules, exocrine glands, and gastrointestinal tract. Here, we describe a novel microfluidic method to evaluate and screen for aquaporin-based transmembrane permeability in mammalian cells. A microfluidic device was designed and fabricated for the encapsulation of single mammalian and yeast cells in micron-sized droplets. For this purpose, Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO) cells were used. CHO cells express AQP1 (aquaporin-1) homologous to human kidney aquaporins. The cells were cultivated and exposed …

Heel Down And Toe-Off Time Measured With Ultrasonic Doppler System And Force Plate Sensor, Sabin Timsina

Honors Theses

Collie Box is a medical device that measures the gait parameters of the person walk- ing in front of it. This device uses the Ultrasonic Doppler system to extract the heel-contact and toe-off times of a person walking within the range of 2-10 meters. These times are used to determine the leg’s swing phase and double stance times. The ultrasonic transducer of 10mm diameter is driven at 40kHz. At the time of the heel-contact and toe-off, foot velocity is zero while the torso part of the human body is still in motion. The wide directivity of 10mm diameter ultrasonic transducer …

Characterization Of Photoacoustic Flow Cytometry Signals, Craig Benzinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Photoacoustic flow cytometry has been utilized to clinically determine the presence of melanoma circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Further investigation was conducted into the morphology of detection signals and how they could be manipulated to allow for further classification. Novel features were extracted from waveforms that appear to have strong classification ability. Neural networks were also used to determine classification potential and the creation of feature mapping for future unsupervised classification. Detections were expanded from single waves to a time dependent multiwave event. Waveforms were also determined to be of non-parametric distribution, allowing for classification by neural network but not allowing …

Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Platform For Direct Clinical Samples, Terrance Zhang

Honors Scholar Theses

Infectious diseases and septicemia are two of the major causes of death in the U.S., necessitating rapid treatment of septic patients with proper, efficacious antibiotics. Unfortunately, the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria are continuously being aggravated by an abuse in antibiotic prescription at a clinical and agricultural level. It is known that antibiotic resistance evolves through the sequential accumulation of multiple mutations in bacteria, which is accentuated by prolonged exposure of bacteria to ineffective antibiotics when implementing traditional septicemia treatment. The goal of this project is to develop a novel, easy-to-use AST platform for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility profiling to …

Contemporary Leadership Theory In Biomedical Engineering, Anna Seifried

Senior Honors Projects

Modern leadership theories have begun to slowly weave their way into technical skill based fields, such as Biomedical Engineering, due to a critical need for effective communication skills.

Effectively and efficiently integrating contemporary leadership techniques into these industries, allows for clear goal setting and increased personal and professional satisfaction for both the customers and faculty.

For my Honors Project, I sought to find pre-existing connections and form new ones between modern leadership theories and the current Biomedical Engineering field. I focused specifically on Prosthetics and Orthopedics, but these theories can be applied to other branches of Biomedical Engineering and extend …

Analysis Of Blood Purification Studies On Oxone Mediated Tempo-Oxidized Nano Cellulose Mixed-Matrix Membranes, Tony Roller

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is currently the ninth leading cause of death in the United States, and of the 661,00 Americans diagnosed with ESRD, approximately 468,800 were on hemodialysis in 2016. Hemodialysis refers to a technique where a machine combined with a membrane, often referred to as an artificial kidney, is used to clean blood by removing any waste such as urea, potassium, and other smaller waste products while preserving the concentrations and integrity of cells and proteins in the blood. It has been shown in artificial blood studies that cellulose nanomaterials, like TEMPO/Oxidized cellulose nanoparticles (TOCNs), can be integrated …

Computational Imaging Methods For Analysis Of Datscan Spect Images, Hae Sol Moon

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

There is an important need to develop biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and assess the severity of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The potential to derive such biomarkers from quantitative dopamine transporter scan (DaT-Scan) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging, in particular the uptake of DaT in the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus regions, is highly appealing as imaging is non-invasive and DaTScan is already used in the management of patients with PD. However, reliable quantification requires reliable segmentation of these regions in these images. Reliable segmentation is challenging due to the limited spatial resolution and high image noise in SPECT images …

Redesign And Quantitative Assessment Of An Accelerated Venous Valve Fatigue Apparatus, Megan Kueh

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a form of cardiovascular disease that is caused when valves in the leg become incompetent. Current treatment methods serve to manage symptoms, but there are currently no ways to treat the underlying cause of CVI. A venous valve prosthetic made from a xenograft of a bovine jugular vein is one possible treatment method currently in the research phase. Prosthetic valves must be tested with an accelerated wear tester prior to approval for clinical testing. Although such testers exist for heart valves, physiological differences between heart and venous valves restrict the use those testers on venous …

Relative Contribution Of Arms And Legs Through Repetitive Assisted Sit-To-Stand Motion In Individuals With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury, Abd Aziz Musfirah

Student Works (2020-2029)

Sit-To-Stand (SitTS) exercise is one of important prerequisites to achieve some functional independence goals in everyday life especially for individuals undergoing rehabilitation In general, the execution of SitTS in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients involves motor function in both upper and lower extremities. The use of arm support in particular is a very significant element while executing SitTS movement for SCI population. In addition, application of functional electrical stimulation (FES) onto the quadriceps muscles is one of the prescribed management for incomplete SCI to improve muscle action for simple lower limb movements. However, the relative contribution of upper and lower …

Hydrolytic Degradation Study Of Polyphosphazene-Plga Blends, Riley Blumenfield

Honors Scholar Theses

The synthesis and in vitro degradation analysis of thin films of poly[(glycineethylglycinato)₇₅(phenylphenoxy)₂₅phosphazene]
(PNGEG₇₅PhPh₂₅) and poly[(ethylphenylalanato)₂₅(glycine-
ethylglycinato)₇₅phosphazene] (PNEPA₂₅GEG₇₅) blended with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) was conducted to determine the blends’ potential for use as scaffolding materials for tissue regeneration applications. The samples were synthesized with glycylglycine ethyl ester (GEG) acting as the primary substituent side group, with cosubstitution by phenylphenol (PhPh) and phenylalanine ethyl ester (EPA) to make the final product [1]. Blends of 25% polyphosphazene, 75% PLGA and 50% polyphosphazene, 50% PLGA were …

Characterization Of Oxone Mediated Tempo-Oxidized Nano Cellulose Mixed-Matrix Membranes During Ultrafiltration And Hemodialysis, Kristyn Robling

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The ninth leading cause of death in the United States is kidney disease, and hemodialysis is the process most commonly prescribed for treatment. It utilizes a selectively permeable membrane filter to remove toxins such as urea from the blood and retain necessary protein levels. However, traditional filters, such as cellulose triacetate, used during dialysis can be inefficient in terms of separation performance and reduction of fouling. Recent exploration of nanoparticles has resulted in the creation of Oxone Mediated TEMPO-Oxidized Nano Cellulose which has properties that are believed to increase hydrophilicity, increase tensile capacity, decrease membrane resistance and lower fouling, making …

Modified Stent Design For A Coronary Bifurcation Lesion, Abigail Nowell

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Currently, 18.2 million adults aged 20 and older are diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) (Benjamin et al., 2019). Stenosis is the most common intervention. However, when a patient has a bifurcated artery, treatment becomes more difficult and is often unsuccessful. This project created a new stent and balloon complex that was tested in vitro using a gel phantom artery model. Two separate prototypes have been created and tested so far, with improvements made upon each. Testing is still underway with Prototype 2.

Opendrop Elisa: Surface Development For Digital Microfluidic Elisa Testing, Michaela Q. Mead, Madeline G. Jackson, Jacob G. Taylor

Biomedical Engineering

This project aimed to develop a process to create a hydrophobic coating with capture antibodies attached. This process was developed in an attempt to create a digital microfluidic platform upon which an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) could be run, indicated for clinicians and educators in low-resource settings. Four requirements dictated the course of the design process: 1) the contact angle with water of the hydrophobic layer must be greater than 90º, 2) the colorimetric response of a positive ELISA result on our platform must be at least 85% of that run on polystyrene with the same result, 3) the platform …

Artifact Identification For Blood Pressure And Photoplethysmography Signals In An Unsupervised Environment, Pooi Khoon Lim

Student Works (2020-2029)

Physiological signals play a significant role in clinical diagnosis, it always acts as a major input of a decision support system. However, the physiological signal is easily corrupted by different factors especially motion artifacts. Several research works have been tried to recover the underlying physiological signal by suppressing the artifact. However, not much attention has been paid to situation where the artifact is too extreme and the artifact suppression is not possible. In this situation, physiological signal quality must be evaluated before any further assessment. In this study, an automated artifact detection algorithm was developed for Blood Pressure and PPG …