Other Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Hierarchical Based Classifcation Method Based On Fusion Ofgaussian Map Descriptors Foralzheimer Diagnosis Using T1‑Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nourhan Zayed, Shereen E. Morsy, Inas A. Yassine

Mechanical Engineering

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is considered one of the most spouting elderly diseases. In 2015, AD is reported the US’s sixth cause of death. Substantially, non-invasive imaging is widely employed to provide biomarkers supporting AD screening, diagnosis, and progression. In this study, Gaussian descriptors-based features are proposed to be efcient new biomarkers using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T1-weighted images to diferentiate between Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Normal controls (NC). Several Gaussian map-based features are extracted such as Gaussian shape operator, Gaussian curvature, and mean curvature. The aforementioned features are then introduced to the Support Vector Machine (SVM). …

Investigating The Potential Of A Cell-Based Gene Editing Therapy For Inherited Metabolic Liver Disease, Ilayda Ates

All Dissertations

Inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs) affecting the liver are relatively rare but collectively have a prevalence of 1 in 800 live births. These diseases result from autosomal recessive single-gene mutations, leading to organ dysfunction and potentially fatal consequences if left untreated. One potential therapeutic strategy for IMDs of the liver involves using CRISPR-Cas9-induced loss of function mutations. However, translating this approach into the clinic is limited by the need for safe and effective CRISPR delivery methods. Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs), commonly used for CRISPR delivery, are associated with significant safety and efficacy concerns, including risks for immunogenicity, off-target mutagenesis, and genotoxicity …

The Effects Of Compression Wrapping Techniques And Primary Wound Dressings On Leg Skin Interface Pressure, James Cox

All Theses

Peripheral edema affects approximately 20% of people in the US over the age of 50 and is frequently encountered among individuals with conditions such as heart disease, prolonged immobility, and venous insufficiency.¹ Compression is an established therapeutic tool utilized for the management of several chronic edema presentations including lymphedema and venous leg ulcers.^2,3 Therapeutic efficacy of compressive applications can be evaluated by defining interface pressure (IP) and IP distributions associated with specific textile combinations.² During compressive applications where an open wound is present, primary wound dressings should be used in combination with compressive wraps. Primary wound dressings …

Dual Color Optogenetic Control For Analyzing Cardiac Function In Drosophila, Jiantao Zhu

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Prolonged consumption of carbohydrate-rich diets and immobile lifestyles frequently cause metabolic disorders and obesity and, as a result, may lead to progressive heart dysfunction among broad social groups of the population. Drosophila melanogaster serves as an essential model organism in cardiovascular disease research due to conserved physiological and genomic traits shared with humans, its genetic and molecular toolbox versatility, and cost-effective maintenance. Here, we combine optogenetics and optical coherence tomography to study cardiovascular function in D. melanogaster. A new optogenetic pacing system has been developed, employing a transgenic line carrying two opsins: ChR2 and NpHR2.0. A custom-built hardware setup …

Hybrid Power Spectral And Wavelet Image Roughness Analysis, Basel White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Two-Dimensional Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima (2D WTMM) sliding window methodology has proven to be a robust approach, in particular for the extraction of the Hurst (H) roughness exponent from grayscale mammograms. The power spectrum is a computational analysis based on the Fourier transform that can be used to estimate the roughness of a scale-invariant image or region via the calculation of H. We aim to examine how the calculation of H in fractional Brownian motion (fBm) images and mammograms can be improved. fBm images are generated for H ∈ [0.00,1.00] for testing through the previous 2D …

Redesigning Nasogastric Feeding Tubes To Prevent Dislodgement, Shelby Lynn Berry, Sydney Ruth Rester

Honors Theses

Seniors at the University of Mississippi studying biomedical engineering complete a senior project that seeks to solve a problem in healthcare. Our team, composed of Sydney Rester, Shelby Berry, Andrew Ulmer, and Alex Bromley, sought to improve care associated with nasogastric feeding tubes. We identified two major problems: clogging and tube dislodgement. To address the problem of dislodgement, the team crafted a new feeding tube design with a balloon attachment. The attachment prevents a patient from pulling the feeding tube out and keeps the tube from dislodging due to normal patient movement. We further determined that our tube should be …

Redesigning Nasogastric Feeding Tubes To Prevent Dislodgement, Sydney Ruth Rester, Shelby Lynn Berry

Honors Theses

Seniors at the University of Mississippi studying biomedical engineering complete a senior project that seeks to solve a problem in healthcare. Our team, composed of Sydney Rester, Shelby Berry, Andrew Ulmer, and Alex Bromley, sought to improve care associated with nasogastric feeding tubes. We identified two major problems: clogging and tube dislodgement. To address the problem of dislodgement, the team crafted a new feeding tube design with a balloon attachment. The attachment prevents a patient from pulling the feeding tube out and keeps the tube from dislodging due to normal patient movement. We further determined that our tube should be …

Development And Implementation Of A Computational Modeling Tool For Evaluation Of Tha Component Position, Thang Dac Nguyen

Doctoral Dissertations

The human body is a complicated structure with muscles, ligaments, bones, and joints. Modeling human body with computational tools are becoming a trend [1]. More importantly, using computational tools to evaluate human body is a non-invasive technique that could help surgeons and researchers evaluate implant products [2]. Therefore, the development of a model which can analyze both implant sizing suggestion and kinematics of subject specific data could prove valuable. For total hip arthroplasty, one common complication is in vivo separation and dislocation of the femoral head within the acetabular cup [3] [4]. Developing a successful computational tool to address this …

Investigating Myosin Ensemble Force Generation Using Optical Tweezers, Janie Watts

Honors Theses

Myosin is a motor protein that facilitates muscle contraction and movement by stepping along actin filaments using energy from ATP hydrolysis. If myosin or other motors are disrupted throughout the body, it can have many harmful effects. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a disease caused by gene mutations that affect myosin heavy chains in the heart. The tissue of the heart becomes abnormally thick, which can make it more difficult to pump blood or block blood flow out of the heart. Our goal is to discern the mechanistic difference function of a healthy and diseased heart. To accomplish this, we construct model …

Counterventions: A Reparative Reflection On Interventionist Hci, Rua Mae Williams, Louanne E. Boyd, Juan E. Gilbert

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Research in HCI applied to clinical interventions relies on normative assumptions about which bodies and minds are healthy, valuable, and desirable. To disrupt this normalizing drive in HCI, we define a “counterventional approach” to intervention technology design informed by critical scholarship and community perspectives. This approach is meant to unsettle normative assumptions of intervention as urgent, necessary, and curative. We begin with a historical overview of intervention in HCI and its critics. Then, through reparative readings of past HCI projects in autism intervention, we illustrate the emergent principles of a counterventional approach and how it may manifest research outcomes that …

Split And Join: An Efficient Approach For Simulating Stapled Intestinal Anastomosis In Virtual Reality, Di Qi, Suvranu De

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Colorectal cancer is a life-threatening disease. It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Stapled anastomosis is a rapid treatment for colorectal cancer and other intestinal diseases and has become an integral part of routine surgical practice. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no existing work simulating intestinal anastomosis that often involves sophisticated soft tissue manipulations such as cutting and stitching. In this paper, for the first time, we propose a novel split and join approach to simulate a side-to-side stapled intestinal anastomosis in virtual reality. We mimic the intestine model using …

Developing A Finite Element Model For Evaluating The Posterior Tibial Slope In A Medial Opening Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy, Victor Alexander Carranza

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis aimed to develop and validate a computation finite element (FE) model to investigate the effect of hinge axis orientation on the posterior tibial slope (PTS) and mechanical medial proximal tibial angle (mMPTA) while analyzing the mechanical response around the hinge in a medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO). Chapter 2 highlights the importance of selecting an appropriate modeling method that best represents the clinical scenario. Chapter 3 validated a FE model using the Bland-Altman agreement analysis which yielded 95% limits of agreement of −0.9° to 1.2° for PTS and −1.4° to 1.9° for mMPTA. A parametric study …

Ultra-High Field Mri Methods For Precise Anatomical And Spectroscopic Measurements In The Brain And Application To Neurological And Neuropsychiatric Diseases, Judy Alper

Dissertations and Theses

Neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders are a major burden on society, impairing the health and functioning of millions of people every year. There is a need to define the biological bases of these diseases and identify potential biomarkers to improve diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment efficacy across multiple diseases.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive imaging technique which facilitates detection of brain lesions and visualization of the brain overall. However, limitations in contrast and resolution at clinical field strengths may hinder investigation of the underlying biological mechanisms of these diseases. Ultra-high field MRI scanners, such as those at 7-Tesla, …

Marineepi: A Gui-Based Matlab Toolbox To Simulate Marine Pathogen Transmission, Gorka Bidegain, Tal Ben-Horin, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) MarineEpi is presented as a Matlab toolbox for easily (i) constructing disease transmission models for different marine host-pathogen systems, (ii) running simulations by specifying initial conditions and model parameters, and (iii) interpreting the resulting time series of the host and pathogen population dynamics. MarineEpi users can generate models for systems in which pathogen transmission occurs through contact with infected individuals (SI), contact with dead infected individuals (SID), contact with environmental pathogens released by infected individuals (SIP), and contact with environmental pathogens released by dead infected individuals (SIPD). MarineEpi is a freely available GUI that provides …

Machine Learning And Deep Learning Approaches For Gene Regulatory Network Inference In Plant Species, Sai Teja Mummadi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The construction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is vital for understanding the regulation of metabolic pathways, biological processes, and complex traits during plant growth and responses to environmental cues and stresses. The increasing availability of public databases has facilitated the development of numerous methods for inferring gene regulatory relationships between transcription factors and their targets. However, there is limited research on supervised learning techniques that utilize available regulatory relationships of plant species in public databases.

This study investigates the potential of machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and hybrid approaches for constructing GRNs in plant species, specifically Arabidopsis thaliana, …

Breast Density Classification Using Deep Learning, Conrad Thomas Testagrose

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breast density screenings are an accepted means to determine a patient's predisposed risk of breast cancer development. Although the direct correlation is not fully understood, breast cancer risk increases with higher levels of mammographic breast density. Radiologists visually assess a patient's breast density using mammogram images and assign a density score based on four breast density categories outlined by the Breast Imaging and Reporting Data Systems (BI-RADS). There have been efforts to develop automated tools that assist radiologists with increasing workloads and to help reduce the intra- and inter-rater variability between radiologists. In this thesis, I explored two deep-learning-based approaches …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling Of Hemodialysis In Patients With An Arteriovenous Fistula, Maximilian Roth

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

With the advent of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) for use in hemodialysis, the anastomosis built for such use has become a central point of the study to understand the flow and wall shear stresses in such a system since very large wall shear stresses can lead to arterial/vein rupture. Considering the commonly used creation site of an anastomosis as connecting the radial artery to the cephalic vein, a model is created to calculate the wall shear stresses across various components of the system. The model depicts a connection of the specified vein and artery bridged together allowing the increase in blood …

The Role Of Mri In Diagnosing Autism: A Machine Learning Perspective., Yaser Abdelrahman Elnakieb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is approximately 1 in every 44 children in the United States suffers from autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a disorder characterized by social and behavioral impairments. Communication difficulties, interpersonal difficulties, and behavioral difficulties are the top common symptoms. Even though symptoms can begin as early as infancy, it may take multiple visits to a pediatric specialist before an accurate diagnosis can be made. In addition, the diagnosis can be subjective, and different specialists may give different scores. There is a growing body of research suggesting differences in brain development and/or environmental and/or genetic factors contribute to autism development, but scientists …

Material Characterization And Comparison Of Sol-Gel Deposited And Rf Magnetron Deposited Lead Zirconate Titanate Thin Films, Katherine Lynne Miles

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has been a material of interest for sensor, actuator, and transducer applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This is due to their favorable piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties. While various methods are available to deposit PZT thin films, radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was selected to provide high quality PZT films with the added capability of batch processing. These sputter deposited PZT films were characterized to determine their internal film stress, Young’s modulus, composition, and structure. After characterization, the sputtered PZT samples were poled using corona poling and direct poling methods. As a means of comparison, commercially …

Working Out The Kinks: Creating Solutions To Assist Health Care Workers To Take Vital Signs Through Effective Cable Management, Carl R. Russell Iii, Emily J. Linder, Maya A. Godbole

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) is a service-learning design program run through Purdue University. It strives to teach students design skills through providing solutions for individuals, communities, and organizations in the surrounding area while mirroring engineering industry standards. BME (Bio-medical Engineering) is a team within EPICS that strives to serve community partners through biomedical applications. Members of a health care team often spend valuable time organizing cables associated with machines used to take patients’ vital signs. Due to time constraints and the fast-paced work environment, these cables may be mismanaged and damaged. The BME team is working on a …