Calibration Of Opensim Lifting Full-Body Model For Dynamic Simulations Of Patient-Handling Maneuvers, Barry Bait, Bridget Gagnier

20th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2021)

Manual patient-handling tasks are associated with lower-back pain and injury. Computational musculoskeletal models may determine forces on the low back, trunk muscle activation during these tasks, and provide insight on how these may result in injury. There are no publicly available models for these tasks. To determine the appropriateness of the OpenSim Full-Body Lifting Model for these tasks, this project calibrated the model with biomechanical data of simulated maneuvers performed by a test subject. Thirty-nine reflective markers were placed bilaterally on bony prominences (forehead, back of head, clavicle, sternum, C7, T10, epicondyle of humerus, styloid process, metacarpal, anterior and posterior …

Design, Simulation And Testing Of Biomimetic Directional Acoustic Sensors, Brendan Francis

Thinking Matters Student Research Symposium

The Ormia ochracea, a species of parasitic fly, has become the focal point in sound localization research because of its finely tuned hearing abilities. The female of this species uses its super highly directional hearing to pinpoint the call of a host cricket, with hypersensitivity of frequency and phase difference, to reach and dispose of its eggs on the host. The goal of this study was to further the research of a previous Project in Professor Guvench’s group which implemented MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) technology on a chip to replicate these abilities. In this iteration, however, some commercially available …

Nitinol Robotic Arm, Brandon Cousino, Connor Sweatt

Thinking Matters Student Research Symposium

The goal of our project is to create a remotely controlled robotic arm using a nickel-titanium alloy (Nitinol) that exhibits “shape memory” tendencies and a 9-lumen tube. The arm must be able to move in all for directions (forward, left, right, backwards) with the control of a joystick and return to an upright position upon halting user input (thus requiring a two-way shape memory ability). The final product must operate without any unwanted twisting of the arm, crosstalk between the different nitinol wires due to heating, and be easily manufacturable. Easy replacement of the arm from the main mechanism is …

Mems Directional Acoustic Sensors, Colby Damren

Thinking Matters Student Research Symposium

The purpose of my project is to test and verify two Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) microphones. The two MEMS devices are biomimetic microphones that imitate the eardrums of the Ormia Ochracea, a parasitic fly that listens for host crickets to lay their eggs. The MEMS microphones mimic the eardrum spacing of the Ormia Ochracea with a spacing of 1000um. This is roughly twice the opening of the Ormia Ochracea. The microphones will be tested for directionality inside a wooden box. This box will be lined with beveled foam to prevent any echo or outside noise from interfering with the results. These results …

Biomedical Applications And Syntheses Of Selected Anthraquinone Dyes, Richard Sirard

Senior Honors Theses

Anthraquinones are aromatic organic compounds that have multiple applications in the biomedical field. Some anthraquinone-based compounds are used as fluorophores to contrast cell nuclei while others act as chemotherapeutic agents. However, there are not many fluorescent anthraquinone cell stains currently available. In this study, commercially available anthraquinone dyes, in addition to other dye families and compounds, were reviewed for their unique properties, advantages, and drawbacks. The development and characterization of three novel anthraquinone fluorophores revealed promising photophysical characteristics, like large Stokes shifts. One of the compounds, RBS3, was chosen for fixed and live cell staining and exhibited desirable biomedical properties. …

A Brief Bibliometric Survey Of Explainable Ai In Medical Field, Nilkanth Mukund Deshpande, Shilpa Shailesh Gite

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

_{^{Background: This study aims to analyze the work done in the field of explainability related to artificial intelligence, especially in the medical field from 2004 onwards using the bibliometric methods.}}

_{^{Methods: different articles based on the topic leukemia detection were retrieved using one of the most popular database- Scopus. The articles are considered from 2004 onwards. Scopus analyzer is used for different types of analysis including documents by year, source, county and so on. There are other different analysis tools such as VOSviewer Version 1.6.15. This is used for the analysis of different units such as co-authorship, co-occurrences, citation analysis …}}

Differential White Blood Cell Counting, Gregory Austin

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis was completed with the goal of developing a model for the detection and differentiation of 8 different classes of white blood cells. Manual differential counting can be a time consuming and laborious task that would greatly be improved by an automated system. The model created in this project was to be used to automatically determine the number of each cell type in a sample, greatly reducing the need for manual counting. The model was produced using a convolutional neural network that utilized transfer learning from MobileNet_V2, an image recognition network produced by Google. After 20 epochs of training …

Highly Branched Polymers Based On Poly(Amino Acid)S For Biomedical Application, Marisa Thompson, Carmen Scholz

PRC-Affiliated Research

Polymers consisting of amino acid building blocks continue to receive consideration for biomedical applications. Since poly(amino acid)s are built from natural amino acids, the same building blocks proteins are made of, they are biocompatible, biodegradable and their degradation products are metabolizable. Some amino acids display a unique asymmetrical AB2 structure, which facilitates their ability to form branched structures. This review compares the three forms of highly branched polymeric structures: structurally highly organized dendrimers, dendrigrafts and the less organized, but readily synthesizable hyperbranched polymers. Their syntheses are reviewed and compared, methods of synthesis modulations are considered and variations on their traditional …

Highly Branched Polymers Based On Poly(Amino Acid)S For Biomedical Application, Marisa Thompson, Carmen Scholz

PRC-Affiliated Research

Polymers consisting of amino acid building blocks continue to receive consideration for biomedical applications. Since poly(amino acid)s are built from natural amino acids, the same building blocks proteins are made of, they are biocompatible, biodegradable and their degradation products are metabolizable. Some amino acids display a unique asymmetrical AB2 structure, which facilitates their ability to form branched structures. This review compares the three forms of highly branched polymeric structures: structurally highly organized dendrimers, dendrigrafts and the less organized, but readily synthesizable hyperbranched polymers. Their syntheses are reviewed and compared, methods of synthesis modulations are considered and variations on their traditional …

Preclinical Development Of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube-Based Optical Biosensors, Eric M. Hofferber

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

High resolution, long-term monitoring of key biological analytes would improve patient outcomes by providing earlier detection of disease states and improved efficacy of treatment. One class of biosensors that have gained much attention in recent years are optical biosensors. Optical probes are attractive biosensors due to their noninvasive nature of detection, as certain light can pass through tissue, water, and blood. Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are a specific type of optical biosensor that fluoresce in the near infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and offer unparalleled spatial and temporal resolution. SWNT have been applied as biosensors in vitro, …

Optimum Double Rhombic Flap Design For Z-Plasty, Abdullah Khan

Honors Theses

In the medical field, especially in plastic surgery, Rhombic flap and z-plasty are common methods in surgical procedures to treat and close complex wounds of different types of injuries/surgery. Each conventional surgical method has its own pros and cons. When both conventional methods join, it would complement each other weaknesses. This senior design project purpose is to investigate the magnitude of stresses build on skin due to transposing of skin in these methods when the wound is close after the surgical procedure is done. In this project a combination of rhombic flap and z-plasty is studied which is Double Rhombic …

Surface-Eroding Drug Delivery Films For Sequential And/Or Intermittent Release Of Psychoactive Drugs, Jason Price

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT JASON BLAKE PRICE: Surface-Eroding Drug Delivery Films for Sequential and/or

Intermittent Release of Psychoactive Drugs For patients with psychiatric diseases, adherence to medication schedules, medication

errors, and abuse are common issues. Promising new forms of therapy for these patients, such as micro-dosed lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), where patients receive 10-20% of a full dose every third day, present further drug delivery challenges. Sequential or intermittent release of drugs from an implanted device could ensure long-term drug compliance, automate drug dosing during the life of the implant, and eliminate potential for abuse and medication errors. To this end, we generated …

Understanding The Effect Of Adaptive Mutations On The Three-Dimensional Structure Of Rna, Justin Cook

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are variations in the genome where one base pair can differ between individuals.¹ SNPs occur throughout the genome and can correlate to a disease-state if they occur in a functional region of DNA.¹According to the central dogma of molecular biology, any variation in the DNA sequence will have a direct effect on the RNA sequence and will potentially alter the identity or conformation of a protein product. A single RNA molecule, due to intramolecular base pairing, can acquire a plethora of 3-D conformations that are described by its structural ensemble. One SNP, rs12477830, which …

Project Alien, Rebecca Mccallin, Madelyn Hoying, Alex Evans, Matthew Nestler, Karli Rae Sutton, Garett Craig, Lucia Secaia Del Cid, Alexander Guy, Rachel Fernandez, Amanda Trusiak, Paige Aley, Ingabire Gakwerere, Nina Dorfner, Maria Mosbacher, Mary Flavin, Selvin Hernandez, Audrey Steen, Benjamin Kazimer

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Project ALIEN is a comprehensive plan to send humans to Mars to look for life on the Martian surface while exploring the viability and adaptability of terrestrial microbes in Martian atmospheric conditions. ALIEN will use a ballistic capture trajectory to get to Mars and stay in aerostationary orbit for a 30-day surface mission, during which two surface crewmembers will perform a variety of experiments to achieve the mission’s goals of Martian microbial discovery within brines of the Gale Crater and terrestrial microbe adaptability and viability to Martian conditions. Experimentation is based on the presumption that Martian microbes are metabolically similar …

Bioprinting Alginate Structures Using The Fresh Method, Amanda Pellegrino

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Three-dimensional bioprinting is a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine technique that utilizes biomaterials to print clinically relevant scaffolds. These scaffolds are used for tissue repair and to treat disease, such as end-organ failure. The main problem with 3D bioprinting is its inability to print soft biomaterials, which collapse due to gravitational forces. In addition, the materials that can be used do not mimic native tissue’s mechanical properties and texture. To combat this, Dr Feinberg’s laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University developed the freeform reversible embedding of suspended hydrogels (FRESH) method. The FRESH method allows for soft biomaterials to be supported in …

Développement D'Une Méthode De Mesure De L'Exposition Sonore Effective Intraauriculaire Pour Une Utilisation En Milieu De Travail, Hugues Nélisse, Fabien Bonnet, Marcos Nogarolli, Jérémie Voix

Rapports de recherche scientifique

De nombreux travailleurs sont exposés quotidiennement à des niveaux de bruit susceptibles d'endommager leur audition. De ce fait, la mesure de l'exposition sonore est essentielle afin d'identifier et d’évaluer des solutions correctives pour protéger adéquatement les travailleurs. Cependant, les méthodes et les technologies de mesure actuelles ne permettent généralement pas de déterminer avec précision l'exposition au bruit subie par un individu sur son lieu de travail. La dosimétrie intraauriculaire est une solution prometteuse pour pallier un certain nombre de problèmes liés aux méthodes de mesure conventionnelles, mais cette méthodologie est fragilisée de trois façons : 1) l'exposition sonore mesurée dans …

Automatic Generation And Novel Validation Of Patient-Specific, Anatomically Inclusive Scoliosis Models For Biomechanics-Informed Surgical Planning, Austin Tapp, Michel Audette, James Bennett

College of Engineering & Technology (Batten) Posters

Scoliosis is an abnormal spinal curvature of greater than 10 degrees. Severe scoliotic deformities are addressed with highly invasive procedures: anterior or posterior spinal fusion approaches. This invasiveness is due, in part, to the constraints of current surgical planning, which utilizes computed tomography (CT) scans unable to discern spinal ligaments that are dissected to make the spine sufficiently compliant for correction. If localization of ligaments and soft tissues were achieved pre-operatively, corrective procedures could become safer and more efficient by using finite element (FE) biomechanical simulations to determine decreased incidences of ligament releases. This research aims to achieve ligament localization …

High Throughput And On-Chip Analysis Of Engineered Extracellular Nano-Vesicles And Their Functional Characterizations, Brendan Johnson, Jiayi Zhang

Bioengineering Senior Theses

In recent years, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have shown great promises as drug delivery vehicles to treat various diseases, including cancer and neurological diseases. EV surface engineering is a critical step to achieve targeted drug delivery. By engineering EVs with transmembrane scaffolds, targeting molecules can be displayed on the EV outer surface, and cargos can be loaded into the EV lumen. However, EV heterogeneity and inadequate EV purification and characterization methods impose great challenges on understanding engineered EVs and choosing appropriate transmembrane scaffolds. To this day, surface engineered EVs are still limited to lab research. In this thesis, we modify the …

Musculoskeletal Modeling Of The Pelvis And Lumbar Spine During Running, Ruth Higgins, Maryam Moeini, Hunter Bennett, Stacie Ringleb

College of Engineering & Technology (Batten) Posters

Musculoskeletal modeling provides an alternative to in-vivo characteristics that are difficult to directly measure for movements such as running, especially for trunk muscles and joints. The full-body-lumbar-spine (FBLS) model by Raabe and Chaudhari, 2016 is an OpenSim model created for simulations of jogging. The lifting full-body (LFB) model by Beaucage-Gauvreau et al., 2018 is an adaptation of the FBLS created for estimating spinal loads during lifting. PURPOSE: Determine validity of the FBLS and LFB models in simulating pelvis and lumbar spine kinematics during running. METHODS: Inverse Kinematics were executed using experimental data for the FBLS and LFB models. To …

3d Lidar Human Skeleton Estimation For Long Range Identification, Alexander Glandon, Lasitha Vidyaratne, Nasrin Sadeghzadehyazdi, Nibir Dhar, Jide Familoni, Scott Acton, Khan Iftekharuddin

College of Engineering & Technology (Batten) Posters

This research project is the continuation of an effort by the Vision Lab to understand human gait and motion using special-purpose imaging sensors and novel computer vision algorithms. The project began using a Motion Capture (MoCap) system which measures 3D human skeleton information in real-time by attaching markers to a human subject and viewing the human motion with a set of cameras at different angles. We developed an algorithm to determine the gender of a subject wearing these sensors. The current phase of this project extends this work using a state-of-the-art flash Lidar sensor. This sensor scans the surface of …