Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Wireless Closed-Loop Feedback Systems For Automatic Detection And Suppression Of Nociceptive Signals, Aydin Farajidavar

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Chronic pain is an important public health issue. Several approaches have been implemented for management of chronic pain, including surgical implantation of neurostimulators. Neurostimulators have been used in clinics for spinal cord implantation and they have been suitable for relieving certain types of pains, such as neuropathic pain in leg or arm, complex regional pain, and refractory angina. The stimulation at spinal cord has little relieving effects on syndromes such as facial pain, cluster headache, phantom limb pain, and post stroke pain. For treating such syndromes, electrical stimulation of deep brain structures such as thalamic nuclei (e.g. ventroposterolateral (VPL) or …

Cell Specific Guidance Of Nerve And Vascular Regeneration Through Sustained Growth Factor Release, Parisa Lotfi

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces have been proposed as viable alternatives for the natural control of robotic prosthetic devices. However, sensory and motor axons at the neural interface are of mixed submodality types, which difficult the specific recording from motor axons and the eliciting of precise sensory modalities through selective stimulation. Here we evaluated the possibility of using type-specific neurotrophins to preferentially entice the regeneration of defined axonal populations from injured peripheral nerves. Segregation of mixed sensory fibers from dorsal root ganglion neurons was evaluated in vivo by compartmentalized diffusion delivery of nerve growth factor (NGF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), to preferentially …

Photosynthetically Active Protoplasts For Power Scavenging, Absorbance And Optical Density Analysis, Ahmed Shahid

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Plants and photosynthetic bacteria hold protein molecular complexes that can efficiently harvest photons. This paper presents fundamental studies to harness photochemical activities by converting photonic energy into electrical energy. The electrical behavior of protoplast extracted from Arabidopsis plants was characterized in the presence and absence of light. The photo-induced reactions of photosynthesis were measured using a patch clamp measurement system at a constant voltage. This research also reports the absorbance and optical density measurements showing very large bandwidth for extracted protoplasts. The optical measurements were performed on the protoplast Arabidopsis and showed absorption bands at a number of wavelengths. The …

An Investigation Of Support Vector Machine Classifier In Detecting Nocturnal Airway Obstruction From Spontaneous Heart Rate Combined With Ecg Morphology Changes, Harshan Ravi

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Sleep apnea is a sleep disordered breathing resulting from limitation or cessation to breathing for 10 or more seconds. The prevalence of sleep apnea has increased exponentially in the past decade. The increase in epidemic in sleep apnea is associated with increase in the cases of obesity. It is estimated that 12-18 million of American adults suffer from sleep apnea, which is a sizable sector of the adult population. Sleep apnea is risk factor for hypertension, type II diabetes, and congestive heart failure. Sleep apnea may go undiagnosed for a long period of time after its onset due to complexity …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of An Electrospinning Apparatus For The Deposition Of Pmma Polymer For Biomedical Applications, Harsha Malshe

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper describes the successful design and fabrication of a deposition system for synthesis and assembly of nanoscale and submicron sized fibers of poly(methylmethacrylate)(PMMA) polymer. To optimize the electrospinning deposition process, the distance between the needle and the electrically grounded substrate, the applied voltage, and the concentration of PMMA polymer in the solution were varied. PMMA fibers as small as 500 nanometers were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical signature of PMMA was confirmed for best quality and retention of chemistry using Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). PMMA is a biocompatible polymer, and nanofibers of PMMA are key …

A Secure Behavior Modification Sensor System For Physical Activity Improvement, Alan Price

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Today, advances in wireless sensor networks are making it possible to capture large amounts of information about a person and their interaction within their home environment. However, what is missing is how to ensure the security of the collected data and its use to alter human behavior for positive benefit.

In this research, exploration was conducted involving the "infrastructure" and "intelligence" aspects of a wireless sensor network through a Behavior Modification Sensor System. First was to understand how a secure wireless sensor network could be established through the symmetric distribution of keys (the securing of the infrastructure), and it involves …

The Role Of Conflict Management On Virtual Team Performance And Satisfaction, Pilar Pazos, Anil Ustun, Rolando Delaguila

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The role that input factors from project planning processes play on conflict emergence and conflict resolution in virtual teams is not well understood. Of particular interest for this paper is the role that factors during planning stages play in preventing interpersonal conflict, supporting conflict resolution and ultimately enhancing team outcomes in virtual team settings. This study examines the relationships among commitment to team goals, conflict management and team outcomes in virtual teams. First we provide an in depth review of relevant empirical findings. Next, we describe a study examining the relationships between three sets of variables: 1) goal commitment, 2) …

Effects Of Estrogen Loss On The Vascular Porosity In Rat Cortical Bone, Jessica D Levy

Dissertations and Theses

"Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that currently affects 10 million Americans, and is characterized by low bone mass and increased skeletal fragility (National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2011). Estrogen loss, which begins during menopause, is the leading cause of osteoporosis in women. Recent research has focused on changes in cortical bone microporosity due to estrogen loss, which is important for bone health; load-induced interstitial fluid flow within the lacunar-canalicular porosity surrounding osteocytes is thought to play an important role in bone maintenance, while the vascular porosity provides a pressure relaxation mechanism for the fluid flow in the lacunar-canalicular porosity. Recent high-resolution micro-CT …

Transport Of Antibodies And Nanoparticles Across An In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier, Lin Zhang

Dissertations and Theses

"The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic interface between the blood circulation and the central nervous system (CNS). While it serves as a selective barrier to water and solutes to prevent the blood-borne toxins from entering into the brain tissue, it hinders the drug delivery to the CNS for the treatment of brain diseases. Recently therapeutic antibodies and a variety of drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used to treat CNS disorders such as brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. To improve brain delivery efficacy of antibodies and NPs, it is necessary to quantify their transport parameters across the …

Comparison Of Progression Of Diffuse Axonal Injury With Histology And Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Nisrine Zakaria

Wayne State University Dissertations

Diffuse axonal injury, also known as traumatic axonal injury (TAI), is a major contributor to the pathology of traumatic brain injury. However, TAI is undetectable to conventional clinical magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques. Histologically, TAI is characterized by swollen axons that eventually disconnect and form axonal retraction balls (RB) in various white matter tracts. MR-diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) has been reported to be sensitive to TAI in human TBI patients by measuring water molecular diffusion motion in white matter fiber tracts. To date, only one correlative animal study has been carried out to investigate the DTI relationship to TAI, and …

The Incidence Of Type-1 Diabetes In Nod Mice Is Modulated By Restricted Flora Not Germ-Free Conditions., Cecile King, Nora Sarvetnick

Journal Articles: Regenerative Medicine

In the NOD mouse, the incidence of type-1 diabetes is thought to be influenced by the degree of cleanliness of the mouse colony. Studies collectively demonstrate that exposure to bacterial antigen or infection in the neonatal period prevents diabetes [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], supporting the notion that immunostimulation can benefit the maturation of the postnatal immune system [11]. A widely accepted extrapolation from this data has been the notion that NOD mice maintained under germ-free conditions have an increased incidence of diabetes. However, evidence supporting this influential concept is surprisingly limited [12]. In this …

Issues On Clean Diesel Combustion Technology Using Supercritical Fluids: Thermophysical Properties And Thermal Stability Of Diesel Fuel, Ronghong Lin

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - Dissertations

The clean diesel combustion technology using supercritical fluids is aimed to both improve fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions. This novel process involves preparation, injection and combustion of supercritical fuel/diluents mixtures. Design and development of this new process require a deep understanding of fuel properties. The current study has attempted to address three fuel property related issues: fuel surrogates, diffusivity and thermal stability.

Fuel surrogates are often used in engine research to mimic real fuel properties. In this work, ten diesel fuel surrogates were investigated, and the ability of these surrogates to predict diesel fuel properties was evaluated. It was …

Characterization Of Multifunctional Biodegradable - Biocompatible Icg-Loaded Nanoparticles And Their Feasibility For Prostate Cancer Imaging And Phototherapy, Ronak Patel

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the United States, and the second leading cause of cancer death in men. The conventional diagnostic procedures use an invasive approach to collect the biopsy tissue samples. Also, treatments currently used include radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgical removal of the prostate associated with high risks of surgical complications. Among all the imaging modalities, Near Infrared (NIR) optical imaging could be a possible candidate for minimally invasive diagnosis of prostate cancer with avoidance of harmful radiation and relatively low cost. This motivation brings the development of multifunctional polymeric (di- lactide-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) Nanoparticles …

Organic Biocompatible Nanolayered Polymerization Of Solid-State Devices, Sri Divya Vidyala

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Nanotechnology plays a major role in today's society due to its convergence of nanoscale which is the level of atoms and molecules as a part of miniaturization trend. The interference between biomedical and nanotechnology are of intense research. It concerns about the utilization of miniature biological systems such as nucleic acids, proteins, cells and cellular components to fabricate functional organic and inorganic nanostructures. This research work focuses on the process of developing a simple method to obtain fluorinated organic nanocoating which can be used to coat 3D structures and also explain the extended applications of the coating in the fields …

Substrate Stiffness Adjustable Pdms Device/Array For Understanding Its Effect On Cell Growth, Differentiation And Migration, Chetan Bhuwania

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

The mechanical properties of the cellular environment play an important role in the functioning of the cell. Cells attach to the extracellular matrix or other surrounding cells, thus sensing their mechanical properties and tune their own internal mechanical properties accordingly. A number of in vitro studies have been performed to study various cellular mechanical phenomena, but most of them employ a very stiff substrate such as glass or plastic that does not encompass the physiologically relevant range. Also, for tissues of the nervous system, the relationship between the substrate stiffness and the cellular behavior is less understood. In this study, …

Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Using Auto-Flourescence Lifetime And Light Reflectance Spectroscopy: A Potential Tool For Positive Margin Assessment, Shivaranjani Shivalingaiah

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Malignant Breast Neoplasm (MBN) or breast cancer is a heterogeneous cancer type originating in the breast tissue. Surgery is considered the primary treatment for breast cancer, with many early stage patients being cured without recurrence. The goals of the surgery include complete resection of the primary tumor, with negative margins to reduce the risk of local recurrences. Further, pathological staging of the tumor and axillary lymph nodes are carried out to extract necessary prognostic information. Surgery works well in case of complete Mastectomies. However, the biggest challenge for this technique is determining adequate margins on the partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) specimen. …

A Viscoelastic Model For Human Prolapsed Vaginal Wall Tissue, Milton Ma

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) affects thousands of elderly women each year. Improvements in surgical repair could benefit from the understanding of the biomechanical properties of the vaginal wall (VW) tissues to better tailor the needed repair. VW tissue property has been measured by uniaxial tensile test on excised fresh human anterior VW tissues. Data available, however, are limited to elastic modulus obtained in vitro. Recently, in vivo biomechanical data of VW from POP patients have been obtained by adapting a cutometer-like device, the BTC-2000TM (SRLI). The Voigt and Standard Linear models in conjunction with the framework of quasi-linear viscoelasticity theory …

3-Dimensional Scanning And Reconstruction Using A Modified Hrt-Rcm Corneal Confocal Microscope, Saurabh Vaidya

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

The HRT II - Rostock Corneal Module (HRT II-RCM) provides excellent resolution, contrast and optical sectioning capability for cornea imaging. It offers the most detailed views of cornea structure and pathology. However, the major limitation of this microscope is its scanning method. It has a threaded dial on the front side of the microscope which is coupled to the objective, and this dial has to be rotated manually to change the focal plane and to scan through the cornea.The dial is within inches of the cornea. During the scans, manual control causes serious interference and degrades the quality of the …

Optimization Of Hydrogel System For Complex Wound Healing, Nikhil Vilas Aphale

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Various conventional therapies and preventive measures have been developed and used for treating complex wounds; however, patients with complex wounds still develop wound infection and consist of delayed wound healing. These limitations necessitate the development of a novel therapeutic system, which is cost effective, easily apply onto the complex wounds, and consists of an efficient therapeutic nature. An in situ forming hydrogel system, made up of a novel biodegradable elastomer poly (ethylene glycol) maleate citrate (PEGMC), was designed and optimized for complex wound healing. Biocompatibility of this hydrogel system was studied by determining the toxicity of both the formation factors, …

Development Of A Biomechanical Surrogate For The Evaluation Of Commotio Cordis Protection, Nathan Dau

Wayne State University Dissertations

Commotio Cordis (CC) has proven to be life threatening for young athletes as it is the second leading cause of mortality in youth sports. In the past 15 years, researchers have been working to understand the pathophysiology of this event. It has been proven that impacts directly over the cardiac silhouette during a vulnerable period of the cardiac cycle can cause CC. In order to reduce the occurrence of CC in sports, chest protectors need to be tested for efficacy. Currently there is no biofidelic surrogate to serve this purpose. In order to test equipment to a given standard of …