Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

The Effect Of Spinal Cord Stimulation And Video Games Training On Body-Machine Interface Control, Jie Fei

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Damage to the spinal cord causes long-lasting loss of motor and sensory function, and currently, there is no ‘cure’ for paralysis. However, even people with severe spinal cord injuries (SCI) have some residual mobility. Studies have shown that transcutaneous electrical spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) combined with functional training targeting residual mobility can further improve the motor function of individuals with SCI. In this study, we present a technical framework that aims to enhance rehabilitation outcomes by targeting residual mobility through a motor training-based approach. Our technical framework centers around a non-invasive body-machine interface (BoMI) that relies on the use of …

Dynamic Ankle Brace, Amulya Bajracharya

Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal

The dynamic ankle brace is a 3D printed brace with geometric mesh patterns and two layers of compression sleeves. The goal of the brace is to design a comfortable slim fit ankle brace that is competitive with current ankle support braces on the market. The geometric braces provided similar levels of inversion and eversion as market braces using different sizing. The braces were tested with a custom built testing rig and human participants proving 3d printed braces are flexible yet durable. User feedback indicates users desired stronger stitching of the braces overall.

Novel Microfluidic Devices To Model The Interactions Between Lymphatics And Breast Cancer, Jade Weber

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The lymphatic system is responsible for immune circulation and fluid balance in the body. It accomplishes this by draining interstitial fluid from local tissue and transferring it to lymph nodes and back into blood circulation. However, this process is implicated in many pathologies, one of the most dangerous being breast cancer metastasis to the lymph nodes. The largest factor in breast cancer patient mortality is metastasis. Lymphangiogenesis, the growth of new lymphatic vessels, has been thought to play a dynamic role in aiding breast cancer metastasis. Breast cancer tumor cells have been shown to remodel the functionality of local lymph …

Live Audiovisual Remote Assistance System (Laras) For Person With Visual Impairments, Zachary Frey, Nghia Vo, Varaha Maithreya, Tais Mota, Urvish Trivedi, Redwan Alqasemi, Rajiv Dubey

Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics

According to "The World Report on Vision" by World Health Organization (WHO) [1], there are more than 2.2 billion people who have near or distant vision Impairments, out of which 36 million people are classified as entirely blind. This report also emphasizes the importance of social and communal support in enabling individuals with vision impairments to integrate into society and reach their full potential. While performing daily activities and navigating the environment, people with visual impairments (PVIs) often require direct or synchronous assistance [2]. Consequently, there is a growing need for automated solutions to assist in this regard. However, existing …

Extracellular-Vesicle-Based Therapeutics In Neuro-Ophthalmic Disorders, Hamed Massoumi, Sohil Amin, Mohammad Soleimani, Bita Momenaei, Mohammad Javad Ashraf, Victor H Guaiquil, Peiman Hematti, Mark I Rosenblatt, Ali R Djalilian, Elmira Jalilian

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recognized as promising candidates for developing novel therapeutics for a wide range of pathologies, including ocular disorders, due to their ability to deliver a diverse array of bioactive molecules, including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, to recipient cells. Recent studies have shown that EVs derived from various cell types, including mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), retinal pigment epithelium cells, and endothelial cells, have therapeutic potential in ocular disorders, such as corneal injury and diabetic retinopathy. EVs exert their effects through various mechanisms, including promoting cell survival, reducing inflammation, and inducing tissue regeneration. Furthermore, EVs have shown …

Noninvasively Monitoring Of Cerebral Blood Flow In Piglet Models Of Graded Hemorrhage And Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury Using Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy And Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, Randolph Sinahon, Danielle Shoshany, Shadi Malaeb, Mert Deniz Polat, Meltem Izzetoglu, Kurtulus Izzetoglu

St. Chris Research Day

No abstract provided.

Cerebral Blood Flow Measured By Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy For Monitoring Depth Of Anesthesia In Piglets, Mert Deniz Polat, Kurtulus Izzetoglu, Randolph Sinahon, Meltem Izzetoglu, Shadi Malaeb

St. Chris Research Day

No abstract provided.

Modeling Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition In A 3d Multicellular Model Of Tgf-Β1 Signaling, Kristin Kim, Chris Lemmon

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Single-Molecule Super-Resolution Imaging Of Geobacter Sulfurreducens Under Anaerobic Conditions, Ziyi Hu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Geobacter sulfurreducens are anaerobic bacteria capable of making electrical contacts with other organisms and extracellular electron acceptors. The challenge of imaging live Geobacter bacteria is maintaining anaerobic conditions during the imaging process. In this thesis, we augment a single-molecule localization microscope (SMLM) with a home-built anaerobic imaging chamber and use constant argon bubbling to maintain oxygen-free imaging conditions. To validate the imaging protocol, we use the transient binding of Nile red to resolve the spherical morphology of lipid-coated glass spheres with nanoscale resolution. However, when imaging Geobacter, the distribution of Nile red localizations is non-uniform, both between different cells …

Development Of A Multispectral Vis-Swir Imaging Modality For Cutaneous Water Assessment, Quinlan Mcgrath

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Inflammatory skin diseases are estimated to impact 20% of the global population and are the fourth leading cause of nonfatal disability worldwide. Diagnosis and management are predominantly based on clinician visual assessment of disease related changes in skin morphology. The qualitative nature of this method can result in misdiagnosis and underdiagnoses of treatable diseases. There persists systematic undertreatment of skin of color patients given the more subtle presentation of erythema against pigmented skin. There exists a clinical need for a quantitative and objective inflammation assessment tool that meets the needs of a diverse patient population. The accumulation of interstitial fluid …

3-Dimensional Visualization Of Cardiac Plaque Mapping Data, Phan Ly Vy Nguyen

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) of one of the most prevalent cardiac arrythmia in humans, and also the most studied arrythmias due to its high association with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis of AF, which is highly dependent on the observation of the irregular signal in the atria, is often challenging since AF is often asymptomatic at the onset. There has been a lot of effort in exploring different cardiac mapping techniques to understand the dynamics of AF for better intervention. This study aims at developing a MATLAB interface that assists the development of a cardiac plaque mapping data acquisition system in …

Reflectance Quantitative Polarized Light Imaging For Microstructural Evaluation Of Musculoskeletal Soft Tissues, Leanne Elizabeth Iannucci

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Musculoskeletal soft tissue injury is common and can lead to debilitating pain, loss of tissue function, and overall decrease in quality of life. Proper biomechanical function of musculoskeletal soft tissues is dictated by their hierarchically organized collagenous extracellular matrices, which are disrupted in periods of disease or injury. To best understand dynamic structure-function relationships of these tissues in normal and pathological conditions, it is imperative to be able to visualize collagen microstructure using a quantitative, high spatiotemporal resolution imaging modality. The innate birefringence associated with collagen fibers permits the use of biomedical polarimetry techniques to probe collagen in a specific …

A Novel Mrna Delivery Strategy Employing Adenovirus Piggyback Mrna Binders Via Catcher/Tag Molecular Glue, Kexin Geng

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

mRNA-based therapeutics open a new era for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of diseases. However, existing mRNA delivery vehicles have limited repertoires for dendritic cell targeting and intranasal administration which are two paramount delivery pathways of significant advantages for treating cancer and infectious respiratory diseases. Adenovirus (Ad) with well-deciphered viral genomes and intensive-studied structure biology has been developed for DCs-targeted cancer vaccines and intranasal COVID vaccines. In light of these virtues, Ad presents as the “off-the-shelf” tool possessing well-defined manufacturable capabilities and translatable feasibility that perfectly complements the current limitations of mRNA delivery. In this study, we …

Preparing Non-Human Primates To Study Hand-Eye Coordination In Frontal Eye Fields (Fef) During Delayed Movement Task, Juliusz Cydzik

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Preparing Non-Human Primates to Study Hand-Eye Coordination in Frontal Eye Fields (FEF) During Delayed Movement Task by Juliusz Cydzik Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2023 Professor Lawrence Snyder, Chair Hand-eye coordination enables humans and non-human primates to use their hands and eyes to perform various tasks. We are interested in coordination at the systems level, where saccades and reaches are encoded. The parietal reach region (PRR), situated at the posterior end of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and overlapping portions of the medial intraparietal area (MIP) and V6a, is commonly attributed …

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

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student 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 …

Validity Of Fitbit And Garmin Devices While Ascending And Descending Flights Of Stairs, Alan Garcia

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Two popular wearable fitness device brands are Fitbit and Garmin. The validity of Fitbit and Garmin’s wrist-worn devices in measuring step counts in various settings, such as walking up and down a staircase, is unclear. PURPOSE: To determine if four devices, the Fitbit Charge 2, Fitbit Versa 2, Garmin Fēnix 5 and Garmin Vívosmart HR+ record valid measures of step count when ascending and descending flights of stairs at three different speeds. METHODS: Twenty-eight participants (n=28) were tested individually. Two devices were randomly selected to be placed on each wrist. Participants climbed up and then down one, two, and three …

A General-Purpose Software Platform For Closed-Loop Neuromodulation, William Engelhardt

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Implementing closed-loop neuromodulation therapies is a challenging and expensive endeavor. It requires developing software capable of acquiring signals from a bio-signal amplifier, analysis of these signals, and initiation of precisely timed stimulation, all of which need to be accomplished in real-time with very low latency. Developing this software is difficult, as it requires a wide range of expertise ranging from interfacing with hardware to real-time signal processing. Even when successfully implementing such a system for one set of hardware, it often then only works within the laboratory that conceived it. This is because of the inherent heterogeneity in the devices …

Piezoelectric And Conductive Polymer Based Flexible Devices Enabling Cardiovascular Health Sensing And Energy Harvesting, Andrew Closson

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Piezoelectric materials show great promise for low-power wearable and implantable sensing, but their rigidity makes it challenging to integrate them with biological tissue. To address this, researchers have started exploring polymer-based functional materials that offer flexibility and are suitable for interfacing with the human body. However, these materials are still in their early stages, and a framework is necessary to illustrate how these materials, in conjunction with novel fabrication techniques and device designs, can enable the development of multi-functional sensing and energy harvesting devices.

This thesis utilizes highly scalable fabrication methods for functional polymers to build and test a flexible …

The Biological Activity Of Dual-Responsive Glycopolymers For Intracellular Codelivery Of Antigen And Lipophilic Adjuvant, Micaela Shields

Honors Theses

Subunit vaccines present themselves as an attractive alternative to traditional approaches to vaccines, which utilizes whole organisms to trigger an immune response. While these traditional approaches have proven themselves reliable within the history of vaccinations, they generally deliver subpar robust cellular-mediated immunity and pose many safety risks. Composed of proteins and /or peptides, subunit vaccines are safer and more precise alternatives to traditional approaches. However, the pharmacokinetic properties of the macromolecules that make up these vaccines hinder the subunit vaccine’s level of immunogenicity [d1] Examples of this hindrance include but are not limited to aggregation at the injection site and …

Development Of Methods To Enhance Stem Cell Derived Islet Survival, Aining Fan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.