Engineering Commons^™

Sol Retractor: Rapidly Deployable Film-Based C-Section Retractor, Casey Lee, Silas Cleveland, Jose Dolores Valdivieso, Joseph Perks

Honors Theses

Cesarean Sections (C-sections), a surgery conducted for baby delivery, can be divided into four distinct categories; Category 1 and 2 are considered emergency c-sections, and Category 3 and 4 are scheduled c-sections [2]. A comparative study from 2016 analyzed the difference of need for postoperative treatment between the Collins or the Alexis O retractor ( n = 100). The Alexis O C-Section retractor resulted in 19% of women requiring postoperative treatment, including medication, monitoring, and an extended stay at the hospital. The Collins resulted in 43% of the patients requiring postoperative treatment (p = 0.001) [5]. In emergency C-sections, surgical …

A Novel Device To Remove Kidney Stone Fragments From The Ureter, Madeline Feinberg, Christina Pavlovsky, John Kasel

Honors Theses

Every year kidney stones affect 654,000 Americans and 25% of these cases require a ureteroscopy which is performed on patients with kidney stones greater than 4 mm in the ureter. A holmium laser is used to rupture the kidney stone resulting in fragmentation of the stone. If not removed, these residual fragments can cause pain and may require a secondary procedure to remove them. The most common method for removing stone fragments is inserting a basket device through a port on the ureteroscope, encapsulating individual stone fragments, and manually removing the device. This device requires multiple insertions to remove the …

Breathe Easy: A More Efficient Way To Avoid Tracheostomy Airway Blockages, Olivia Zimmerman, Kathleen Swanson, Katelynn Russ

Honors Theses

ZIMMERMAN, OLIVIA Breathe Easy: A More Efficient Way to Avoid Tracheostomy Airway Blockages

Department of Biomedical Engineering, June 2020.

ADVISOR: Professor Cotter and Professor Khetan

A Revolutionary Approach To Transsphenoidal Surgery: The Pedg, Paidamoyo Ewing, Lavonia Duncan, Giselle Perkowski, Erendira Garcia Pallares

Honors Theses

Approximately 1500 pituitary tumors diagnosed each year are tough textured microadenomas found mainly in patients aging from 55-80 [1]. Tough textured tumors in the pituitary gland can cause hormonal imbalances and vision changes. For our Capstone Project, we focused on designing an endonasal device, the Pituitary Endonasal Deep Grasper (PEDG), that improves the efficiency of tough textured pituitary tumor removal by improving upon various mechanisms in Transsphenoidal Surgery including rotation, tip grasping, suction, and handle control. Our device contains a comfortable handle that allows for better control and precision during the procedure. We designed a grasping mechanism that is strong …

Breathe Easy: A More Efficient Way To Avoid Tracheostomy Airway Blockages, Katelynn Russ, Kathleen Swanson, Olivia Zimmerman

Honors Theses

Over 100,000 people receive tracheostomies each year in the United States when mechanical ventilation is needed for longer than 48 hours, a patient has a chronically obstructed airway, or the patient is unable to protect their airway from aspiration. A tracheostomy is inserted into a patient’s trachea in order to modify their airway through a tracheotomy procedure. A tracheostomy tube alters the natural lining of an airway which normally has a 5-50 μm thick layer of mucus. An airway with a tracheostomy tube produces more mucus than the average airway of a healthy person, and it also limits the patient’s …

Breathe Easy: A More Efficient Way To Avoid Tracheostomy Airway Blockages, Kathleen Swanson, Katelynn Russ, Olivia Zimmerman

Honors Theses

Over 100,000 people receive tracheostomies each year in the United States when mechanical ventilation is needed for longer than 48 hours, a patient has a chronically obstructed airway, or the patient is unable to protect their airway from aspiration. A tracheostomy is inserted into a patient’s trachea in order to modify their airway through a tracheotomy procedure. A tracheostomy tube alters the natural lining of an airway which normally has a 5-50 μm thick layer of mucus. An airway with a tracheostomy tube produces more mucus than the average airway of a healthy person, and it also limits the patient’s …

An Improved Method For Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcer (Hapu) Prevention, Megan Morrissey, Jillian Yeager, Julia Beekman

Honors Theses

Hospital acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs), also called bedsores, are damage to the skin and/or underlying tissue caused by prolonged pressure on the bony areas of the body, with around 20% of pressure ulcers occurring in the heel region. Currently, the most common practice for HAPU prevention is arbitrary manual repositioning of patients by nurses every 1-2 hours. The goal of our project was to address HAPUs in the heel region of low mobility patients through an ulceration risk sensing system. Our team has created a wearable ulceration risk assessment system that combines individual patient risk data with real time pressure …

Redesigned Endoscopic Bite Block For Geriatric Patients, Kayla Fisher, Katherine Gregory, Owen Corey

Honors Theses

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is an examination of the interior of the esophagus, stomach, and beginning of the small intestine. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopies are used to diagnose ulcers, cancers, and gastrointestinal tract diseases, as well as to collect biopsy samples. In 2008, over 55 million procedures were performed with GI endoscopic devices [1]. In order to keep the mouth propped open during this procedure, a bite block is used. This bite block ensures that the patient will not bite down on the endoscope during the procedure. Geriatric patients are more likely to have poor dental health due to medications they take, …

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 …

Designing An Antibiotic Eluting Trauma Screw To Reduce Short Term Infection In Bone Fractures, Dominic Lincoln

Honors Theses

Orthopedic infection in the United States is one of the most common and severe health risks faced by trauma patients. The most prevalent infection is orthopedic and trauma device-related infection (ORDI) and often occurs in long bones at the fracture site. The purpose of this paper is to explore this infection, its causes, and solutions currently on the market while providing novel solutions to the problem. The designs proposed will be evaluated for their effectiveness and value, while attempting to keep costs low for all stakeholders. The feasibility of patenting these ideas will also be considered, as will the testing …