Engineering Commons^™

Biomedical Engineering Or Biomedical Optics: Will The Real Discipline Please Stand Up?, Brian W. Pogue

Dartmouth Scholarship

This editorial reflects on the shape of biomedical engineering as a discipline, and its relation to biomedical optics.

Brain Image Clustering By Wavelet Energy And Cbsso Optimization Algorithm, Hasan Hosseinzadeh, Mohammad Sedaghat

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Previously, the diagnosis of brain abnormality was significantly important in the saving of social and hospital resources. Wavelet energy is known as an effective feature detection which has great efficiency in different utilities. This paper suggests a new method based on wavelet energy to automatically classify magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain images into two groups (normal and abnormal), utilizing support vector machine (SVM) classification based on chaotic binary shark smell optimization (CBSSO) to optimize the SVM weights.

The results of the suggested CBSSO-based KSVM are compared favorably to several other methods in terms of better sensitivity and authenticity. The proposed …

Cold Plasma Poration And Corrugation Of Pumpkin Seed Coats, Alexander G. Volkov, Jewel S. Hairston, Darayas Patel, Ryan P. Gott, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

The treatment of seeds and plants by electrically generated cold atmospheric pressure plasma can accelerate seed germination and radicle growing rates. The plasma generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, UV photons, and high frequency electromagnetic fields can penetrate into seed coats and modify their surface properties. Atomic force microscope data shows that cold helium or argon plasma induces strong corrugation of pumpkin seed coats, produces pores and surface defects. These structural deformations and poration enhance water uptake by seeds during the imbibing process, accelerate seeds germination, and increase seed growth. The cold atmospheric pressure plasmas treatment of pumpkin seeds also …

Cold Plasma Poration And Corrugation Of Pumpkin Seed Coats, Alexander G. Volkov, Jewel S. Hairston, Darayas Patel, Ryan P. Gott, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

The treatment of seeds and plants by electrically generated cold atmospheric pressure plasma can accelerate seed germination and radicle growing rates. The plasma generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, UV photons, and high frequency electromagnetic fields can penetrate into seed coats and modify their surface properties. Atomic force microscope data shows that cold helium or argon plasma induces strong corrugation of pumpkin seed coats, produces pores and surface defects. These structural deformations and poration enhance water uptake by seeds during the imbibing process, accelerate seeds germination, and increase seed growth. The cold atmospheric pressure plasmas treatment of pumpkin seeds also …

Cold Plasma Poration And Corrugation Of Pumpkin Seed Coats, Alexander G. Volkov, Jewel S. Hairston, Darayas Patel, Ryan P. Gott, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

The treatment of seeds and plants by electrically generated cold atmospheric pressure plasma can accelerate seed germination and radicle growing rates. The plasma generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, UV photons, and high frequency electromagnetic fields can penetrate into seed coats and modify their surface properties. Atomic force microscope data shows that cold helium or argon plasma induces strong corrugation of pumpkin seed coats, produces pores and surface defects. These structural deformations and poration enhance water uptake by seeds during the imbibing process, accelerate seeds germination, and increase seed growth. The cold atmospheric pressure plasmas treatment of pumpkin seeds also …

The Modeling, Design, Fabrication, And Application Of Biosensor Based On Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing (Ecis) Technique In Environmental Monitoring, Xudong Zhang, William Wang, Sunghoon Jang

Publications and Research

In this research, the modeling, design, fabrication, and application of ECIS sensors in environmental monitoringare studied. The ECIS sensors are able to qualify the water toxicity through measuring the cell impedance. A novel mathematical model is proposed to analyze the distribution of electric potential and current of ECIS. This mathematical model is validated by experimental data and can be used to optimize the dimension of ECIS electrodes in order to satisfy environmental monitors. The detection sensitivity of ECIS sensors is analyzed by the mathematical model and experimental data. The simulated and experimental results show that ECIS sensors with smaller radius …

An Arm And A Leg: Medtech Perspectives On Human-Centered Design, Evan D. Poff

Marriott Student Review

The art of human-centered design accounts for both technological and emotional specifications in order to deliver meaningful products that meet the specific needs of the individual customer. Every business professional can deepen his or her understanding of human-centered design – regardless of our industry of choice – by looking to perspectives that the business of medical technology offers. To that end, this article draws upon interviews with three figures in this remarkable field, distilling their insights on how to cultivate businesses that produce human-centered solutions.

Stabilized Interleukin-4-Loaded Poly(Lactic- Co-Glycolic) Acid Films Shift Proinflammatory Macrophages Toward A Regenerative Phenotype In Vitro, Alexis M. Ziemba, Anthony R. D'Amato, Taylor M. Macewen, Devan L. Puhl, Abigail N. Koppes, Ryan A. Koppes, Michelle R. Lennartz, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Macrophages are immune cells involved in wound healing and tissue regeneration; however, the sustained presence of proinflammatory macrophages in wound sites impairs healing. In this study, we shifted peritoneal macrophage polarization away from a proinflammatory (M1) phenotype through exposure to stabilized interleukin-4 (IL-4) in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) films in combination with topographical guidance from electro spun poly-l-lactic acid fibers. To our knowledge, this was the first study to stabilize IL-4 with bovine serum albumin (BSA) within a biomaterial. When IL-4 was coloaded with BSA for stabilization, we saw increased IL-4 bioactivity compared to no added stabilization, trehalose stabilization, or murine …

Developing A Synthetic Model Of The Candida Albicans Cell Wall Using Self-Assembled Monolayers To Host Beta-Glucan As Ligands, Ushnik Ghosh

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

The goal of this investigation is to study mechanisms the immune cell receptor, Dectin-1, uses to identify the fungal cell species, Candida albicans. Dectin-1 identifies extracellular matrix polysaccharides that Candida albicans express known as β-glucan. To study the interaction of β-glucan – Dectin-1 at the nanoscopic scale, the investigators of this project have endeavored to model the Candida albicans cell wall with engineered Self-Assembled Monolayers presenting β-glucan as a ligand for immobilized Dectin-1 receptors. By engineering a simplified ex-vivo model of the Candida albicans cell wall, the investigators of this study aim to gain precise control of the composition …

Incorporation Of Egfr And Ron Receptors Into Nanodiscs, Cristina Flores-Cadengo

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Understanding the structure-function relationship of membrane receptors is essential to comprehend the crosstalk between key signaling pathways. Aberrant trans-activation between receptors can lead to tumorigenesis. Two of these receptors known to be involved in cancer development are receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), RON (Recepteur d'Origine Nantais) and EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor). There has been evidence of heterodimerization and crosstalk between these two receptors based on co-immunoprecipitation, however the structural requirements behind these interactions remain unknown. Structural studies could provide insights into these RTKs’ modes of dimerization and structure-function relationship. However, structural studies of full-length membrane proteins are often difficult due …

Use Of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (Sers) Probes To Detect Fatty Acid Receptor Activity In A Microfluidic Device, Han Zhang, Wei Zhang, Lifu Xiao, Yan Liu, Timothy A. Gilbertson, Anhong Zhou

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

In this study, 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA)-Au nanorods conjugated with a GPR120 antibody were developed as a highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) probe, and were applied to detect the interaction of fatty acids (FA) and their cognate receptor, GPR120, on the surface of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293-GPRR120) cultured in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device. Importantly, the two dominant characteristic SERS peaks of the Raman reporter molecule MBA, 1078 cm⁻¹ and 1581 cm⁻¹, do not overlap with the main Raman peaks from the PDMS substrate when the appropriate spectral scanning range is selected, which effectively avoided the …

Improved Production Of Antifungal Angucycline Sch47554 By Manipulating Three Regulatory Genes In Streptomyces Sp. Scc-2136, Ozkan Fidan, Riming Yan, Du Zhu, Jixun Zhan

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Sch47554 and Sch47555 are two angucyclines with antifungal activities against various yeasts and dermatophytes from Streptomyces sp. SCC‐2136. The schgene cluster contains several putative regulatory genes. Both schA4 and schA21were predicted as the TetR family transcriptional regulators, whereas schA16shared significant similarity to the AraC family transcriptional regulators. Although Sch47554 is the major product of Streptomyces sp. SCC‐2136, its titer is only 6.72 mg/L. This work aimed to increase the production of this promising antifungal compound by investigating and manipulating the regulatory genes in the Sch47554 biosynthetic pathway. Disruption of schA4and schA16 led to a significant increase …

Fluoride Removal From Water Using A 3d Printed Calcium Carbonate Filter, Sophia Bakar, David Kahler, Benjamin S. Goldschmidt

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Groundwater containing high concentrations of fluoride is the most common source of drinking water in rural areas in parts of east Africa, India, and China. The elevated levels of fluoride cause skeletal and dental fluorosis, which is the weakening and decay of bone structures due to the leeching of calcium from the body as calcium and fluoride bond by the process of adsorption. Over 150 million people are suffering from some form of fluorosis due to the consumption of groundwater. Calcium carbonate has been demonstrated to influence fluoride removal in several forms. To make fluoride removal a cost-effective and user-friendly …

Quantifying Iron Overload Using Mri, Active Contours, And Convolutional Neural Networks, Andrea Sajewski, Stacey Levine

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Iron overload, a complication of repeated blood transfusions, can cause tissue damage and organ failure. The body has no regulatory mechanism to excrete excess iron, so iron overload must be closely monitored to guide therapy and measure treatment response. The concentration of iron in the liver is a reliable marker for total body iron content and is now measured noninvasively with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI produces a diagnostic image by measuring the signals emitted from the body in the presence of a constant magnetic field and radiofrequency pulses. At each pixel, the signal decay constant, T2*, can be calculated, …

Novel Calibrated Short Tr Recovery (Castrr) Method For Brain-Blood Partition Coefficient Correction Enhances Gray-White Matter Contrast In Blood Flow Measurements In Mice, Scott W. Thalman, David K. Powell, Ai-Ling Lin

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

The goal of the study was to develop a novel, rapid Calibrated Short TR Recovery (CaSTRR) method to measure the brain-blood partition coefficient (BBPC) in mice. The BBPC is necessary for quantifying cerebral blood flow (CBF) using tracer-based techniques like arterial spin labeling (ASL), but previous techniques required prohibitively long acquisition times so a constant BBPC equal to 0.9 mL/g is typically used regardless of studied species, condition, or disease. An accelerated method of BBPC correction could improve regional specificity in CBF maps particularly in white matter. Male C57Bl/6N mice (n = 8) were scanned at 7T using CaSTRR …

Kinematics During Knee Extension, Lunge, And Chair Rise, Center For Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Kevin Shelburne, Phd, Michael D. Harris, Phd, Vasiliki Kefala, Donald R. Hume, Bradley S. Davidson, A. J. Cyr, R. H. Kim, A. A. Ali, E. M. Mannen

Living Kinematics of the Knee

No abstract provided.

Automated Atrial Fibrillation Detection From Electrocardiogram, Senbao Lu

Bioengineering Master's Theses

In this study, a novel Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) detection algorithm is presented based on Electrocardiography (ECG) signals. In particular, the spectrogram of ECG signal is used as an input to a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to classify normal and AFib ECG signals. This model is shown to perform well with an accuracy of 92.91% and a value of 0.9789 for the area under the ROC curve (AUC). This study demonstrated the potential of using image classification methods and CNN model to detect abnormal biosignals with noise.

Assessment Of Hand Gestures Using Wearable Sensors And Fuzzy Logic, Angel Cardenas, Ryan Messersmith, Will Newcomb

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Hand dexterity and motor control are critical in our everyday lives because a significant portion of the daily motions we perform are with our hands and require some degree of repetition and skill. Therefore, development of technologies for hand and extremity rehabilitation is a significant area of research that will directly help patients recovering from hand debilities sustained from causes ranging from stroke and Parkinson’s disease to trauma and common injuries. Cyclic activity recognition and assessment is appropriate for hand and extremity rehabilitation because a majority of our essential motions are cyclic in their nature. For a patient on the …

Nebuflask: Advancing Usability Of Nebulizers To Increase Patient Compliance, Murray Bartho, Michael Breshock, Megan Nolte

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Nebulizers are ubiquitous in the world of medicine. Any patient diagnosed with asthma, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), or any other severe lung disease often use a nebulizer in order to deliver medication to the lungs. Although these technologies are quite common, they are surprisingly outdated. The most commonly used nebulizers today are bulky, loud, awkward to carry around, and must be plugged into an outlet. These aspects of the nebulizer make it a nuisance to use in general and almost impossible to use outside of the home or clinic. The ultrasonic and mesh nebulizers do address …

High-Throughput, Portable Microfluidic Aptamer Assay, Atticus Mccoy, Matthew Curtin

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Aptamer-based assays are a powerful platform for sensing a wide variety of biochemical targets, including drugs, disease biomarker, and biomolecules. However, aptamer assays often lack rapid identification and high-throughput screening. Performing an aptamer-based assay on a microfluidic device is a promising solution to increase throughput, portability, and sensitivity. In this paper, we present a microfluidic device capable of running aptamer-based assays. Our device utilizes normally-closed valves and a central micropump to move fluids throughout the chip. One chip could theoretically be scaled up to run multiple assays, and multiple of these microfluidic devices could be run in parallel to increase …

Noninvasive Screening Of A Fecal Biomarker For Human Necrotizing Enterocolitis (Nec), Daniela Campa, Kyle Sullivan

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a disease that predominantly affects preterm infants. Of the 10% of preterm neonates that develop NEC, about one in four cases results in death. The pathophysiology presents as inflammation of intestinal epithelial cell lining and subsequent tissue death, sometimes resulting in intestinal perforations. The underlying mechanisms have yet to be comprehensively identified. Diagnosis--the rate limiting step in reducing critical disease-onset-to-treatment time--is based on relatively nonspecific signs, impeding early and accurate diagnosis. This project, a collaborative effort between Santa Clara and Stanford Universities, aims to improve current diagnostic methods by identifying the first verifiable and useful fecal …

Soft Palate Modification Using A Collagen Crosslinking Reagent For Equine Dorsal Displacement Of The Soft Palate And Other Upper Airway Breathing Disorders, Stephanie Hunt, Jonathan Kuo, Fabio A Aristizabal, Matt Brown, Abhijit R. Patwardhan, Thomas Hedman

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

The mechanical properties of the soft palate can be associated with breathing abnormalities. Dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) is a naturally occurring equine soft palate disorder caused by displacement of the caudal edge of the soft palate. Snoring and a more serious, sometimes life-threatening, condition called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are forms of sleep-related breathing disorders in humans which may involve the soft palate. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of injecting the protein crosslinker genipin into the soft palate to modify its mechanical properties for the treatment of equine DDSP with potential implications …

Primitive Palms: A Density Study On The Impacts Of Harvesting Natural Materials For Construction Purposes On Sumak Allpa Of The Amazon Rainforest, Zachary Bull

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In an effort to better understand how rural construction techniques affect a surrounding environment, this study combines a density test of the natural building materials used in the construction of a school on Sumak Allpa island of the Orellana Province in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. The focus of the study measures the density of the bamboo species Guadua angustifolia and the Panama hat plant Carludovica palmata on the island while noting a comprehensive compilation of the techniques and materials used in the building process. Using a mix of plots and transects, a comparison of harvested material to remaining material …

Implementation Of A Particle Image Velocimetry System For Evaluation Of Microfluidic Chip Flows, Sheila Mallenahalli

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Material Analysis Of A Tympanostomy Myringotomy Simulator, Abishek Stanley

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Human-Centered Electric Prosthetic (Help) Hand, Jamie Ferris, Shiyin Lim, Michael Mehta, Evan Misuraca

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

Through a partnership with Indian non-profit Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, we designed a functional, robust, and and low cost electrically powered prosthetic hand that communicates with unilateral, transradial, urban Indian amputees through a biointerface. The device uses compliant tendon actuation, a small linear servo, and a wearable garment outfitted with flex sensors to produce a device that, once placed inside a prosthetic glove, is anthropomorphic in both look and feel. The prosthesis was developed such that future groups can design for manufacturing and distribution in India.

Generation Of Silver Nanoparticle Pharmacokinetic Profiles In A Lung Model, Rachel Galaska

Honors Theses

Nanomaterial technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent in consumer and industrial applications, including drug delivery, energy harvesting, environmental applications, and medicine due to their unique physiochemical properties. As nanomaterial use increases, so too does human exposure. This has made it progressively more important to understand the toxicological effects of nanomaterials and their interactions with the human body. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most commonly used nanomaterials due to their antibacterial properties. As inhalation is one of the most common exposure routes, understanding the toxicity of these AgNPs on lung tissue was studied. Using A549 cells for a lung tissue …

Effect Of Activated Carbon On The Performance Of A Solar Thermal Adsorptive Refrigerator (Star) Using Activated Carbon-Ethanol, Joshua Romo

Honors Theses

The Solar Thermal Adsorptive Refrigerator (STAR) project at the University of Dayton seeks to bridge sustainability and the need for reliable refrigeration in developing communities. Cost-effective construction, operation, and maintenance as well as the use of a sustainable adsorption pair, activated carbon-ethanol, give STAR great potential in the realm of humanitarian engineering. This project explores the effect of using two activated carbon brands, 8x16 and CocoPlus, on the cyclic performance of the STAR system. Although both brands have similar specifications given by the manufacturer, one (8x16) inhibited successful performance while the other (CocoPlus) enabled it. This project highlights both the …

Machine Learning Solution To Organ-At-Risk Segmentation For Radiation Treatment Planning, Brie Goo, Katrina May, Haobo Zhang, James Olivas

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

In the treatment of cancer using ionizing radiation, it is important to design a treatment plan such that dose to normal, healthy organs is sufficiently low. Today, segmentation requires a trained human to carefully outline, or segment, organs on each slice of a treatment planning computed tomography (CT) scan but it is laborious, time-consuming, and contains intra- and inter-rater variability. Currently, existing clinical automation technology relies on atlas-based automation, which has limited segmentation accuracy. Thus the auto-segmentations require post process editing by an expert. In this paper, we propose a machine learning solution that shortens the segmentation time of organs-at-risk …

Computational Characterization Of The Cellular Origins Of Electroencephalography, Shane Hesprich

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive technique used to measure brain activity. Despite its near ubiquitous presence in neuroscience, very little research has gone into connecting the electrical potentials it measures on the scalp to the underlying network activity which generates those signals. This results in most EEG analyses being more macroscopically focused (e.g. coherence and correlation analyses). Despite the many uses of macroscopically focuses analyses, limiting research to only these analyses neglects the insights which can be gained from studying network and microcircuit architecture. The ability to study these things through non-invasive techniques like EEG depends upon the ability to …