Engineering Commons^™

A Simulation Of The Neural Action Potential Under The Influence Of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors Modeled In The Neuromuscular Junction, Frank Jenkins

Doctoral Dissertations

The rise of terrorism has created an interest in better ways to detect when humans are exposed to neurotoxins, especially nerve gases developed for military use, most of which are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Many current methods of detection are based on mass spectrometry, a method that is cumbersome and not particularly robust when used as an early warning method. The detection of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors would benefit from a combined model of the processes occurring in the neuromuscular junction between the presynaptic action potential and the motor end-plate action potential that includes the kinetics of acetylcholine and acetylcholinesterase in the synaptic cleft. …

Poly(Ethylenedioxythiophene) Based Electronic Devices For Sensor Applications, Jie Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Organic electronic devices, based on Poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-Poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT-PSS) as the active layer for sensor applications, have been studied. Two sets of sensors have been developed. In one case, sensors consisting of PEDOT-PSS resistors have been realized and demonstrated for soil moisture monitoring. The resistor model for the soil moisture sensor enables the sensor device to be fabricated at low cost and easily tested with a simple structure. Unlike the large dimension device used in Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR), the sensors are small and are capable of capturing microscale behavior of moisture in soil which is useful for …

Medical Image Modeling And Processing, Ramu Pedada

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

During the last few decades of the twentieth century, medical imaging has been playing a prominent role in many fields of biomedical research and clinical practice. Image modalities such as x-rays, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance images (MRI) have all been valuable additions to the radiologist's arsenal of imaging tools. Medical images assure quality diagnosis and patient safety by gathering valuable information without invading the human body. Apart from clinical diagnosis, medical images are used as tools for education where they are used for training individuals before operating on a patient. Many medical educators tum to simulation based training …

Force Measurement Methods In Telerobotic Surgery: Implications For End-Effector Manufacture, Dean Callaghan, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Coyle

Articles

Haptic feedback in telesurgical applications refers to the relaying of position and force information from a remote surgical site to the surgeon in real-time during a surgical procedure. This feedback, coupled with visual information via microscopic cameras, has the potential to provide the surgeon with additional ‘feel’ for the manipulations being performed at the instrument-biological tissue interface. This increased sensitivity has many associated benefits which include, but are not limited to; minimal tissue damage, reduced recuperation periods, and less patient trauma. The inclusion of haptic feedback leads to reduction in surgeon fatigue which contributes to enhanced performance during operation. Commercially …

A Force Measurement Evaluation Tool For Telerobotic Cutting Applications: Development Of An Effective Characterization Platform, Dean Callaghan, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Coyle

Articles

Sensorized instruments that accurately measure the interaction forces (between biological tissue and instrument endeffector) during surgical procedures offer surgeons a greater sense of immersion during minimally invasive robotic surgery. Although there is ongoing research into force measurement involving surgical graspers little corresponding effort has been carried out on the measurement of forces between scissor blades and tissue. This paper presents the design and development of a force measurement test apparatus, which will serve as a sensor characterization and evaluation platform. The primary aim of the experiments is to ascertain whether the system can differentiate between tissue samples with differing mechanical …

Nutrient And Microbial Transport From Feedlot Surfaces, John E. Gilley, Elaine D. Berry, Roger A. Eigenberg, David B. Marx, Bryan L. Woodbury

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

Nutrient and microbial transport by runoff may vary at different locations within a beef cattle feedlot. If the areas making the largest contributions to nutrient and microbial transport can be identified, it may be possible to institute site-specific management practices to reduce runoff nutrient and microbial transport. The objectives of this study were to: a) measure selected feedlot soil properties, and nutrient and microbial transport in runoff from various feedlot locations b) compare the effects of unconsolidated surface materials (USM) (loose manure pack) and consolidated subsurface materials (CSM) (compacted manure and underlying layers) on nutrient and microbial transport, and c) …

Irradiation Of Varying Volumes Of Rat Lung To Same Mean Lung Dose: A Little To A Lot Or A Lot To A Little?, Vladimir A. Semenenko, Robert C. Molthen, Chunrong Li, Natalya V. Morrow, Rongshan Li, Swarajit N. Ghosh, Meetha Medhora, X. Allen Li

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: To investigate whether irradiating small lung volumes with a large dose or irradiating large lung volumes with a small dose, given the same mean lung dose (MLD), has a different effect on pulmonary function in laboratory animals.

Methods and Materials: WAG/Rij/MCW male rats were exposed to single fractions of 300 kVp X-rays. Four treatments, in decreasing order of irradiated lung volume, were administered: (1) whole lung irradiation, (2) right lung irradiation, (3) left lung irradiation, and (4) irradiation of a small lung volume with four narrow beams. The irradiation times were chosen to accumulate the same MLD of 10, …

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Kinetics Of The Neuromuscular Junction Simulated Using Spice: An Illustration Of Physiological Process Simulation With Conventional Circuit Simulation Software, Robert B. Szlavik

Biomedical Engineering

With the advent of modern day computational power, there is a great deal of interest in the simulation and modeling of complex biological systems. A significant effort is being made to develop generalized software packages for the simulation of cellular processes, metabolic pathways and complex biochemical reaction systems. The advantages to being able to implement and simulate complex biological systems in a virtual environment are several. Simulations of this type, if sufficiently detailed, provide experimental physiologists with the ability to visualize the dynamics of a given biological system of interest. The validity of hypotheses related to the system under study …

The Party’S Over: Sustaining Support Programs When The Funding Is Done, John Gardner, Pat Pyke, Cheryl Schrader, Janet M. Callahan, Amy Moll

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the lifecycle of an engineering education grant, the phase where best practices are sustained and disseminated is perhaps the most crucial stage for maximizing impact. Yet this transition phase often receives the least attention as project team enthusiasm can wane, while funding tapers off, and faculty priorities are pulled in other directions. There are numerous obstacles associated with sustaining program changes, even those perceived as very valuable. Typical challenges are: What happens when the funding runs out? What grant-developed programs should be sustained by the university? Does the institution need to internally allocate resources in an annual budget large …

Action At Distance: A Ms Degree Offered Through Distance Learning As A Vector To Student Enrichment And Industrial Interaction, Lanny Griffin, Daniel Walsh, Robert Crockett, Robert B. Szlavik

Biomedical Engineering

This paper describes the development and implementation of a flourishing MS program offered through distance learning (DL). The program serves the mission of the university – polytechnic education. It provides an intense life-long-learning opportunity for some of the 300,000 degreed engineers working in California industry who can benefit from graduate education. The DL Masters Degree Program in Engineering with a Biomedical Specialization was designed and developed with verisimilitude to the on-campus program in mind. The distance students attend the same classes as students on campus. The DL program has the same learning objectives and student outcomes as those expected for …

An Automatic Alogorithm For Detecting Stent Endothelialization From Volumetric Optical Coherence Tomography Datasets, Garret T. Bonnema, Kristen O'Halloran Cardinal, Stuart K. Williams, Jennifer K. Barton

Biomedical Engineering

Recent research has suggested that endothelialization of vascular stents is crucial to reducing the risk of late stent thrombosis. With a resolution of approximately 10 μm, optical coherence tomography (OCT) may be an appropriate imaging modality for visualizing the vascular response to a stent and measuring the percentage of struts covered with an anti-thrombogenic cellular lining. We developed an image analysis program to locate covered and uncovered stent struts in OCT images of tissue-engineered blood vessels. The struts were found by exploiting the highly reflective and shadowing characteristics of the metallic stent material. Coverage was evaluated by comparing the luminal …

Fluorescence Tomography Characterization For Sub-Surface Imaging With Protoporphyrin Ix, Dax Kepshire, Scott C. Davis, Hamid Dehghani, Keith D. Paulsen, Brian W. Pogue

Dartmouth Scholarship

Optical imaging of fluorescent objects embedded in a tissue simulating medium was characterized using non-contact based approaches to fluorescence remittance imaging (FRI) and sub-surface fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (FDOT). Using Protoporphyrin IX as a fluorescent agent, experiments were performed on tissue phantoms comprised of typical in-vivo tumor to normal tissue contrast ratios, ranging from 3.5:1 up to 10:1. It was found that tomographic imaging was able to recover interior inclusions with high contrast relative to the background; however, simple planar fluorescence imaging provided a superior contrast to noise ratio. Overall, FRI performed optimally when the object was located on or …

A Selective Recovery Methodology For The Primary Purification Of Lipid Envelope Virus-Like Particles From S. Cerevisiae, Gaik Sui Kee, Hari Pujar, Nigel Titchener-Hooker

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Well-Characterized Adenoviral Vector-Based Vaccines: Are We There Yet?, Katey Einterz Owen

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Vaccine Development For Developing Countries – Regulatory Approach In The European Union, Manfred G. Haase

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Analytical And Manufacturing Challenges In Preparation Of Bacterial Polysaccharide Conjugates, Carl Frasch

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Quality Issues: The Good-Enough Vaccine, Philip Minor

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Development Of Validated Assays For Measuring The Human Antibody Response To Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccines, Helena Käyhty

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Towards A Therapeutic Hepatitis C Vaccine – A Preclinical And Clinical Learning Curve, Alexander Von Gabain

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Challenge Of Filing 4 New Vaccines At Once – Lessons Learned, Keith Chirgwin

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Veev Replicon-Based Vaccines Used In Heterologous Prime Boost Strategies Induce Lifelong Protection Against Prostate Cancer And Therapy Of Cervical Cancer In Mice And Robust Cell-Mediated Immunity In Rhesus Macaques, W. Martin Kast

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Process Intensification For Large Scale Manufacturing Issues, J.C. Drugmand, N. Havelange, N. Alaoui, J. Castillo

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Trouble-Shooting Fermentation And Primary Recovery Manufacturing Issues In Order To Optimize Antigen Expression For The Vaccine Business, Tim Lee

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Development Of Vaxfectin®-Adjuvanted Dna Vaccines, Alain Rolland

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Vaccine Technology Ii: Conference Program, Barry C. Buckland, John G. Auniņš, Paula Marques Alves, Kathrin U. Jansen

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Focus On Aggregation: Causes, Impact & Characterization, John Philo

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Emerging Diseases, Zoonoses And Vaccines To Control Them, Paul-Pierre Pastoret

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Vaccine Technology Ii: Abstracts Of Oral Presentations, The Editors

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Flublok, A High Dose Recombinant Hemagglutinin Influenza Vaccine, Manon Cox

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Challenges And Solutions For The Next Generation Of Vaccines: Development Of Cell Culture-Based Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine, Jonathan Liu, Luis Maranga, Sachin Mani, Richard Schwartz

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.