Engineering Commons^™

Experimental And Numerical Study Of Dysphagia, Yash G. Potdar

Masters Theses

Dysphagia, meaning difficulty in swallowing, is a symptom of disease that occurs in young children and elderly people. It occurs particularly due to two reasons, weak neural network and/or deformities in oral section/s. The Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital’s Intensive Feeding Program takes care of children suffering from Dysphagia. In order to make the swallowing process easier and in some cases safer, thickener is added to the liquids. Depending on the requirement of thickness, the amount of thickener is varied. Although the directions to prepare the mixtures are given by the thickener product company, the required thickness is not achieved when …

Design And Realization Of A Nonlinear Vibration Energy Harvester For Cost Effective Additive Manufacturing, Rodrigo Barriuso De Juan

Masters Theses

Environmental energy harvesting has always been an attractive solution to the search for sustainable energy sources. Combined with the miniaturization and power consumption reduction of sensors and portable electronic devices, the possibility of powering using environmental energy, like vibration energy, instead of conventional batteries increases exponentially. Vibrational energy harvesting can be achieved using devices based on different physical phenomena. Electromagnetic based devices seem to be among the most effective when considering the power output levels within low frequency applications. However, these devices have always had inherent challenges including size and manufacturing cost reduction as well as limitations on the range …

A Transcutaneous Data And Power Transfer System For Osteogenesis Monitoring Sensors, Deepak Dileepkumar

Masters Theses

Implant devices are widely used in health care applications such as life support systems, patient rehabilitation devices and patient monitoring devices. Medical implants have enabled physicians to obtain relevant real time information regarding an organ, or a site of interest with in the body and suggest treatment accordingly. In some cases, the position of the implant within the body or threats of infections prevents wired communication techniques to extract information from the implant. Wireless communication is the alternative in such cases. Distraction osteogenesis is one such application where wireless communication can be established with callus growth monitoring sensors to obtain …

Application Of Genetic Algorithm In Multi-Objective Optimization Of An Indeterminate Structure With Discontinuous Space For Support Locations, Rahat Sultana

Masters Theses

In this thesis, an indeterminate structure was developed with multiple competing objectives including the equalization of the load distribution among the supports while maximizing the stability of the structure. Two different coding algorithms named “Continuous Method” and “Discretized Method” were used to solve the optimal support locations using Genetic Algorithms (GAs). In continuous method, a continuous solution space was considered to find optimal support locations. The failure of this method to stick to the acceptable optimal solution led towards the development of the second method. The latter approach divided the solution space into rectangular grids, and GAs acted on the …

Aerodynamics Of Race Car Wings: A Cfd Study, Simon Durrer

Masters Theses

Formula 1 racing is one of the most advanced technological sports. The aerodynamic on open wheel race cars is essential for the performance during a race. The front wing on a race car produces about 30 percent of the entire downforce of a race car. Several studies on front wings for open wheel race cars are conducted by various authors. A number of research studies include single element airfoils in ground effect and undisturbed flow. Numerical and experimental studies show that by decreasing the ground clearance, the downforce increases. The most efficient ground clearance is reported to be approximately 10 …

Changes In The Eeg Spectrum Of A Child With Severe Disabilities In Response To Power Mobility Training, Nadina Zweifel

Masters Theses

Literature suggests that self-generated locomotion in infancy and early childhood enhances the development of various cognitive processes such as spatial awareness, social interaction, language development and differential attentiveness. Thus, having access to a power mobility device may play a crucial role for the overall development, mental health, and quality of life of children with multiple, severe disabilities who have limited motor control. This study investigates the feasibility of using electroencephalography (EEG) as an objective measure to detect changes in brain activity in a child due to power mobility training. EEG data was collected with a modified wireless neuroheadset using a …

Registration And Segmentation Of Multimodality Images For Post Processing Of Skeleton In Preclinical Oncology Studies, Vineeth Radhakrishnan

Masters Theses

Advancements in medical imaging techniques provide biomedical researchers with quality anatomical and functional information inside preclinical subjects in the fields of cancer, osteopathic, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative research. The throughput of the preclinical imaging studies is a critical factor which determines the pace of small animal medical research. The time involved in manual analysis of large amount of imaging data prior to data interpretation by the researcher, limits the number of studies in a time frame.

In the proposed solution, an automated image segmentation method was used to segment individual vertebrae in mice. Individual vertebrae of MOBY atlas were manually segmented …

State Estimation – New Models On Power Distribution Networks Based On Weighted Least Squares Method In Line Current Measurements, Hugo Vicente Barrera

Masters Theses

Calculation of Load Flow distribution is an important tool in Electrical Engineering that involves numerical analysis applied to Power Systems. State Estimation techniques have been developed and applied thoroughly mainly in the levels of generation and transmission. Research in the distribution level remains a challenge due to the intrinsic characteristics of the network. Introducing line current measurements in the state estimation process constitutes an additional issue due to distribution networks characteristics. In order to overcome these difficulties, it is necessary to develop mathematical models that simulate the behavior of those networks. The solution of the problem of state estimation by …