Engineering Commons^™

Recent Trends In Robot-Assisted Therapy Environments To Improve Real-Life Functional Performance After Stroke, Michelle J. Johnson

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Upper and lower limb robotic tools for neuro-rehabilitation are effective in reducing motor impairment but they are limited in their ability to improve real world function. There is a need to improve functional outcomes after robot-assisted therapy. Improvements in the effectiveness of these environments may be achieved by incorporating into their design and control strategies important elements key to inducing motor learning and cerebral plasticity such as mass-practice, feedback, task-engagement, and complex problem solving.

This special issue presents nine articles. Novel strategies covered in this issue encourage more natural movements through the use of virtual reality and real objects and …

Polyetheretherketone As A Biomaterial For Spinal Applications, Jeffrey M. Toth, Mei Wang, Bradley T. Estes, Jeffrey L. Scifert, Howard B. Seim, A. Simon Turner

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Threaded lumbar interbody spinal fusion devices (TIBFD) made from titanium have been reported to be 90% effective for single-level lumbar interbody fusion, although radiographic determination of fusion has been intensely debated in the literature. Using blinded radiographic, biomechanic, histologic, and statistical measures, we evaluated a radiolucent polyetheretherketone (PEEK)-threaded interbody fusion device packed with autograft or rhBMP-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge in 13 sheep at 6 months. Radiographic fusion, increased spinal level biomechanical stiffness, and histologic fusion were demonstrated for the PEEK cages filled with autograft or rhBMP-2 on a collagen sponge. No device degradation or wear debris was observed. …

A Simple, Inexpensive, And Effective Light- Carrying Laryngoscopic Blade For Orotracheal Intubation Of Rats, Robert C. Molthen

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The research paradigm of using large laboratory animals, in which oroendotracheal intubations are relatively easy, is shifting toward the use of small animals, such as rodents, in which oropharyngeal access is limited, the arytenoid cartilage cycles are faster, and the glottis is much smaller. The considerable growth recently seen in preclinical imaging studies is accompanied by an increased number of rats and mice requiring in vivo intubation for airway management. Tracheal access is important for ventilation, administration of inhaled anesthetics, instillation of drugs or imaging agents, and maintenance of airway patency to reduce mortality during and after operations. I fashioned …

Multi-Model Kalman Filtering For Adaptive Nonuniformity: Correction In Infrared Sensors, Jorge E. Pezoa, Majeed M. Hayat, Sergio N. Torres, Md. Saifur Rahman

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper presents an adaptive technique for the estimation of nonuniformity parameters of infrared focal-plane arrays that is robust with respect to changes and uncertainties in scene and sensor characteristics. The proposed algorithm is based on using a bank of Kalman filters in parallel. Each filter independently estimates state variables comprising the gain and the bias matrices of the sensor, according to its own dynamical-model parameters, which underly the statistics of the scene and the nonuniformity as well as the temporal drift in the nonuniformity. The supervising component of the algorithm then generates the final estimates of the state variables …

Statistical Adaptive Sensing By Detectors With Spectrally Overlapping Bands, Ünal Sakog ̆ Lu, Majeed M. Hayat, J. Scott Tyo, Philip Dowd, Senthil Annamalai, Kalyan T. Posani, Sanjay Krishna

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

It has recently been reported that by using a spectral-tuning algorithm, the photocurrents of multiple detectors with spectrally overlapping responsivities can be optimally combined to synthesize, within certain limits, the response of a detector with an arbitrary responsivity. However, it is known that the presence of noise in the photocurrent can degrade the performance of this algorithm significantly, depending on the choice of the responsivity spectrum to be synthesized. We generalize this algorithm to accommodate noise. The results are applied to quantum-dot mid-infrared detectors with bias-dependent spectral responses. Simulation and experiment are used to show the ability of the algorithm …

Computation Of Bit-Error Probabilities For Optical Receivers Using Thin Avalanche Photodiodes, Byonghyok Choi, Majeed M. Hayat

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The large-deviation-based asymptotic-analysis and importance-sampling methods for computing bit-error probabilities for avalanche-photodiode (APD) based optical receivers, developed by Letaief and Sadowsky [IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, vol. 38, pp. 1162-1169, 1992], are extended to include the effect of dead space, which is significant in high-speed APDs with thin multiplication regions. It is shown that the receiver's bit-error probability is reduced as the magnitude of dead space increases relative to the APD's multiplication-region width. The calculated error probabilities and receiver sensitivities are also compared with those obtained from the Chernoff bound.

Atr-Ftir Spectroscopic Analysis Of Sorption Of Aqueous Analytes Into Polymer Coatings Used With Guided Sh-Saw Sensors, Yolanda K. Jones, Zhonghui Li, Michael M. Johnson, Fabien Josse, Jeanne Hossenlopp

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Attenuated total internal reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy was used for the investigation of sorption of aqueous solutions of analytes into polymer coatings. A series of simple model polymers, such as poly(dimethylsiloxane), poly(epichlorhydrin), and poly(isobutylene), and films and analytes, such as aqueous solutions of ethylbenzene, xylenes, toluene, and nitrobenzene, were used to evaluate the use of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy as a screening tool for sensor development. The ratios of integrated infrared absorption bands provided a simple and efficient method for predicting trends in partition coefficients. Responses of polymer-coated guided shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) sensor platforms to the series …

Remapping Hand Movements In A Novel Geometrical Environment, Kristine M. Mosier, Robert A. Scheidt, Santiago Acosta, Ferdinando A. Mussa-Ivaldi

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The issue of how the Euclidean properties of space are represented in the nervous system is a main focus in the study of visual perception, but is equally relevant to motor learning. The goal of our experiments was to investigate how the properties of space guide the remapping of motor coordination. Subjects wore an instrumented data glove that recorded the finger motions. Signals generated by the glove operated a remotely controlled endpoint: a cursor on a computer monitor. The subjects were instructed to execute movements of this endpoint with controlled motions of the fingers. This required inverting a highly redundant …

Effect Of Chronic Hyperoxic Exposure On Duroquinone Reduction In Adult Rat Lungs, Said H. Audi, Robert D. Bongard, Gary S. Krenz, David A. Rickaby, Steven Thomas Haworth, Jessica Eisenhauer, David L. Roerig, Marilyn P. Merker

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) plays a dominant role in the reduction of the quinone compound 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (duroquinone, DQ) to durohydroquinone (DQH₂) on passage through the rat lung. Exposure of adult rats to 85% O₂ for ≥7 days stimulates adaptation to the otherwise lethal effects of >95% O₂. The objective of this study was to examine whether exposure of adult rats to hyperoxia affected lung NQO1 activity as measured by the rate of DQ reduction on passage through the lung. We measured DQH₂ appearance in the venous effluent during DQ infusion at different concentrations into …

A Three-Dimensional Reconstruction Algorithm For An Inverse-Geometry Volumetric Ct System, Taly Gilat Schmidt, Rebecca Fahrig, Norbert J. Pelc

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

An inverse-geometry volumetric computed tomography (IGCT) system has been proposed capable of rapidly acquiring sufficient data to reconstruct a thick volume in one circular scan. The system uses a large-area scanned source opposite a smaller detector. The source and detector have the same extent in the axial, or slice, direction, thus providing sufficient volumetric sampling and avoiding cone-beam artifacts. This paper describes a reconstruction algorithm for the IGCT system. The algorithm first rebins the acquired data into two-dimensional (2D) parallel-ray projections at multiple tilt and azimuthal angles, followed by a 3D filtered backprojection. The rebinning step is performed by gridding …

Effect Of Viscoelasticity On Quality Factor Of Microcantilever Chemical Sensors: Optimal Coating Thickness For Minimum Limit Of Detection, F. Lochon, Isabelle Dufour, D. Rebière, U. Sampath, Stephen M. Heinrich, Fabien Josse

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Microcantilevers with polymer coatings hold great promise as resonant chemical sensors. It is known that the coated cantilever sensitivity increases with coating thickness; however, the drawback of increasing the coating thickness is the increase of the frequency noise and thus the deterioration of the sensor's limit of detection. In this paper, an analytical expression for the viscoelastic losses in the coating, hence the quality factor is established and is used to explain the observed increase of the frequency noise with the polymer thickness. This result is then used to demonstrate that an optimum coating thickness exists that minimise the limit …

Axial Stent Strut Angle Influences Wall Shear Stress After Stent Implantation: Analysis Using 3d Computational Fluid Dynamics Models Of Stent Foreshortening, John F. Ladisa, Lars E. Olson, Douglas Anthony Hettrick, David C. Warltier, Judy R. Kersten, Paul S. Pagel

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction

The success of vascular stents in the restoration of blood flow is limited by restenosis. Recent data generated from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models suggest that the vascular geometry created by an implanted stent causes local alterations in wall shear stress (WSS) that are associated with neointimal hyperplasia (NH). Foreshortening is a potential limitation of stent design that may affect stent performance and the rate of restenosis. The angle created between axially aligned stent struts and the principal direction of blood flow varies with the degree to which the stent foreshortens after implantation.

Methods

In the current investigation, we …

Early Opening Of Portland Cement Concrete (Pcc) Pavements To Traffic, James Crovetti, Lev Khazanovich

Transportation Reports with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation

This report presents the results of a detailed stress analysis and a field and laboratory test program which investigated the early-age strength gain for selected PCC paving mixtures used in Wisconsin as well as the effects of early-age loading on doweled pavement joints. A simplified procedure for predicting critical dowel-PCC interface stresses was developed. This procedure was used in conjunction with allowable bearing stresses to establish minimum compressive strength requirements for opening to traffic based on pavement design parameters, including PCC, base, subgrade and dowel material properties. Equations for predicting early-age PCC compressive strength from 7-Day or 28-Day laboratory test …

Development Of Modulus-To-Temperature Relations For Hma Mixtures In Wisconsin, James Crovetti, Kathleen T. Hall, R. Christopher Williams

Transportation Reports with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation

This report presents the findings of a research study conducted to develop modulus-to-temperature relations for HMA mixtures used in Wisconsin. Surface deflection data gathered from in-place HMA pavements was used to estimate the resilient modulus of the HMA layer at the various test temperatures. Laboratory resilient modulus testing was also conducted on recovered HMA cores to establish trends of HMA resilient modulus as a function of test temperature and load frequency. Prediction equations for estimating modulus-to-temperature trends were developed from laboratory testing to account for mixture-specific parameters, including fines content, air voids and binder content.

Estimations of HMA modulus-to-temperature trends …

Development Of Rational Overlay Design Procedures For Flexible Pavements, James Crovetti

Transportation Reports with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation

This report presents the findings of a research study conducted to develop procedures for the design of structural HMA overlays over existing flexible pavements in Wisconsin. The recommended procedures are presented in a hierarchal approach to allow the user the flexibility of estimating the effective structural number of an in-place HMA pavement based on visual and/or nondestructive deflection testing data and to develop overlay thickness requirements based on the structural deficiency approach.

Techniques for estimating the effective structural number of an existing pavement based on surface deflection are presented. The equations presented in the 1993 AASHTO Design Guide were modified …

Study Of Viscoelastic Effect On The Frequency Shift Of Microcantilever Chemical Sensors (Proceedings), U. Sampath, Stephen M. Heinrich, Fabien Josse, F. Lochon, Isabelle Dufour, D. Rebière

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Microcantilevers coated with a chemically sensitive layer are increasingly being used in chemical detection systems. The sensitive coating, often a polymer, absorbs specific molecules, which can be detected by monitoring the shift in the mechanical resonant frequency. Usually, the frequency shift resulting from molecular absorption is interpreted as a mass loading effect. However, mass loading is not the only effect that has an impact on the frequency shift; the viscoelastic properties of the sensitive coating are also affected by the sorption process. Sorption-induced modulus changes are typically difficult to characterize. However, it is known that the sorption of analyte molecules …

Microfocal X-Ray Computed Tomography Post-Processing Operations For Optimizing Reconstruction Volumes Of Stented Arteries During 3d Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling, John F. Ladisa, Lars E. Olson, Kristina M. Ropella, Robert C. Molthen, Steven Thomas Haworth, Judy R. Kersten, David C. Warltier, Paul S. Pagel

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Restenosis caused by neointimal hyperplasia (NH) remains an important clinical problem after stent implantation. Restenosis varies with stent geometry, and idealized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models have indicated that geometric properties of the implanted stent may differentially influence NH. However, 3D studies capturing the in vivo flow domain within stented vessels have not been conducted at a resolution sufficient to detect subtle alterations in vascular geometry caused by the stent and the subsequent temporal development of NH. We present the details and limitations of a series of post-processing operations used in conjunction with microfocal X-ray CT imaging and reconstruction to …

Time-Domain Isolated Phoneme Classification Using Reconstructed Phase Spaces, Michael T. Johnson, Richard J. Povinelli, Andrew C. Lindgren, Jinjin Ye, Xiaolin Liu, Kevin M Indrebo

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper introduces a novel time-domain approach to modeling and classifying speech phoneme waveforms. The approach is based on statistical models of reconstructed phase spaces, which offer significant theoretical benefits as representations that are known to be topologically equivalent to the state dynamics of the underlying production system. The lag and dimension parameters of the reconstruction process for speech are examined in detail, comparing common estimation heuristics for these parameters with corresponding maximum likelihood recognition accuracy over the TIMIT data set. Overall accuracies are compared with a Mel-frequency cepstral baseline system across five different phonetic classes within TIMIT, and a …

Interaction Of Visual And Proprioceptive Feedback During Adaptation Of Human Reaching Movements, Robert A. Scheidt, Michael A. Conditt, Emanuele L. Secco, Ferdinando A. Mussa-Ivaldi

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

People tend to make straight and smooth hand movements when reaching for an object. These trajectory features are resistant to perturbation, and both proprioceptive as well as visual feedback may guide the adaptive updating of motor commands enforcing this regularity. How is information from the two senses combined to generate a coherent internal representation of how the arm moves? Here we show that eliminating visual feedback of hand-path deviations from the straight-line reach (constraining visual feedback of motion within a virtual, “visual channel”) prevents compensation of initial direction errors induced by perturbations. Because adaptive reduction in direction errors occurred with …

Alterations In Wall Shear Stress Predict Sites Of Neointimal Hyperplasia After Stent Implantation In Rabbit Iliac Arteries, John F. Ladisa, Lars E. Olson, Robert C. Molthen, Douglas Anthony Hettrick, Phillip F. Pratt, Michael D. Hardel, Judy R. Kersten, David C. Warltier, Paul S. Pagel

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Restenosis resulting from neointimal hyperplasia (NH) limits the effectiveness of intravascular stents. Rates of restenosis vary with stent geometry, but whether stents affect spatial and temporal distributions of wall shear stress (WSS) in vivo is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that alterations in spatial WSS after stent implantation predict sites of NH in rabbit iliac arteries. Antegrade iliac artery stent implantation was performed under angiography, and blood flow was measured before casting 14 or 21 days after implantation. Iliac artery blood flow domains were obtained from three-dimensional microfocal X-ray computed tomography imaging and reconstruction of the arterial casts. Indexes of …

Optimal Flux Weakening In Surface Pm Machines Using Fractional-Slot Concentrated Windings, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Thomas M. Jahns

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A design approach is presented for achieving optimal flux-weakening operation in surface permanent-magnet (SPM) synchronous machines by properly designing the machine's stator windings using concentrated, fractional-slot stator windings. This technique makes it possible to significantly increase the machine inductance in order to achieve the critical condition for providing wide speed ranges of constant-power operation. The conditions for optimal flux weakening can be achieved while simultaneously delivering sinusoidal line-to-line back-electromotive-force waveforms and low cogging torque. A closed-form analytical model is described that can be used to design SPM machines to achieve optimal flux-weakening conditions. This technique is applied to design a …

Effects Of Load Magnitude On Diagnosing Broken Bar Faults In Induction Motors Using The Pendulous Oscillation Of The Rotor Magnetic Field Orientation, Behrooz Mirafzal, Nabeel Demerdash

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The effects of load level on the ability to diagnose broken bar faults in squirrel-cage induction motors are studied in this paper. The pendulous oscillation of the rotor magnetic field orientation is implemented as a fault signature for rotor fault diagnostic purposes at steady-state operations. Moreover, the effects of load level on the low-side band component of the stator current spectrum, and associated diagnostic difficulties in this approach particularly in the presence of motor operation from pulsewidth-modulation drives, are reported as well. These investigations were performed through testing 2-hp and 5-hp induction motors over a wide range of load levels …

Capacity And Complexity Of Hmm Duration Modeling Techniques, Michael T. Johnson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The ability of a standard hidden Markov model (HMM) or expanded state HMM (ESHMM) to accurately model duration distributions of phonemes is compared with specific duration-focused approaches such as semi-Markov models or variable transition probabilities. It is demonstrated that either a three-state ESHMM or a standard HMM with an increased number of states is capable of closely matching both Gamma distributions and duration distributions of phonemes from the TIMIT corpus, as measured by Bhattacharyya distance to the true distributions. Standard HMMs are easily implemented with off-the-shelf tools, whereas duration models require substantial algorithmic development and have higher computational costs when …

Nanoindentation Technique For Characterizing Cantilever Beam Style Rf Microelectromechanical Systems (Mems) Switches, Hyukjae Lee, Ronald A. Coutu Jr., Shankar Mall, Paul E. Kladitis

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A nanoindentation technique was used to mechanically actuate a radio frequency micro-switch along with the measurement of contact resistance to investigate its applicability to characterize deflection and contact resistance behaviors of micro-sized cantilever beam switches. The resulting load–displacement relationship showed a discontinuity in slope when the micro-switch closed. The measured spring constants reasonably agreed with theoretical values obtained from the simple beam models. The change in contact resistance during test clearly indicated micro-switch closure but it did not coincide exactly with the physical contact between two electric contacts due to a resistive contaminated film.

A Training Sample Sequence Planning Method For Pattern Recognition Problems, Chen-Wen Yen, Chieh-Neng Young, Mark L. Nagurka

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

In solving pattern recognition problems, many classification methods, such as the nearest-neighbor (NN) rule, need to determine prototypes from a training set. To improve the performance of these classifiers in finding an efficient set of prototypes, this paper introduces a training sample sequence planning method. In particular, by estimating the relative nearness of the training samples to the decision boundary, the approach proposed here incrementally increases the number of prototypes until the desired classification accuracy has been reached. This approach has been tested with a NN classification method and a neural network training approach. Studies based on both artificial and …

Antegrade Iliac Artery Stent Implantation For The Temporal And Spatial Examination Of Stent-Induced Neointimal Hyperplasia And Alterations In Regional Fluid Dynamics, John F. Ladisa, Heidi T. Meier, Lars E. Olson, Judy R. Kersten, David C. Warltier, Paul S. Pagel

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Neointimal hyperplasia remains an important problem after stent implantation. Previous investigations examining vascular responses to stent implantation and effects of drugs have used a retrograde deployment approach that may inadvertently alter the local fluid dynamics surrounding the stent. We present a model of antegrade iliac artery stent implantation that facilitates the analysis of stent-induced alterations in neointimal hyperplasia and wall shear stress in vivo. Methods: Stent delivery catheters were inserted through the left carotid artery in anesthetized rabbits (n=37). Catheters were advanced under fluoroscopic guidance to the distal iliac arteries, where the stent was deployed. Hemotoxylin and eosin …

Circumferential Vascular Deformation After Stent Implantation Alters Wall Shear Stress Evaluated With Time-Dependent 3d Computational Fluid Dynamics Models, John F. Ladisa, Lars E. Olson, Ismail Guler, Douglas Anthony Hettrick, Judy R. Kersten, David C. Warltier, Paul S. Pagel

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The success of vascular stents in the restoration of blood flow is limited by restenosis. Recent data generated from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models suggest that stent geometry may cause local alterations in wall shear stress (WSS) that have been associated with neointimal hyperplasia and subsequent restenosis. However, previous CFD studies have ignored histological evidence of vascular straightening between circumferential stent struts. We tested the hypothesis that consideration of stent-induced vascular deformation may more accurately predict alterations in indexes of WSS that may subsequently account for histological findings after stenting. We further tested the hypothesis that the severity of these …

An In Vitro Comparison Of The Rake Angles Between K3 And Profile Endodontic File Systems, David Y. Chow, Sheila E. Stover, James Bahcall, Andris Jaunberzins, Jeffrey M. Toth

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study was to compare rake angles of the ProFile and K3 file systems. Twenty-five 40/0.06 taper files were obtained for each system. Five files from the same manufacturer were placed perpendicularly into a vial of Epoxicure Resin and left to set for 24 h. The set-ups were removed from the vials and each were sectioned 5 mm from the tip of the files and polished. A photomicrograph was taken of each file with 100× magnification. Five sets of ProFile and five sets of K3 files were processed in this manner. Images were captured digitally, and rake …

Generalized Phase Space Projection For Nonlinear Noise Reduction, Michael T. Johnson, Richard J. Povinelli

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Improved phase space projection methods, adapted from related work in the linear signal processing field based on subspace decomposition, are presented for application to the problem of additive noise reduction in the context of phase space analysis. These methods improve upon existing methods such as Broomhead–King singular spectrum analysis projection by minimizing overall signal distortion subject to constraints on the residual error, rather than using a direct least-squares fit. This results in a range of weighted projections which estimate and compensate for the portion of the principal component's singular values corresponding to noise rather than signal energy, and which include …

Working Postures Of Dentists And Dental Hygienists, Richard W. Marklin, Kevin Cherney

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A joint study was conducted by a manufacturer of dental stools in the Midwest of the United

States and Marquette University to measure the occupational postures of dentists and dental hygienists. The postures of 10 dentists and 10 dental hygienists were assessed using work sampling and video techniques. Postura! data of the neck, shoulders and lower back were recorded from video and categorized into 30-degree intervals: O (neutral posture of respective joint), 30, 60 and 90 degrees. Each subject's postures were observed while they were treating patients during a four-hour period, during which 100 observations of postures were recorded at …