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Theses/Dissertations

William & Mary

Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Role Of Spider Silk In Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Langston Forbes-Jackson May 2021

The Role Of Spider Silk In Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Langston Forbes-Jackson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Spider silk neural guidance channels (NGCs) are highly important innovations in the field of regenerative medicine. This paper will discuss the evidence in the literature that supports their function in regenerative medicine and provide a template for future experiments in the field. While many studies within the past 15 years have demonstrated the validity of spider silk as a scaffold for peripheral nerve regeneration, the molecular mechanics that facilitate regeneration are poorly understood. An emphasis on using silk from orb weaving spiders in particular may have caused researchers to overlook other spiders whose silk could prove to have vastly different …


On The Real-Time Performance, Robustness And Accuracy Of Medical Image Non-Rigid Registration, Yixun Liu Jan 2011

On The Real-Time Performance, Robustness And Accuracy Of Medical Image Non-Rigid Registration, Yixun Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Three critical issues about medical image non-rigid registration are performance, robustness and accuracy. A registration method, which is capable of responding timely with an accurate alignment, robust against the variation of the image intensity and the missing data, is desirable for its clinical use. This work addresses all three of these issues. Unacceptable execution time of Non-rigid registration (NRR) often presents a major obstacle to its routine clinical use. We present a hybrid data partitioning method to parallelize a NRR method on a cooperative architecture, which enables us to get closer to the goal: accelerating using architecture rather than designing …


A Versatile Imaging System For In Vivo Small Animal Research, Jianguo Qian Jan 2008

A Versatile Imaging System For In Vivo Small Animal Research, Jianguo Qian

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In vivo small animal imaging has become an essential technique for molecular biology studies. However, requirements of spatial resolution, sensitivity and image quality are quite challenging for the development of small-animal imaging systems. The capabilities of the system are also significant for carrying out small animal imaging in a wide range of biological studies. The goal of this dissertation is to develop a high-performance imaging system that can readily meet a wide range of requirements for a variety of small animal imaging applications. Several achievements have been made in order to fulfill this goal.;To supplement our system for parallel-hole single …


Ultrasonographic Measurement Of Periodontal Attachment Levels, John Edward Lynch Jan 2001

Ultrasonographic Measurement Of Periodontal Attachment Levels, John Edward Lynch

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Periodontal disease is one of the two major causes of tooth loss today, and has been associated with several systemic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Unfortunately, the most widely used diagnostic tool for assessment of periodontal diseases, measurement of periodontal attachment loss with a manual probe, may overestimate attachment loss by as much as 2mm in untreated sites, while underestimating attachment loss by an even greater margin following treatment. Manual probing is also invasive, which causes patient discomfort.;This work describes the development and testing of an ultrasonographic periodontal probe designed to replace manual probing. …


Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector For Small Animal Research, Andrew Gerard Weisenberger Jan 1998

Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector For Small Animal Research, Andrew Gerard Weisenberger

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

A novel radiation imaging technology for in vivo molecular imaging in small mammals is described. The goal of this project is to develop a new type of imaging detector system suitable for real-time in vivo probe imaging studies in small animals. This technology takes advantage of the gamma-ray and x-ray emission properties of the radioisotope iodine 125 (125I) which is employed as the label for molecular probes. The radioisotope 125I is a gamma-ray emitting radioisotope that can be commercially obtained already attached to biomedically interesting molecules to be used as tracers for biomedical and molecular biology research.;The isotope 125I decays …