Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Assessment Of Risk In Preterm Infants Using Point Process And Machine Learning Approaches, Venkata Naga Sai Apurupa Amperayani

Electrical Engineering Theses

Preemies, infants who are born too soon, have a higher incidence of Life-Threatening Events (LTE’s) such as apnea (cessation of breathing), bradycardia (slowing of heart rate) and hypoxemia (oxygen desaturation) also termed as ABD (Apnea, Bradycardia, and Desaturation) events. Clinicians at Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) are facing the demanding task of assessing the risk of infants based on their physiological signals. The aim of this thesis is to develop a risk stratification algorithm using a machine-learning framework with the features related to pathological fluctuations derived from point process model that will be embedded into the current physiological recording system …

A Study Of Acoustically Activated Nanodroplets, Songita Choudhury

Theses & Dissertations

Current treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which is the main pathophysiological event leading to death in the United States, has advanced considerably with the introduction of emergent percutaneous interventions, but there remains an urgent need for novel techniques to rapidly and accurately detect infarcted or ischemic tissue that results from AMI. Ultrasound contrast agents, also known as microbubbles (MB), have become commonplace in echocardiography. However, MBs are purely intravascular tracers and unable to cross endothelial barriers due to size. The limitations of MBs, namely size and short circulation times within the human body, led to the development of phase-change …

Design Of A Homeopathic Solution For Chronic Cough, Jacob Ziemke

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Chronic cough is most commonly defined as a cough that persists for more than eight weeks and is estimated to affect more than 30 million people in the United States at any given time. Diseases contributing to the onset of chronic cough include asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, postnasal drip, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and bronchitis, and may include lifestyle choices such as smoking. For those who seek medical advice, pharmaceuticals and speech therapy are two common methods of combating chronic cough but serve to mask the symptoms rather than treat the problem; frequently, chronic cough is misdiagnosed or cannot …

Quantification Of Tumor-Associated Macrophages Following Immunomodulation Therapy In A Murine Allograft Model Of Colorectal Carcinoma, Caroline Spainhour

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Colorectal Carcinoma (CRC) is one of the deadliest cancers in the world, with 150,000 new cases annually in the United States. Traditional treatments include chemotherapy and invasive surgery; however, research has shown that only 25% of patients that undergo traditional treatment have a positive result. Immunotherapy is an emerging form of cancer treatment that utilizes the patients’immune system to fight cancer cells by targeting inflammation, which plays a large role in the proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are immune cells that affect the inflammatory microenvironment of tumors. TAMs are M1 in the early stages of tumors, …

Renal Granulomatosis Post Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin Therapy For Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer, Karen Tran-Harding, Rashmi T. Nair, Halemane S. Ganesh

Radiology Faculty Publications

Intravesical Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is a proven, effective treatment for intermediate- and high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Minor side effects are common and expected but systemic effects can occur in < 5% of treated patients. We present a rare case of a 49-year-old male that presented with fever and chills after 3 weeks of intravesical BCG therapy post transurethral resection of bladder tumor. New renal lesions were present on contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan which was histologically proven to be necrotizing renal granulomatosis.

Optical Coherence Tomography Application To Alopecia In The Scalp, Elizabeth Melcher

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Alopecia is the loss of hair, whether it be from the scalp or other regions of the body. Current techniques used to best diagnose and track alopecia are often invasive, requiring a biopsy for results. The use of the OCT, or optical coherence tomography, could drastically improve a patient’s experience in undergoing a diagnosis while proving accurate results. The objective of this study is to develop diagnostic algorithms for the rapid, non-invasive diagnosis of alopecia with OCT. The first step is collecting OCT images of a healthy scalp to understand the anatomical structures with the imaging technique.

Power Mobility Sensor Data Collection Verified Through Standardized Pediatric Assessments, Ayshka Elise Rodriguez-Velez

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The collaboration between the School of Engineering and the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of North Florida has introduced the possibility of creating a new environment for pediatric physical therapy assessments. There are currently no methods for remotely monitoring children with impairments. However, with embedded sensor technology in the form of power mobility and accepted therapy assessment tools, remote monitoring can become a possibility. As a part of this work, a ride-on toy car was developed as a remote monitoring device and a case study with a child with a mobility impairment was used as a proof of …

Ls301 Fluorescence-Guided Photodynamic Therapy Of Brain Cancer Using Ppix Photosensitizer, Haini Zhang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Incomplete brain tumor removal always causes neurologic deficit, disease recurrence and high mortality. Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) accumulated in glioma cells with exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) serves as contrast agent for fluorescence-guided surgery and as well as acts as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, the accurate tumor delineation using PpIX is limited by autofluorescence and superficial penetration depth. LS301 is a tumor-targeted near-infrared (NIR) contrast agent developed in our lab which allows deeper tumor imaging and avoids autofluorescence. My project aims to investigate whether LS301 can improve PpIX mediated PDT and tumor removal surgery. We have demonstrated co-localization of …

Temporal Resolution Of Cell Death Signaling Events Induced By Cold Atmospheric Plasma And Electroporation In Human Cancer Cells, Danielle M. Krug, Prasoon K. Diwakar, Ahmed Hassanein

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Cancer treatment resistance and their invasive and expensive nature is propelling research towards developing alternate approaches to eradicate cancer in patients. Non-thermal, i.e., cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) and electroporation (EP) applied to the surface of cancerous tissue are new methods that are minimally invasive, safe, and selective. These approaches, both independently and synergistically, have been shown to deplete cancer cell populations, but the signaling mechanisms of death and their timelines of action are still widely unknown. To better understand the timeframe of signaling events occurring upon treatment, human cancer cell lines were treated with CAP, EP, and combined CAP with …

Frequency Sensitive Mechanism In Low-Intensity Ultrasound Enhanced Bioeffects, April D. Miller, Abdoulkadri Chama, Tobias M. Louw, Anuradha Subramanian, Hendrik J. Viljoen

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study presents two novel theoretical models to elucidate frequency sensitive nuclear mechanisms in low-intensity ultrasound enhanced bioeffects. In contrast to the typical 1.5 MHz pulsed ultrasound regime, our group previously experimentally confirmed that ultrasound stimulation of anchored chondrocytes at resonant frequency maximized gene expression of load inducible genes which are regulatory markers for cellular response to external stimuli. However, ERK phosphorylation displayed no frequency dependency, suggesting that the biochemical mechanisms involved in enhanced gene expression is downstream of ERK phosphorylation. To elucidate such underlying mechanisms, this study presents a theoretical model of an anchored cell, representing an in vitro …

Biomechanical Testing Of An Exercise For Strengthening The Proximal Femur., Alyssa Osbourne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Based on the principles of cutting edge bone remodeling research, a unique therapeutic exercise device was designed specifically to improve bone quality at the most critical location of the proximal femur prone to fracture: the superior-lateral femoral neck where the fracture first initiates during a fall. The exercise/device is intended to work by inducing enough strain in the bone to stimulate the body’s natural bone remodeling mechanisms to increase bone density in the proximal femur and consequently prevent a fracture from arising if a fall to the side does occur.

In order to test the proposed exercise, experiments simulating the …

Pediatric Leukemia: Diagnosis To Treatment–A Review, Samantha C. Bernard, Ehab H. Abdelsamad, Paisley A. Johnson, Daniel L. Chapman, Madhukiran Parvathaneni

Faculty Works

Leukemia is cancer of the blood and bone marrow, it is the most common cancer found in children and is found to be more than one fourth of pediatric cancers. It causes white blood cells to become abnormal and the body to become weak. This deficiency in the immune system reduces the body's ability to fight infection or simple airborne illnesses, causing extensive treatment of common pathogens and cancer treatment. The present review covers all topics, from diagnosis to treatment of pediatric leukemia, as well as the stages of growth and physiological changes throughout the process. As leukemia has a …

Optical Imaging Of Metabolic Adaptability As A Biomarker For Metastatic Potential In Breast Cancer Cells, Mason G. Harper

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Breast cancer metastasis is the main cause for mortality in breast cancer patients. However, knowledge of metastatic recurrence is limited, and there is a need to understand metastatic recurrence in order to treat breast cancer patients more effectively. Highly invasive metastatic breast cancer has shown to exhibit metabolic adaptability, transitioning from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation in the presence of microenvironmental stress. NADH and FAD are naturally occurring cofactor products during glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, respectively, and they are of particular importance during these metabolic processes due to their endogenous fluorescence. Measuring the ratio of fluorescence intensities of these cofactors through …

Detection Of Leukocytes Stained With Acridine Orange Using Unique Spectral Features Acquired From An Image-Based Spectrometer, Courtney J. Hunter

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A leukocyte differential count can be used to diagnosis a myriad blood disorders, such as infections, allergies, and efficacy of disease treatments. In recent years, attention has been focused on developing point-of-care (POC) systems to provide this test in global health settings. Acridine orange (AO) is an amphipathic, vital dye that intercalates leukocyte nucleic acids and acidic vesicles. It has been utilized by POC systems to identify the three main leukocyte subtypes: granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Subtypes of leukocytes can be characterized using a fluorescence microscope, where the AO has a 450 nm excitation wavelength and has two peak emission …

A Novel Hybrid Imaging System To Aid In Surgical Decision Making, Lawrence Yip, Madeleine Van De Kleut, Ivan Kosik, Astrid Chamson-Reig, Jeffrey Jl Carson

Western Research Forum

Background:

Breast cancer accounts for 25% of all cancer cases among women. In breast-conserving surgery, a common treatment, the tumour is excised with a healthy tissue margin. However, detection of the margin can be difficult. Current techniques to guide excision are often insufficient, and re-excision can occur up to 25% of the time.

Methods:

Photoacoustic imaging is a hybrid imaging modality that combines the advantages of optical imaging and ultrasound while using safe non-ionizing light. This project involves the development of a novel imaging system with a new scanner design to overcome common limitations and provide images to aid in …

Engineering Fret Biosensors For Microrna Presence/Absence Analysis, Nicholas E. Larkey, Sean M. Burrows

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Studying The Optimal Scheduling For Controlling Prostate Cancer Under Intermittent Androgen Suppression, Sunil K. Dhar, Hans R. Chaudhry, Bruce G. Bukiet, Zhiming Ji, Nan Gao, Thomas W. Findley

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

This retrospective study shows that the majority of patients’ correlations between PSA and Testosterone during the on-treatment period is at least 0.90. Model-based duration calculations to control PSA levels during off-treatment are provided. There are two pairs of models. In one pair, the Generalized Linear Model and Mixed Model are both used to analyze the variability of PSA at the individual patient level by using the variable “Patient ID” as a repeated measure. In the second pair, Patient ID is not used as a repeated measure but additional baseline variables are included to analyze the variability of PSA.

Utility Of Ultrasound/Photoacoustic Imaging For Accurate Catheter Tracking And Temperature Monitoring During Endovenous Laser Ablation, Ayushi Jharia, Keerthana Palani, Yan Yan

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2016-17

Laser ablation is a treatment method that uses light energy through a catheter inserted into a vein to induce localized heat to close the diseased blood vessels. Ultrasound (US) imaging has been used for catheter visualization and tracking. US has limitations for tracking the accurate location of the fiber tip inside small perforating veins such as angular dependency and comet tail artifacts. We propose a robust and accurate method for fiber tip tracking using combined US and Photoacoustic (PA) imaging to overcome the existing limitations.

Theoretically Proposed Optimal Frequency For Ultrasound Induced Cartilage Restoration, April D. Miller, Anuradha Subramanian, Hendrik J. Viljoen

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background: Matching the frequency of the driving force to that of the system’s natural frequency of vibration results in greater amplitude response. Thus we hypothesize that applying ultrasound at the chondrocyte’s resonant frequency will result in greater deformation than applying similar ultrasound power at a frequency outside of the resonant bandwidth. Based on this resonant hypothesis, our group previously confirmed theoretically and experimentally that ultrasound stimulation of suspended chondrocytes at resonance (5 MHz) maximized gene expression of load inducible genes. However, this study was based on suspended chondrocytes. The resonant frequency of a chondrocyte does not only depend on the …

Characterization Of Left-Ventricular Thrombus Formation Using High Frequency Ultrasound, Kelsey A. Bullens, Arvin H. Soepriatna, Pavlos P. Vlachos, Craig J. Goergen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart failure is a leading cause of death in the United States, and cardiac thrombus, a common morbidity associated with heart failure, significantly increases a patient’s risk of embolic events. The objective of this project is to characterize left-ventricular (LV) thrombus development using high frequency ultrasound imaging in a murine model. C57BL/6J wild-type mice (n=6) were injected intraperitoneally with iron dextran five times a week for six weeks to increase oxidative stress in the heart. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was subcutaneously injected daily during the second week to initiate stem cell migration and stimulate endothelial cell activation, thus increasing the …

Portable Sensory Room For The West Orange County Consortium For Special Education, Lindsey Chase, Emma Eskildsen, Alex Fox, Claire Francis, Nate Hoffman, Kaylee Keck, Sarah Sullivan

Biomedical Engineering

This report discusses the development of a Portable Sensory Room to be used at Newland Elementary School in Huntington Beach. Newland Elementary has an exceptional Special Needs program that teaches the children with the most severe cases of autism in its school district. People with autism typically also have sensory processing disorders, which can be extremely disruptive for a child’s development and can make it difficult for a child to be able to concentrate long enough to gain necessary life skills. The idea behind a Sensory Rooms is to create a place to calm the students and to expose them …

Calcium Phosphate As A Key Material For Socially Responsible Tissue Engineering, Vuk Uskoković, Victoria M. Wu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Socially responsible technologies are designed while taking into consideration the socioeconomic, geopolitical and environmental limitations of regions in which they will be implemented. In the medical context, this involves making therapeutic platforms more accessible and affordable to patients in poor regions of the world wherein a given disease is endemic. This often necessitates going against the reigning trend of making therapeutic nanoparticles ever more structurally complex and expensive. However, studies aimed at simplifying materials and formulations while maintaining the functionality and therapeutic response of their more complex counterparts seldom provoke a significant interest in the scientific community. In this review …

Diffusion Modeling And Device Development For Peritoneal Membrane Oxygenation, Liana Hatoum

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a pulmonary disease that causes hypoxemia and respiratory failure. The mortality rate for ARDS ranges between 27% and 45%. Current treatments including mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are often associated with high risk complications including barotrauma, infection, thrombosis, and hemorrhage. Alternative pulmonary support techniques are needed to improve the survival rate of patients suffering from ARDS. Previous studies introducing pure O₂ gas, perfluorocarbons and red blood cells into the intraperitoneal (IP) cavity have reported no effect or only a mild increase in oxygenation. Here we report peritoneal membrane oxygenation (PMO) using …

Design Of Medical Devices For Diagnostics In The Gastrointestinal System, Charles R. Welch

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents the design, controls, and testing of two systems: a novel colonoscope locomotion design for diagnostics, and a biosensor capsule that implants a sensor in the small intestine. Each system requires special design considerations for use in the gastrointestinal system.

Colonoscopy procedures are recommended as a screening for colon cancer and related conditions after the age of 50. The need for an improved colonoscope that reduces the colonoscopy time and patient discomfort is apparent. The semi-autonomous device presented here could likely reduce the colonoscopy procedure time by allowing the physician to focus more on the diagnosis and less …

Biomarkers Used To Detect And Monitor Neurological Autoimmune Diseases, Robert Powers, Jay Reddy, Teklab Gebregiworgis, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Arunakumar Gangaplara, Zsolt Illes

Robert Powers Publications

Biomarkers of neurological autoimmune diseases are described, and methods of using such biomarkers also are described.

Autoimmune diseases arise from an inappropriate immune response by the body against Substances or tissues normally found in the body. Neurological autoimmune diseases are those autoimmune diseases that affect some aspect of the neurological system (e.g., the central nervous system or the peripheral nervous system). Biomarkers of one or more neu rological autoimmune diseases, especially those biomarkers that can be evaluated non-invasively, are useful in the art. Biomarkers of neurological autoimmune diseases are pro vided, and methods of using Such biomarkers also are pro …

Compressive Sensing Framework For Mass Spectrometry Data Analysis, Khalfalla Ahmad Kh. Awedat

Dissertations

Mass Spectrometry (MS) data is ideal for identifying unique bio-signatures of diseases. However, the high dimensionality of MS data hinders any promising MS-based proteomics development. The goal of this dissertation is to develop an accurate classification tool by employing compressive sensing (CS). Not only can CS significantly reduce MS data dimensionality, but it also will allow for full reconstruction of original data. The framework developed in this work is based on using L2 and a mixed L2-L1 norms, allowing an overdetermined system to be resolved. The results show that the L2- based algorithm with regularization terms has a better performance …

Human Igg1 Antibodies Suppress Angiogenesis In A Target-Independent Manner, Sasha Bogdanovich, Younghee Kim, Takeshi Mizutani, Reo Yasuma, Laura Tudisco, Valeria Cicatiello, Ana Bastos-Carvalho, Nagaraj Kerur, Yoshio Hirano, Judit Z. Baffi, Valeria Tarallo, Shengjian Li, Tetsuhiro Yasuma, Parthasarathy Arpitha, Benjamin James Fowler, Charles B. Wright, Ivana Apicella, Adelaide Greco, Arturo Brunetti, Menotti Ruvo, Annamaria Sandomenico, Miho Nozaki, Ryo Ijima, Hiroki Kaneko, Yuichiro Ogura, Hiroko Terasaki, Balamurali K. Ambati, Jeanette H. W. Leusen, Wallace Y. Langdon, Michael R. Clark, Bradley D. Gelfand, Jayakrishna Ambati

Ophthalmology and Visual Science Faculty Publications

Aberrant angiogenesis is implicated in diseases affecting nearly 10% of the world’s population. The most widely used anti-angiogenic drug is bevacizumab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets human VEGFA. Although bevacizumab does not recognize mouse Vegfa, it inhibits angiogenesis in mice. Here we show bevacizumab suppressed angiogenesis in three mouse models not via Vegfa blockade but rather Fc-mediated signaling through FcγRI (CD64) and c-Cbl, impairing macrophage migration. Other approved humanized or human IgG1 antibodies without mouse targets (adalimumab, alemtuzumab, ofatumumab, omalizumab, palivizumab and tocilizumab), mouse IgG2a, and overexpression of human IgG1-Fc or mouse IgG2a-Fc, also inhibited angiogenesis in wild-type …

Using Convolutional Neural Networks For Fine Grained Image Classification Of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Richard K. Sipes

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of bone marrow stems cells that results in the overproduction of lymphoblasts. ALL is diagnosed through a series of tests which includes the minimally invasive microscopic examination of a stained peripheral blood smear. During examination, lymphocytes and other white blood cells (WBCs) are distinguished from abnormal lymphoblasts through fine-grained distinctions in morphology. Manual microscopy is a slow process with variable accuracy that depends on the laboratorian's skill level. Thus automating microscopy is a goal in cell biology. Current methods involve hand-selecting features from cell images for input to a variety of standard machine …

Biventricular Finite Element Modeling And Quantification Of 3d Langragian Strains And Torsion Using Dense Mri, Zhanqiu Liu

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Statistical data suggests that increased use of evidence-based medical therapies has largely contributed to the decrease in American death rate caused by heart disease. And my studies are about two applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a non-invasive approach in evidence-based health care research. In my first study, the achievement of a pulmonary valve replacement surgery was assessed on a patient with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). In order to evaluate the remodeling of right ventricle, two biventricular finite element models were built up for pre-surgical images and post-surgical images. In my second study, 3D Lagrangian strains and torsion in …

A New Technique To Improve The Operation Of Prosthetic Limbs During Muscle Fatigue, H. Albunashee, G. Rasool, K. Iqbal, G. White

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Prosthetic limbs hold a promise to renew the quality of life for the amputee. Neural commands are decoded via a classifier to generate control signals for the prosthetic devices. In the literature, many challenges and limitations have been identified that affect the prosthesis operation. One such drawback is muscle fatigue which degrades the surface electromyogram (sEMG) signals, and consequently, the performance of the deployed classification algorithm declines from 90% to 50% of average accuracy. We used a new technique using the Linear Discrimination Analysis (LDA) algorithm and the muscle synergy-based task discrimination (MSD) algorithm to improve the classification accuracy. In …