Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Characteristics Study Of Carbon Fibre Material For Bioapps Romicp® Foot Prosthesis / Shen Wenhui, Shen Wenhui

Student Works (2020-2029)

In this research project, to study the characteristics of materials used in BioApps RoMicP® Foot Prothesis and improve its performance in diferrent parts which are in different positions and can withstand different types of force. The material studies is the composite including Onyx and Carbon Fiber(CF) which were utilized in markforged Mark-Two 3-D printer to produce a light foot prosthesis with high performance and low cost. To investigate the mechanical properties, samples with different CF contribution way and with different components of carbon fiber were produced. Three types of mechanical test involving tensile test, compression test and 3-point bending test …

Liposomal Delivery Of Remdesivir For Localized And Targeted Treatment Of Covid-19, Anupama Melam

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Liposomal delivery of Remdesivir for localized and targeted treatment of COVID-19

COVID-19 is a serious, and in many cases lethal, disease that is caused by infection of the upper respiratory tract by the novel betacoronavirus, SARS-Cov-2 virus. This disease has a very high mortality rate and has affected the world in a global pandemic. SARS-Cov-2 binds to the ACE2 receptor via the receptor-binding domain (RBD) in the S protein. After this, the virus fuses with the cell membrane by the formation of a six-helix bundle. Thus, the S protein plays a major role in ensuring that the virus attaches to …

Biomechanical Investigation Of Plant Vascular Tissue For Bio-Inspired Design And Flexible Composites, Mukesh Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the inception of evolution, nature has continuously optimized all the natural materials. These optimizations are so efficient that scientists and engineers have started taking inspiration from nature. Such inspiration-based solutions provide sustainable development of new materials with enhanced structural properties and functionalities (such as stiffness, stability, toughness, self-healing etc.). This variety of properties and functionalities is mainly due to the hierarchical organization of such components. Abstraction of the hidden cues of the hierarchical organization, principles and underlying structure-function relations are some of the critical approaches of bioinspired materials design. Inspiration from animals and plants has helped develop the design …

Complementary Techniques To Study The Behavior Of Water And The Effect On Diffusion And Degradation In Hydrogels, Paige Rockwell

Master’s Theses

Hydrogels exhibit biocompatibility in a range of biomedical applications, including drug delivery. This thesis aims to develop complementary techniques to measure the diffusion and degradation behaviors within an injectable, hydrolytically degradable hydrogel, formed via the covalent crosslinking of ethoxylated trimethylolpropane tri-3- mercaptopropionate (ETTMP) and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), to determine its suitability as a drug delivery matrix. The characterization of water as either free, within the network openings of the hydrogel, or bound, tightly associated with the polymer chains, was determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The mobility of each type of water within the hydrogels was determined via nuclear …

Tailoring Texture, Microstructure, And Shape Memory Behavior Of Niti Alloys Fabricated By L-Pbf-Am, Sayed Ehsan Saghaian N.E.

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is one of the most promising Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods to fabricate near net-shape metallic materials for a wide range of applications such as patient-specific medical devices, functionally graded materials, and complex structures. NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) are of great interest due to a combination of unique features, such as superelasticity, shape memory effect, high ductility, work output, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility that could be employed in many applications in automotive, aerospace, and biomedical industries. Due to the difficulties with traditional machining and forming of NiTi components, the ability to fabricate complex parts, tailor …

Additive Manufacturing In Personalized Medicine: Patient-Customized Solid Dose Medicines, And Patient-Customized Wound Care Device, Amir Najarzadeh

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Personalized Medicine - from a one-size fits all to a tailored approach is the future in pharmaceutical therapeutics and medical applications. The aim of this study is demonstrate additive manufacturing in two personalized medicine applications: 1. Patient- customized solid dose medicines, and 2. Patient-customized wound care device. The aim of the first application is to develop an inexpensive and accurate method to design and fabricate patient-customized tablets. Particularly this paper focuses on fabricating and dose controlling of patient-customized extended release prednisolone-poly(vinyle alcohole) PVA. Dry-Blending, Wet Granulation, Extrusion, Spherionization, Hot melt extrusion (HME) was adopted to produce drug loaded prednisolone-PVA filaments …

Bio-Inspired Materials For Electrochemical Sensors, Matthew Joseph Hummel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrochemical biosensors are a rapidly growing research area that has greatly improved its specificity, accuracy, and precision in the detection of biomolecules in contemporary literature and industry alike. Typically, these systems exist in a three-electrode conformation with a working electrode functioning as the anode, a counter electrode functioning as the cathode, and a reference electrode allowing for the control of potential in the system. The method by which these sensors work is through the sharing of electrons via redox reactions with the target molecule and the working electrode or modifications on its surface. By exploiting the function of biomaterials that …

Pandemic Healthcare: Face Shield Modification, Nathan Giunto, Sefra Manos, Brandon Ross, Catherine Seno, Catherine Howell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Current face shields used in home and institutional healthcare settings create hardships for their wearers, which makes normal work routines more difficult. Recent mandates require healthcare workers to wear both surgical masks as well as plastic face shields when tending to patients. Unfortunately, the majority of face shields have been designed for hospital settings, which does not address the specific requirements for in-home therapist use. Some of the issues include their restrictive size, tendency to fog, susceptibility to glare, and sterilization and re-use issues. Our team proposes to design a face shield for homecare occupational therapists that addresses their unique …

Regulation Of Osseous Healing By Macrophage-Derived Wnt Ligands, Jefferson Overlin Abaricia

Theses and Dissertations

Osseous healing is regulated by various classes of cells and signaling mechanisms. Of these, Wnt signaling has long been known to be critically important in directing the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into osteoblasts during bone healing. However, the source of these Wnt ligands is not known. Recently, a body of literature has arisen finding both beneficial and detrimental effects of macrophage-derived Wnt ligands on the regeneration of other tissues (liver, kidney, heart, and intestine), often by regulating inflammatory activation and stem cell behavior. As macrophages have been well-characterized as orchestrators of healing, their use of Wnt signaling to …

A Deep Learning Approach To Lncrna Subcellular Localization Using Inexact Q-Mer, Weijun Yi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Long non coding Ribonucleic Acids (lncRNAs) can be localized to different cellular components, such as the nucleus, exosome, cytoplasm, ribosome, etc. Their biological functions can be influenced by the region of the cell they are located. Many of these lncRNAs are associated with different challenging diseases. Thus, it is crucial to study their subcellular localization. However, compared to the vast number of lncRNAs, only relatively few have annotations in terms of their subcellular localization. Conventional computational methods use q-mer profiles from lncRNA sequences and then train machine learning models, such as support vector machines and logistic regression with the profiles. …

A Mechanism Behind The Mechanotransduction Of Surface Characteristics In Osteoblasts, Otto J. Juhl Iv

Theses and Dissertations

Biomaterials for use in bone regeneration and healing range from metal and metal alloy implants to hydrogel-based solutions. These materials can be optimized to increase bone healing and integration by improving the mechanical and biological properties. Regardless of the material itself, the cell-substrate interaction is key to the success of the biomaterial once implanted. Substrate surface characteristics such as roughness, wettability, and particle density are well-known contributors to a substrate’s overall osteogenic potential, and therefore the substrate's overall success. Unfortunately, it is still unknown how these substrate surface characteristics are transduced into intracellular signals by cells, preventing specific tailoring of …

Nature-Inspired Material Strategies Towards Functional Devices, Sayantan Pradhan

Theses and Dissertations

Naturally sourced, renewable biomaterials possess outstanding advantages for a multitude of biomedical applications owing to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and excellent mechanical properties. Of interest in this dissertation are silk (protein) and chitin (polysaccharide) biopolymers for the fabrication of functional biodevices. One of the major challenges restricting these materials beyond their traditional usage as passive substrate materials is the ability to combine them with high-resolution fabrication techniques. Initial research work is directed towards the fabrication of micropatterned, flexible 2D substrates of silk fibroin and chitin using bench-top photolithographic techniques. Research is focused on imparting electrochemical properties to silk proteins using conducting …

Applied Machine Learning In Extrusion-Based Bioprinting, Shuyu Tian

Theses and Dissertations

Optimization of extrusion-based bioprinting (EBB) parameters have been systematically conducted through experimentation. However, the process is time and resource-intensive and not easily translatable across different laboratories. A machine learning (ML) approach to EBB parameter optimization can accelerate this process for laboratories across the field through training using data collected from published literature. In this work, regression-based and classification-based ML models were investigated for their abilities to predict printing outcomes of cell viability and filament diameter for cell-containing alginate and gelatin composite hydrogels. Regression-based models were investigated for their ability to predict suitable extrusion pressure given desired cell viability when keeping …

Development Of An Injectable Methylcellulose Hydrogel System For Nucleus Pulposus Repair And Regeneration, Nada A. Haq-Siddiqi

Dissertations and Theses

Low back pain is the most common cause of disability in the world and is often caused by degeneration or injury of the intervertebral disc (IVD). The IVD is a complex, fibrocartilaginous tissue that allows for the wide range of spinal mobility. Disc degeneration is a progressive condition believed to begin in the central, gelatinous nucleus pulposus (NP) region of the tissue, for which there are few preventative therapies. Current therapeutic strategies include pain management and exercise, or surgical intervention such as spinal fusion, none of which address the underlying cause of degeneration. With an increasingly aging population, the socioeconomic …

Development Of Light Actuated Chemical Delivery Platform On A 2-D Array Of Micropore Structure, Hojjat Rostami Azmand, Hojjat Rostami Azmand

Dissertations and Theses

Localized chemical delivery plays an essential role in the fundamental information transfers within biological systems. Thus, the ability to mimic the natural chemical signal modulation would provide significant contributions to understand the functional signaling pathway of biological cells and develop new prosthetic devices for neurological disorders. In this paper, we demonstrate a light-controlled hydrogel platform that can be used for localized chemical delivery in a high spatial resolution. By utilizing the photothermal behavior of graphene-hydrogel composites confined within micron-sized fluidic channels, patterned light illumination creates the parallel and independent actuation of chemical release in a group of fluidic ports. The …

Development Of A Biaxial Testing System For Research Of Soft Tissue Biomechanics Using Laboratory Models, Tariq Shameen

Dissertations and Theses

The rupture of the cap tissue layer of a fibroatheroma in human coronary vessels is considered the key event leading to the formation of a thrombus and myocardial infarction, resulting in more than half a million deaths in the US every year. In this study, we are interested in investigating the biomechanics of different elastomer materials that can be used as laboratory models to replicate coronary arteries’ ultimate tensile stress (0.2 - 2.08 MPa). To this end, we developed a biomechanical testing system that allows us to characterize the material properties of small samples with high accuracy and precision. We …

Injectable Gelatin-Silk Fibroin Composite Hydrogels For In Situ Cell Encapsulation, Ryann D. Boudreau

Honors Theses and Capstones

Hydrogels are widely used tools for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Characterized as biofunctional, water-based polymer matrices with tunable mechanical properties, hydrogels have promising but limited applications in biomedical engineering, due to poor and static matrix strength. Here we plan to rectify this issue by introducing a new hydrogel made from a composite of gelatin and silk fibroin crosslinked by microbial transglutaminase (mTG) instantly and beta sheet formation gradually, respectively. This interpenetrating network (IPN) shows enhanced mechanical stiffness and strength compared to gelatin hydrogels, and is capable of encapsulating human cells with high viability demonstrated by the encapsulation of human …

Microparticle Propulsion For In Vivo Navigation, Louis Rogowski

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Microscale propulsion impacts a diverse array of fields, with simplistic microrobots allowing for novel innovations in microscale surgery and drug delivery. Propulsion at the microscale is constrained by physics, with time-reversal and geometric symmetries limiting available propulsion mechanisms. However, certain fluid environments and surface coatings allow for the propulsion of microparticles through externally applied magnetic fields. Presented here is a detailed analysis of microparticles propelling using spontaneous symmetry breaking, flagella surface coatings, and multi-modal actuation mechanisms. Spontaneous symmetry breaking in nonlinearly viscoelastic fluids is presented for the first time in literature, with two equal and opposite propulsion states existing along …

Detection Of Nucleotides In Hydrated Ssdna Via 2-D H-Bn Nanopore With Ionic-Liquid/Salt-Water Interface, Jungsoo Lee

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses and Dissertations

Accomplishing slow translocation speed with high sensitivity has been the greatest mission for solid-state nanopore (SSN) to electrically detect nucleobases in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). In this study, a method to detect nucleobases in ssDNA using a SSN is introduced by considerably slowing down the translocation speed and effectively increasing its sensitivity. The ultra-thin titanium dioxide (TiO₂) coated hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanopore was fabricated, along with an ionic-liquid [bmim][PF₆]/2.0 M KCl aqueous (cis/trans) interfacial system, to increase both the spatial and the temporal resolutions. As the ssDNA molecules entered the nanopore, a …

The Effects Of Solution Condition On Virus Filtration Performance, Fnu Namila

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virus filtration is an integral part of the downstream purification of mammalian cell culture-derived biotherapeutics to assure the viral safety of the products. Virus filtration membranes remove viruses based on a size-exclusion mechanism. Commercial parvovirus filers possess unique membrane structure and are designed to remove smaller non-enveloped parvoviruses with size 18-26 nm. However, some filters face issues, such as pre-mature fouling, the decline of filtrate flux, and reduction in virus retention. This doctoral dissertation focused on identifying the factors that influence the filtrate flux and the virus retention capability of commercial virus filters. The effects of solution pH and ionic …

The Use Of Nanoparticles And Electrospun Fibers For Intravaginal Delivery To Treat Viral And Bacterial Infections And Electrophysiological Measurements Of Synthetic Chloride Channels., Farnaz Minooei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Female reproductive viral and bacterial infections affect millions of women worldwide. Given the diversity and magnitude of these unmet reproductive health challenges, topical administration of antiretrovirals (ARVs) and antibiotics have emerged as promising approaches to maintain and restore reproductive health. However, currently available intravaginal dosage forms often suffer from low user adherence and the need for frequent, daily administration to achieve therapeutic effect. To address these challenges, the broad goal of this research was to focus on the development of new localized nanoparticle (NP) and electrospun fiber dosage forms to prolong the delivery and enhance the efficacy of active agents …

Recombinant Piriform Spider Silk Production, Cole R. Peterson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spider silks are remarkable biomaterials, possessing a variety of desirable mechanical and material properties. Humans have long-sought to utilize these materials. Spiders produce a range of different types of silks for different purposes, such as web-building, egg casing, and prey swathing. Because spiders are difficult to farm, a synthetic biological approach must be used to produce silk-like proteins. This research is intended to improve the production of piriform, a specific type of spider silk. This was done with targeted-improvements to microbial metabolism and recovery methodologies. The methods developed in this research are useful for other types of silk production and …

Incorporation Of Lignin In Natural And Synthetic Biomaterials To Alter Mechanical And Biochemical Properties For Enhanced Wound Healing, Jorge Alfonso Belgodere

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It is estimated that chronic, non-healing wounds affect more than 6.5 million Americans annually, with an estimated healthcare cost beyond $14 billion. Here, we attempted to create composites of natural (collagen type I or gelatin-methacrylate) or synthetic (poly(ethylene glycol) polymers incorporating a natural plant component, lignin, to combat the costs and limitations current wound healing methods face. Three-dimensional matrices of collagen type I (Col I) are widely used in tissue engineering applications for its abundance in many tissues, bioactivity with many cell types, and excellent biocompatibility. Inspired by the structural role of lignin in plant tissue, we found that sodium …

Fabrication And Characterisation Of Highly Aligned Fibrous Assemblies, Tan Chin Joo

Student Works (2020-2029)

Vascular grafting has been an effective remedy to vascular diseases for decades. Autografting by using the veins or arteries in the patient’s body is found to have patency rate for years. However, autografting may not be possible when compatible vessels are not available. In this case, synthetic vascular grafts are found to be effective replacements. Nevertheless, synthetic grafts with diameter less than 4 mm becomes challenging due to thrombogenicity and mismatch of mechanical properties with the native vessels. Along this line, the ability to develop new biostable synthetic materials suitable for smaller grafts and the ability to evaluate their resulting …

Evaluation Of Hyaluronic Acid To Modulate Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Growth In Vitro, Jordan Ringer, Bryan Morrison, Karl Kingsley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

© 2020 MDPI AG. All rights reserved. Introduction: Previous studies have demonstrated that glycosaminoglycan hyaluronic acid (HA) is capable of mediating oral tumor growth. Some clinical evidence has suggested reduced HA expression predicts poor cancer prognosis and that HA-chemotherapy conjugates may function synergistically to inhibit oral tumor growth. Other studies have found conflicting results that suggest enhanced CD44-HA-mediated growth and proliferation. Due to the lack of clarity regarding HA function, the primary goal of this study was to investigate the effects of HA using well-characterized oral cancer cell lines. Methods: Using several commercially available oral squamous cell carcinoma lines (and …

Optimal Parameter Values For Accurate And Repeatable Nanoindentation Of Human Trabecular Bone, Stephen Matthew Kmak

Master's Theses

Nanoindentation techniques have not been standardized for use on bone tissues, making comparison of bone material properties obtained via nanoindentation across studies difficult and unreliable. This study determined a set of optimal parameter values for thermal drift correction time, dwell time, and loading rate that can be used to obtain accurate and repeatable material properties from human femoral trabecular bone through experimentation and statistical analysis. All testing was conducted using a single nanoindenter on a single trabeculae, with the assumption that material properties within the individual trabeculae were internally consistent. Parameters not of interest during this study, such as ambient …

Decellularization Of Porcine Cartilage Promotes Chondrogenic Differentiation Of Human Chondrocytes, Roxanne Nicole Stone

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Knee osteoarthritis (knee OA) is the most common type of osteoarthritis (OA) and accounts for 70% of arthritis-related hospital admissions and 23% of clinical visits. Major limitations in both the current non-surgical and surgical methods are that they only relieve pain and show no evidence for restoring natural tissue anatomy. Leaders in the field propose that a stem cell treatment approach holds promise for the regeneration of a greater proportion of hyaline-like tissue at the repair site. (Cross et al., 2014; Escobar Ivirico, Bhattacharjee, Kuyinu, Nair, & Laurencin, 2017; Helmick et al., 2008; Toh, Foldager, Pei, & Hui, 2014).

It …

Designing Silk Protein-Based Composite Materials With Tunable Heat Transfer And Magnetic Properties, Ye Xue

Theses and Dissertations

Renewable and biocompatible silk protein materials with desired physical properties show promising applications in biomedical field. In this work, a set of protein-based composites with desired thermal and magnetic properties, enhanced by the appropriate distribution of nanofillers in the protein matrix in both 2D-film and 1D-fiber forms was investigated. Results indicate that secondary structures of silk protein materials regenerated by a formic acid-calcium chloride method are different from those of their respective natural silk fibers. Intramolecular beta-sheet structures were found to dominate these silk films, causing these regenerated samples to be water-insoluble but more flexible than traditional silk films with …

Effects Of Hard-To-Soft Segment Ratios On The Synthesis And Physico-Mechanical Properties Of Polyurethane Films, Aaron C. Wilson

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Blood-contacting cardiovascular stents often induce a secondary clotting event due to unrestricted enzymatic activities. The use of hemocompatible polyurethane coatings on these implantable devices is one of the most promising methods to reduce device rejection. In this study, four commercial polyurethane films of various thicknesses and compositions were evaluated for their anticoagulation properties. Results suggested that these films exhibited excellent thermal and physico-mechanical properties while capable of increasing contact time with blood plasma by over a thousand-fold as compared to a control surface. Due to the unknown structure and composition of these commercial films, polyurethane samples were synthesized from toluene …

Pilot Study Exploring The Effect Of Targeted Cox-2 Inhibition In Macrophages Responding To Neuronal Injury; Promoting Enhanced Axonal Regeneration, Alyssa Brauckmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Celecoxib nanoemulsion (CXB-NE) has been developed as a macrophage targeted analgesics by Dr. Janjic and her team at Duquesne University, (Janjic et al, 2018; Liu et al, 2020; Saleem et al, 2019b; Vasudeva et al, 2014). The CXB-NE nanoemulsion carrying a Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory (NSAID) inhibitor of COX-2 activity result in a reduction in PGE2 expression in macrophages. Using CXB-NE in rats that have peripheral nerve injury constricting the sciatic nerve relieves hypersensitivity, a pain-like behavior. The treatment also decreases inflammation associated with this chronic constriction injury (Janjic et al, 2018; Saleem et al, 2019b; Stevens et al, 2019). In this …