Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Destruction Of Α -Synuclein Based Amyloid Fibrils By A Low Temperature Plasma Jet, Erdinc Karakas, Agatha Munyanyi, Lesley Greene, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Amyloid fibrils are ordered beta-sheet aggregates that are associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson. At present, there is no cure for these progressive and debilitating diseases. Here we report initial studies that indicate that low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma can break amyloid fibrils into smaller units in vitro. The plasma was generated by the plasma pencil, a device capable of emitting a long, low temperature plasma plume/jet. This avenue of research may facilitate the development of a plasma-based medical treatment.

Mechanical And Thermodynamic Properties Of Bacteriorhodopsin Langmuir Film., Vijayandren Kuppusamy

Student Works (2010-2019)

Bacteriorhodopsin is a photoactive protein found in the purple membranes of the highly halophilic bacterium Halobacterium Salinarium. Due to highly efficient and simple in its function, Bacteriorhodopsin has been extensively researched and successfully incorporated into many practical applications. In this regard, the fabrication of compactly packed and functionally active Bacteriorhodopsin thin film is crucial in realizing a highly efficient device. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of the Bacteriorhodopsin-Langmuir monolayer film from the surface pressure-area per molecule isotherm to produce a compactly pact and functionally active monolayer film. For this, we have proposed …

Experimental Studies On The Plasma Bullet Propagation And Its Inhibition, Erdinc Karakas, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Plasma bullets generated by atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma jets have recently been an active research topic due to their unique properties and their enhanced plasma chemistry. In this paper, experimental insights into the plasma bullet lifetime and its velocity are reported. Data obtained from intensified charge-coupled device camera and time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy (OES) elucidated the existence of a weakly ionized channel between the plasma bullet and its source (such as the plasma pencil). Factors responsible for the inhibition of the propagation of the bullet, such as low helium mole fraction, the magnitude of the applied voltage, and the …

Development Of The Mask Scentometer, A Comparison Of Ambient Odor Assessment Methods, And Their Application In Ground Truthing Atmospheric Dispersion Models, Christopher G. Henry

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation is organized as four stand-alone papers. Paper No. 1 describes the development of the Mask Scentometer and reports dilution ratios measured during use by twelve different people. Dilution ratios at the Mask Scentometer’s five dilution-to-threshold (D/T) settings were found to be 0.35, 1, 2, 4.5 and 18. In Paper No.’s 2 and 4, ambient odor assessment methods were compared in both controlled laboratory conditions and in the field. Laboratory analysis of ambient air samples using dynamic triangular forced-choice olfactometry (DTFCO) did not correlate well with any of the ambient odor assessment methods. Average intensity-predicted D/T was roughly five …

Monte Carlo Model Of Light Propagation In Tissues And The Effects Of Phase Changes On The Light Intensity, Rakesh Choula

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Lasers, due to their unique properties, have a wide range of applications in the medical field. For accurate laser treatments that focus on bio-tissues, prior knowledge of the amount of laser power, spot size and its irradiation time are necessary. In order to predict the effects of lasers on tissues and their bio-effects, a first necessary step is the creation of a model that can predict the temperature distributions within the tissue following laser excitation. This involves modeling light propagation through the tissue with inclusion of internal scattering, and assessment of the energy deposited by the incoming photons. The next …

Effects Of Non-Equilibrium Plasma On Eukaryotic Cells (Final Report: Grant Fa9550-06-1-0004), Mounir Laroussi, Fred C. Dobbs, Old Dominion University

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This document is our final report describing the research activities carried out under AFOSR Grant FA9550-06-1-0004. First, descriptions of our cold plasma generation systems are presented. Two systems, developed with past and present AFOSR support, are available in our laboratory. The first is a pulsed device capable of emitting a cold plasma plume in room air. The second is an air plasma generator the core of which is a dielectric barrier discharge excited by a high AC voltage. Following these brief descriptions we first present the effects of an atmospheric pressure air plasma on four different types of eukaryotic microalgae. …

Brain Tumor Progression Assessment Using Multiple Mri Volumes, Yufei Shen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Predicting and assessing tumor progression is important in brain tumor treatment. We attempt to use machine learning techniques to achieve consistency in assessing brain tumor progression. This thesis presents a prediction method of brain tumor progression by exploring a large MR database, which contains two patients ' complete records covering all their visits in the past two years. All ten MRI series, namely, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) , diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) , fractional anisotropy (FA), fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), max eigenvalue (MAX), mid eigenvalue (MID), min eigenvalue (MIN) , post-contrast T₁-weighted, T₁- weighted, and …

Magnetic Sensors For Biodetection, Pranjali Vineet Sneha Deshpande

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The objective of thesis is to design magnetic sensor for detection of nanoparticles. Recently integrating the standard laboratory techniques into integrated system on chip is growing attention. Recent development is to combine magnetic markers and magnetoresistive sensors together in magnetic chip. In this thesis two magnetoresistive sensors were studied and designed.

By applying magnetic fields, magnetic nanoparticles can be manipulated on-chip, which can be utilized to pull the molecules to specific binding sites or to test the binding strength and distinguish between specifically and non-specifically bound molecules

Magnetoresistive sensors are compatible with the semiconductor industry which provides electronic signal directly …

Analysis Of Electroencephalogram Signals For The Identification Of Mental Tasks, My Thy Thi Tran

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals can be used for implicit communication such as to control robots or medical equipment by brain activity or to detect an individual's intentions of committing premeditated crimes. An EEG based brain-computer interface allows paralyzed patients to express their thoughts. However, biological and technical artifacts heavily interfered with EEG signals due to blinking of the eyes, muscle activities and line noise. Sometimes the noise interference due to signal artifacts becomes more prominent than the information content. This thesis investigates novel feature extraction methodologies in EEG signals to represent different thought processes and employs neural network-based pattern classification techniques …

A Mobile Ecg Monitoring System With Context Collection, Jin Peng Li, Damon Berry, Richard Hayes

Conference Papers

Preventative health management represents a shift from the traditional approach of reactive treatment-based healthcare towards a proactive wellness-management approach where patients are encouraged to stay healthy with expert support when they need it, at any location and any time. This work represents a step along the road towards proactive, preventative healthcare for cardiac patients. It seeks to develop a smart mobile ECG monitoring system that requests and records context information about what is happening around the subject when an arrhythmia event occurs. Context information about the subject’s activities of daily living will, it is hoped, provide an enriched data set …

Parameter Optimization For Image Denoising Based On Block Matching And 3d Collaborative Filtering, Ramu Pedada, Emin Kugu, Jiang Li, Zhanfeng Yue, Yuzhong Shen, Josien P.W. Pluim (Ed.), Benoit M. Dawant (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Clinical MRI images are generally corrupted by random noise during acquisition with blurred subtle structure features. Many denoising methods have been proposed to remove noise from corrupted images at the expense of distorted structure features. Therefore, there is always compromise between removing noise and preserving structure information for denoising methods. For a specific denoising method, it is crucial to tune it so that the best tradeoff can be obtained. In this paper, we define several cost functions to assess the quality of noise removal and that of structure information preserved in the denoised image. Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2) …

Cephalometric Analysis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Wade A. Williams

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if T1-weighted 3D magnetic resonance images performed at 3.0 Tesla could be used to conduct routine orthodontic cephalometric analysis.

Methods: Three cranial imaging methods were compared using sixteen non-growing subjects (10 male and 6 female) who were not claustrophobic, did not have any metallic restorations on the distal of first molars, had no medical implants and the female subjects were not pregnant. Sagittal cranial images were produced by three methods: (1) a digital lateral cephalometric (LC) radiograph (Orthophos XG Plus, Sirona^TM, Bensheim, Germany), (2) a 12-inch FOV cone beam …

Poly(Ethylenedioxythiophene) Based Electronic Devices For Sensor Applications, Jie Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Organic electronic devices, based on Poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-Poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT-PSS) as the active layer for sensor applications, have been studied. Two sets of sensors have been developed. In one case, sensors consisting of PEDOT-PSS resistors have been realized and demonstrated for soil moisture monitoring. The resistor model for the soil moisture sensor enables the sensor device to be fabricated at low cost and easily tested with a simple structure. Unlike the large dimension device used in Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR), the sensors are small and are capable of capturing microscale behavior of moisture in soil which is useful for …

Medical Image Modeling And Processing, Ramu Pedada

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

During the last few decades of the twentieth century, medical imaging has been playing a prominent role in many fields of biomedical research and clinical practice. Image modalities such as x-rays, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance images (MRI) have all been valuable additions to the radiologist's arsenal of imaging tools. Medical images assure quality diagnosis and patient safety by gathering valuable information without invading the human body. Apart from clinical diagnosis, medical images are used as tools for education where they are used for training individuals before operating on a patient. Many medical educators tum to simulation based training …

Aquatic Bacteria Removal Using Carbon Nanotubes, Suvish Melanta

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to explore the functionality of carbon nanotubes as a bacterial removal method, specifically towards water-borne bacterial pathogens in wastewater by utilizing its unique magnetic and bacteria-binding properties. The general protocol set for this research follows five steps: 1) Preparation of wastewater media, 2) preparation of CNT culture, 3) preparation of reaction mixture with CNTs for bacterial binding, 4) magnetic separation of bacteria-bound-CNT clusters and, 5) assessment of supernatant. The CNTs effectively removed bacterial contaminants in the wastewater (10%, v/v) after the sand filtration process from the Paul R. Noland Wastewater Facility at Fayetteville, Arkansas. …

Real-Time Ultrasound Simulation For Medical Training And Standardized Patient Assessment, Bo Sun

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

With the increasing role played by ultrasound in clinical diagnostics, ultrasound training in medical education has become more and more important. The clinical routine for ultrasound training is on real patients; therefore monitored and guided examinations involving medical students are quite time-constrained. Furthermore, standardized patients (SPs), who are increasingly used in medical school for teaching and assessing medical students, need to be augmented. These SPs are typically healthy individuals who can not accurately portray the variety of abnormalities that are needed for training especially when medical examinations involve instrument interactions. To augment SPs in a realistically effective way and also …

Caffeine Model Identification For Vigilance Performance Prediction, Chun-Hui Huang

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of caffeine have been well characterized. In this study, a caffeine dynamic model is developed to describe its pharmacodynamic effects on vigilance performance. Validated biomathematical models developed to address both individual and group fatigue and alertness in a non-laboratory setting represent a tremendous commercial opportunity. First, a test data set with caffeine effects isolated from circadian and homeostatic effects is created. Then a modeling approach for input and output effects is developed and different model structures for the caffeine effects are considered. Observer/Kalman filter Identification (OKID) algorithm is proposed and developed to identify the caffeine model …

Stochastic Calculations For Computation Of Radiation Effects And Cell Survivability Under Voltage Pulsing, Madhuri Ganapathiraju

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Statistical computations are an important tool for the analysis of stochastic phenomena and processes that are characterized by variability. Biological systems (e.g., cells, tissues etc.) are perfect examples wherein response to a given external stimulus can be varied and needs to be adequately considered. The Monte Carlo method of analysis has now been recognized as the most effective way of treating stochastic variability.

This thesis uses Monte Carlo based simulations to probe two problems that require the quantification and modeling of effects caused by energy deposition onto biological matter from external sources. One problem involves the probabilistic study of the …

Bactericidal Effects Of Cold Plasma Technology On Geobacillus Stearothermophilus And Bacillus Cereus Microorganisms, Angela D. Morris, Gayle B. Mccombs, Susan L. Tolle, Mounir Laroussi, Wayne L. Hynes

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Cold plasma is a state of matter that contains a large number of particles that are electrically charged. Plasmas generate chemically reactive species and ultraviolet radiation making them useful in decontamination applications (Kong & Laroussi, 2003). Research regarding the inactivation of gram-positive bacteria by cold plasma has been studied by Laroussi et al (2003); however, there is limited research regarding the germicidal effectiveness of cold plasma on Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus cereus microorganisms. The purpose of this study was to determine if cold plasma technology inactivates Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus cereus vegetative cells and spores. This study consisted of 981 …

Potentiality Of Biogas And The Role Of Substrates In Biogas Formation Potential, Scott Shealy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Biogas infrastructure development, particularly in countries such as Vietnam, has the potential to provide great benefits to people living agrarian lifestyles in rural areas. Decentralized wastewater treatment facilities that utilize anaerobic technologies to digest organic waste for the purpose of collecting methane provide a number of benefits to centralized use as well. In both cases, users benefit from the production of methane gas, wastewater treatment, nutrient recycling, and organic fertilizers. In the case of decentralized use, as is most prevalent in Vietnam, integrated farming methods, such as the VACB model, allow farmers to reap the benefits of a wide array …

Using Pareto Fronts To Evaluate Polyp Detection Algorithms For Ct Colonography, Adam Huang, Jiang Li, Ronald M. Summers, Nicholas Petrick, Amy K. Hara

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We evaluate and improve an existing curvature-based region growing algorithm for colonic polyp detection for our CT colonography (CTC) computer-aided detection (CAD) system by using Pareto fronts. The performance of a polyp detection algorithm involves two conflicting objectives, minimizing both false negative (FN) and false positive (FP) detection rates. This problem does not produce a single optimal solution but a set of solutions known as a Pareto front. Any solution in a Pareto front can only outperform other solutions in one of the two competing objectives. Using evolutionary algorithms to find the Pareto fronts for multi-objective optimization problems has been …

Validating Pareto Optimal Operation Parameters Of Polyp Detection Algorithms For Ct Colonography, Jiang Li, Adam Huang, Nicholas Petrick, Jianhua Yao, Ronald M. Summers, Maryellen L. Giger (Ed.), Nico Karssemeijer (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We evaluated a Pareto front-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for optimizing our CT colonography (CTC) computer-aided detection (CAD) system. The system identifies colonic polyps based on curvature and volumetric based features, where a set of thresholds for these features was optimized by the evolutionary algorithm. We utilized a two-fold cross-validation (CV) method to test if the optimized thresholds can be generalized to new data sets. We performed the CV method on 133 patients; each patient had a prone and a supine scan. There were 103 colonoscopically confirmed polyps resulting in 188 positive detections in CTC reading from either the prone or …

Oxidized Derivatives Of Ω-3 Fatty Acids: Identification Of Ipf 3Α-Vi In Human Urine, John A. Lawson, Seongjin Kim, William S. Powell, Garret Gerald A. Fitzgerald, Joshua Rokach

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

Isoprostanes (iPs) are prostaglandin-like molecules derived from autoxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Urinary iP levels have been used as indices of in vivo lipid peroxidation. Thus far, it has only been possible to measure iPs derived from arachidonic acid in urine, because levels of iPs/neuroprostanes (nPs) derived from ω3-PUFAs have been found to be below detection limits of available assays. Because of the interest in ω3-PUFA dietary supplementation, we developed specific methods to measure nPF4α-VI and iPF3α-VI [derived from 4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and 5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)] using a combination of chemical synthesis, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), andliquid chromatography tandem …

Quantitative Object Reconstruction Using Abel Transform Tomography And Mixed Variable Optimization, Kevin R. O'Reilly

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are interested in quantitatively reconstructing an object using Abel transform x-ray tomography. Specifically, they obtain a radiograph by x-raying an object and attempt to quantitatively determine the number and types of materials and the thicknesses of each material layer. Their current methodologies either fail to provide a quantitative description of the object or are generally too slow to be useful in practice. As an alternative, the problem is modeled here as a mixed variable programming (MVP) problem, in which some variables are nonnumeric and for which no derivative information is available. The …

The Igipi Ontological Framework: Integrating Gene Interactions With Protein Interactions, Bill Andreopoulos, Aijun An, Xiangji Huang

Faculty Publications, Computer Science

No abstract provided.

Laser And Led Effects On The Proliferation Rate Of Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts, Allen J. Job

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness of a Gallium Aluminum Arsenide (GaAlAs) diode laser and a light emitting diode (LED) on periodontal ligament fibroblast cell proliferative rates.

METHODS and MATERIALS: PDLF obtained from freshly extracted permanent teeth were cultured under standard conditions until a subconfluent monolayer was present. The next section took 5 days to complete. On day 1, the initial cell concentration of 700 uL/cm² was plated on 96-well assay plates and placed in a CO₂ incubator at 37° C for 24 hours. On day 2, cell counts were first verified using hemocytometry then were irradiated using an …

A Numerical Method For Obtaining An Optimal Temperature Distribution In A 3d Triple-Layered Cylindrical Skin Structure, Le Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, it has been interesting to research hyperthermia combined with radiation and cytotoxic drugs to enhance the killing of tumors. The crucial problem is that when heating the tumor tissues, one needs to keep the surrounding normal tissue below a temperature that will produce harm. Thus, it is important to obtain the temperature field of the entire treatment region. The objective of this dissertation is to develop a numerical model for obtaining an optimal temperature distribution in a 3D triple-layered cylindrical skin structure. To this end, we pre-specify the temperatures to be obtained at the center and perimeter …

Room-Temperature Atmospheric Pressure Plasma For Biomedical Applications, Mounir Laroussi, Xinpei Lu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

As low-temperature non-equilibrium plasmas come to play an increasing role in biomedical applications, reliable and user-friendly sources need to be developed. These plasma sources have to meet stringent requirements such as low temperature (at or near room temperature), no risk of arcing, operation at atmospheric pressure, preferably hand-held operation, low concentration of ozone generation, etc. In this letter, we present a device that meets exactly such requirements. This device is capable of generating a cold plasma plume several centimeters in length. It exhibits low power requirements as shown by its current-voltage characteristics. Using helium as a carrier gas, very little …

Distal Placement Of An End-To-Side Bypass Graft Anastomosis A 3-D Computational Study, John Robert Di Cicco

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics study of blood flow through stenotic arteries has been conducted. Flow phenomena, such as separation regions and turbulence, can be found distal to an arterial stenosis. Frequently, a bypass graft using an end-to-side technique is attached to a stenotic artery to restore adequate blood flow. However, a significant percentage of these grafts fail after thirty postoperative days due to intimal hyperplasia development around the distal anastomosis. Moreover, aberrant wall shear rates have been implicated as a factor in the development of intimal hyperplasia. Thus, the present study examines whether placement of the distal end of …

Direct Least-Squares Ellipse Fitting, Jane Courtney, Annraoi Depaor

Conference Papers

Many biological and astronomical forms can be best represented by ellipses. While some more complex curves might represent the shape more accurately, ellipses have the advantage that they are easily parameterised and define the location, orientation and dimensions of the data more clearly. In this paper, we present a method of direct least-squares ellipse fitting by solving a generalised eigensystem. This is more efficient and more accurate than many alternative approaches to the ellipse-fitting problem such as fuzzy c-shells clustering and Hough transforms. This method was developed for human body modelling as part of a larger project to design a …