Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of The Mechanism Of Blast Wave Transmission Through A Surrogate Head, Yi Hua, Praveen Akula, Linxia Gu, Jeff Berg, Carl A. Nelson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This work is to develop an experiment-validated numerical model to elucidate the wave transmission mechanisms through a surrogate head under blast loading. Repeated shock tube tests were conducted on a surrogate head, i.e., water-filled polycarbonate shell. Surface strain on the skull simulant and pressure inside the brain simulant were recorded at multiple locations. A numerical model was developed to capture the shock wave propagation within the shock tube and the fluid-structure interaction between the shock wave and the surrogate head. The obtained numerical results were compared with the experimental measurements. The experiment-validated numerical model was then used to further understand …

Investigation Of Membrane Mechanics Using Spring Networks: Application To Red-Blood-Cell Modelling, Mingzhu Chen, Fergal Boyle

Articles

In recent years a number of red-blood-cell (RBC) models have been proposed using spring networks to represent the RBC membrane. Some results predicted by these models agree well with experimental measurements. How- ever, the suitability of these membrane models has been questioned. The RBC membrane, like a continuum mem- brane, is mechanically isotropic throughout its surface, but the mechanical properties of a spring network vary on the network surface and change with deformation. In this work spring-network mechanics are investigated in large deformation for the first time via an assessment of the effect of network parameters, i.e. network mesh, spring …

Automated Selection Of The Optimal Cardiac Phase For Single-Beat Coronary Ct Angiography Reconstruction, Daniel Stassi

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This thesis investigates an automated algorithm for selecting the optimal cardiac phase for CCTA reconstruction. Reconstructing a low-motion cardiac phase improves coronary artery visualization in coronary CT angiography (CCTA) exams. Currently, standard end-systole and/or mid-diastole default phases are prescribed or alternatively, quiescent phases are determined by the user. As manual selection may be time-consuming and standard locations may be suboptimal due to patient variability, an automated method is investigated. An automated algorithm was developed to select the optimal phase based on quantitative image quality (IQ) metrics. For each reconstructed slice at each reconstructed phase, an image quality metric was calculated …

The Effects Of Organ-Based Tube Current Modulation On Radiation Dose And Image Quality In Computed Tomography Imaging, Diksha Gandhi

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The purpose of this thesis was to quantify dose and noise performance of organ-dose-based tube current modulation (ODM) through experimental studies with an anthropomorphic phantom and simulations with a voxelized phantom library. Tube current modulation is a dose reduction technique that modulates radiation dose in angular and/or slice directions based on patient attenuation. ODM technique proposed by GE Healthcare further reduces tube current for anterior source positions, without increasing current for posterior positions. Axial CT scans at 120 kV were performed on head and chest phantoms (Rando Alderson Research Laboratories, Stanford, CA) on an ODM-equipped scanner (Optima CT660, GE Healthcare, …

Effect Of Lowest Instrumented Vertebra On Trunk Mobility In Patients With Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Undergoing A Posterior Spinal Fusion, Ubong I. Udoekwere, Joseph Krzak, Adam Graf, Sahar Hassani, Sergey Tarima, Mary Riordan, Peter F. Sturm, Kim W. Hammerberg, Purnendu Gupta, Alireza K. Anissipour, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Study Design

Prospective.

Objectives

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of posterior spinal fusion surgery terminating at different lowest instrumented vertebrae (LIV) on trunk mobility in individuals with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Summary of Background Data

Posterior spinal fusion with instrumentation is the standard surgical technique employed in AIS for correcting spine deformities with Cobb angles exceeding 50°. Surgical correction of curve deformity reduces trunk mobility and range of motion. However, conflicting findings from previous studies investigating the impact of different LIV levels on the reduction in trunk mobility after surgery have been reported.

Methods

The …

Measuring Tumor Cycling Hypoxia And Angiogenesis Using A Side-Firing Fiber Optic Probe, Bing Yu, Amy Shah, Bingqing Wang, Narasimhan Rajaram, Quanli Wang, Nirmala Ramanujam, Gregory M. Palmer, Mark W. Dewhirst

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Hypoxia and angiogenesis can significantly influence the efficacy of cancer therapy and the behavior of surviving tumor cells. There is a growing demand for technologies to measure tumor hypoxia and angiogenesis temporally in vivo to enable advances in drug development and optimization. This paper reports the use of frequency-domain photon migration with a side-firing probe to quantify tumor oxygenation and hemoglobin concentrations in nude rats bearing human head/neck tumors administered with carbogen gas, cycling hypoxic gas or just room air. Significant increase (with carbogen gas breathing) or decrease (with hypoxic gas breathing) in tumor oxygenation was observed. The trend in …

Preliminary Test Of A Real-Time, Interactive Silent Speech Interface Based On Electromagnetic Articulograph, Jun Wang, Ashok Samal, Jordan R. Green

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

A silent speech interface (SSI) maps articulatory movement data to speech output. Although still in experimental stages, silent speech interfaces hold significant potential for facilitating oral communication in persons after laryngectomy or with other severe voice impairments. Despite the recent efforts on silent speech recognition algorithm development using offline data analysis, online test of SSIs have rarely been conducted. In this paper, we present a preliminary, online test of a real-time, interactive SSI based on electromagnetic motion tracking. The SSI played back synthesized speech sounds in response to the user’s tongue and lip movements. Three English talkers participated in this …

Biomaterial Testing Methodology For Long-Term In Vivo Applications: Silicon Carbide Corrosion Resistance, Biocompatibility And Hemocompatibility, Maysam Nezafati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biomedical devices that function in-vivo offer a tremendous promise to improve the quality of life for many who suffer from disease and trauma. The most important consideration for these devices is that they interact with the physiological environment as designed without initiating a deleterious inflammatory response. ISO 10993 outlines the current international guideline for investigating the biocompatibility of such devices. Numerous groups report the use of ISO 10993 as the basis for their experimental evaluation of candidate materials for neuroprosthetics, as well as other biomedical devices, however most of these reports fail to completely comply with the standard. This leads …

Mathematically Modeling Fetal Electrocardiograms, Samuel Estes, Kiersten Utsey, Erick Kalobwe

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Abstract

Some of the most common and fatal birth defects are those related to the heart. In adults, possible heart conditions are often identified through the use of an electrocardiogram (ECG). However, due to the presence of other signals and noise in the recording, fetal electrocardiography has not yet proven effective in diagnosing these defects. This paper develops a mathematical model of three-dimensional heart vector trajectories, which was used to generate synthetic maternal and fetal ECG signals. The dipole model is a useful simplification in which the electrical activity of the heart is viewed as a single time-varying vector originating …

Noninvasive Assessment Of Cardiac Abnormalities In Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis By Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Imaging In The Mouse., Chandirasegaran Massilamany, Vahid Khalilzad-Sharghi, Arunakumar Gangaplara, David Steffen, Shadi F. Othman, Jay Reddy

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the myocardium, but only -10% of those affected show clinical manifestations of the disease. To study the immune events of myocardial injuries, various mouse models of myocarditis have been widely used. This study involved experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) induced with cardiac myosin heavy chain (Myhc)-α 334-352 in A/J mice; the affected animals develop lymphocytic myocarditis but with no apparent clinical signs. In this model, the utility of magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) as a non-invasive modality to determine the cardiac structural and functional changes in animals immunized with Myhc-α 334-352 is shown. EAM and healthy mice …

Looking For Your Next Disruptive Technology? Try Student Competitions, Jay R. Goldberg, Phil Weilerstein

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty Quantification Driven Predictive Multi-Scale Model For Synthesis Of Mycotoxins, Sourav Banerjee, Gabriel A. Terejanu, Anindya Chanda

Faculty Publications

Many toxic molds synthesize and release an array of poisons, termed mycotoxins that have an enormous impact on human health, agriculture and economy [1]. These molds contaminate our buildings, indoor air and crops, cause life threatening human and animal diseases and reduce agricultural output [2]. In order to design appropriate approaches to minimize the detrimental effects of these fungi, it is essential to develop diagnostic methodologies that can rapidly and accurately determine based on fungal strains and their growth patterns, the extent of mycotoxin mediated damage caused to the environment.Here we developed a novel multi-scale predictive mathematical model that could …

Mobile Audiometry Application, Kevin Nguyen, Shweta Panditrao

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

The Mobile Audiometry Application hopes to utilize the ubiquity of the mobile device by providing a means of healthcare focused on audiometry. This application enables a mobile device to perform audiometric testing to detect a user's hearing range, and notify the user whether he or she is suffering from hearing loss. This project seeks to fulfill a social need for increased access to hearing testing by providing a portable, affordable, and reliable screening tool that is accurate. The result was sleek application that provided a calibration method, executed an audiometry test using accurate and calibrated files, displayed the results graphically, …

Engineering An In Vitro Metastasis Platform, Justus Carlisle, Mark-Phillip Pebworth

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Although metastasis is the primary cause of cancer deaths and results in 90% of all cancer fatalities currently, all attempts to discover anti-metastatic drugs have failed. Many of the traditional methods of studying cell migration, using two-dimensional (2D) platforms, only study two-dimensional migration, which is fundamentally different and more multifaceted than the three-dimensional migration that occurs in vivo. To more accurately capture this in vivo variation, we developed a two-and-a-half-dimensional (2.5D) cell culture platform to better study three-dimensional (3D) migration. This platform consists of a layer of alginate on top of a monolayer of cells grown on tissue culture polystyrene …

Talens: Genome Surgery, Carson Harms, Serena Lerkantitham

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Genetic engineering has always held great opportunity for the field of gene therapy. If the cause of a genetic disease can be determined, correction of this gene would allow for an efficient and permanent cure. However, current technologies utilizing engineered retroviruses have serious drawbacks that significantly limit their practical applications for gene therapy. In this project we investigate a novel genetic editing technology called TALENs. By utilizing a modular protein isolated from a plant pathogen that can be quickly and efficiently redesigned to recognize and bind to any desired sequence of DNA combined with a nuclease, we can target a …

Genome Editing Of Human Ipscs Using The Cas9 System, Cade Ellis Ito, Nick Wolfe

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Recent research advancements in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have broadened their capacity for research in specific disease models3 need for effective and robust techniques to detect cell differentiation. Two techniques currently exist to determine cell type; morphology and immunostaining. Although they have been used by researchers for many years, these methods can be unreliable, time-consuming, and very uneconomical. We seek to create a technology that will be more accurate and efficient in detecting differentiation of iPSCs. This will allow researchers greater speed in screening for specific differentiation products, further increasing the utility of iPSCs in medical research. We will …

Reverse Protein Engineering Of Firefly Luciferase, Kahler Bugtong, Skyler Herczeg, Abraham Munoz, Alexandra Obata

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Firefly luciferase is a bioluminescent protein commonly used as a bioluminescent tag in biological studies and applications. However, because the protein is fairly large in size, it is sometimes larger than the molecules it is intended to measure and is therefore not a sufficient tag in smaller applications. The active site of firely luciferase is also not well understood, making it difficult to engineer the protein without affecting its bioluminescent activity. In this paper, we discuss the experimental methods of Reverse Protein Engineering: a bioengineering technology that reduces the size of a protein while retaining its original function. This involves …

Molecular And Device Engineering Towards The Study Of Potential Anti-Mrsa Agents, Powell Fansler, Karla Geisse, Ryan Marshall

Bioengineering Senior Theses

At the intersection of bio-device engineering and bio-pharmaceutical studies, our project involved the design of a hydraulic manifold to be used in isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), with the ultimate goal of using ITC to study the thermodynamic binding parameters of potential anti-Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) agents to our drug target, Sortase A. The hydraulic manifold redesign included the analysis of materials such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE, ‘Teflon’), and polycarbonate as well as the implementation of a new construct of the manifold itself. Sortase A is a transpeptidase found in Gram-positive bacteria and catalyses the attachment of …

Commodification Of The Female Egg: Stem Cell Technology And The Future, Rachel Ostander

North Carolina Central University Science & Intellectual Property Law Review

No abstract provided.

Design Of A Methane-To-Methanol Conversion Device, Pankti Doshi, Jessica Garcia

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The purpose of this project was to develop a device that will make natural gas, primarily methane, an efficient and economical fuel alternative as the world’s petroleum supply is diminished. Presently, methane gas is too costly and dangerous to convert to methanol. The direct oxidation of methane can reduce the processing and transportation costs creating a competitive alternative to petroleum. This device will be marketable to companies interested in alternative fuel sources competitive with petroleum. Entrepreneurs are then expected step in and develop a global market. With the development of our prototypes and running methane and oxygen (or atmospheric oxygen) …

Electrochemical Detection Of Arsenic Using A Microfluidic Sensing Platform, Ben Demaree, Allie Sibole, Jessica Vandergiessen

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a global health problem affecting millions of people. Long-term exposure to arsenic has been linked to a variety of cancerous and non-cancerous health effects. Current diagnostic technologies for arsenic quantification are limited to either inaccurate colorimetric methods or expensive, off-site lab assays, which are unsuitable for resource-limited settings. To address this need for an affordable and rapid means of sensitive arsenic detection, our design project focuses on the design and fabrication of the first point-of-use microfluidic device capable of electrochemical detection and quantification of arsenic levels in groundwater sources. We fabricate our device rapidly and …

Designing A Biomimetic Primary Cell-Based 3d Culture System For Neurotoxicity Screening, Teresa Cauvel, Jessca Kosit, Nicolo Mendoza

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Culturing neurons in vitro is a challenging task because they are a highly specialized cell type that reside in a complex and unique environment in the body. The aim of the research presented in the following thesis was to design a biomimetic, three-dimensional scaffold capable of (1) promoting primary neuron maturation and axonal outgrowth and (2) serving as a system for toxicology screening. In the system presented here, neurons were cultured in three-dimensional hydrogels, simulating the physiological environment that these cells experience within the body. In doing so, a biologically relevant response was elicited upon their exposure to acrylamide, a …

Protein Engineering Of Luciferase To Enhance Bioluminescent Properties, Charles Schwab, Peter Wittig

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Bioluminescence is the ability of naturally occurring organisms to emit light. Many instances of bioluminescence have been identified ranging from fireflies to bacteria. The protein responsible for bioluminescence in all of these organisms is luciferase. The exact function and structure of this protein are still unknown to this day. This project aims at better understanding luciferase as well as enhancing its bioluminescent properties. In order to work with luciferase, we had to isolate all of the genes necessary for bioluminescence. The six genes necessary for bioluminescence are Lux A,B,C,D,E,G. We isolated each of these genes from original bacterial DNA. We …

Microchip Capillary Electrophoresis, Scott Hardy, Daniel Schull, Mark Vinopal

Bioengineering Senior Theses

For the study of neuromodulation in Cancer borealis we have designed a microfluidic device to separate and detect bioamine concentrations with a high temporal resolution. Our goal is to use this device to measure the concentration of continuous bioamine microdialysis samples directly from the pericardial cavity (the area surrounding the heart) of Cancer borealis. The microfluidic device that we designed is made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and exhibits an off-channel configuration of capillary electrophoresis (CE) by incorporating micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). CE is used to separate bioamines based on charge and size due to the applied electrical potential. In the off-channel …

Developent Of A Phospholipid Encapsulation Process For Quantum Dots To Be Used In Biologic Applications, Logan Grimes

Master's Theses

The American Cancer Society predicts that 1,665,540 people will be diagnosed with cancer, and 585,720 people will die from cancer in 2014. One of the most common types of cancer in the United States is skin cancer. Melanoma alone is predicted to account for 10,000 of the cancer related deaths in 2014. As a highly mobile and aggressive form of cancer, melanoma is difficult to fight once it has metastasized through the body. Early detection in such varieties of cancer is critical in improving survival rates in afflicted patients. Present methods of detection rely on visual examination of suspicious regions …

A Simulation Protocol For Exercise Physiology In Fontan Patients Using A Closed Loop Lumped-Parameter Model, Ethan Kung, Giancarlo Pennati, Francesco Migliavacca, Tian-Yen Hsia, Richard Figliola, Alison Marsden, Alessandro Giardini

Publications

Background: Reduced exercise capacity is nearly universal among Fontan patients, though its etiology is not yet fully understood. While previous computational studies have attempted to model Fontan exercise, they did not fully account for global physiologic mechanisms nor directly compare results against clinical and physiologic data. Methods: In this study, we developed a protocol to simulate Fontan lower-body exercise using a closed-loop lumped-parameter model describing the entire circulation. We analyzed clinical exercise data from a cohort of Fontan patients, incorporated previous clinical findings from literature, quantified a comprehensive list of physiological changes during exercise, translated them into a computational model …

Clear Circuit Contact Lens, Paul Hecker Ii, Phillip Azar, Alexander Do, Benny Ng, Errol Leon

Electrical Engineering

The clear active contact lens project aims to address safety and hazard awareness with an unexplored field of eye wear technology. With advancements in nanotechnology and the advent of circuits on contact lens, this project is one of the first research and development into this new field, following University of Washington and Google. The team focuses on the safety and biocompatibility of the contact lens for a comfortable ease of use. The designs push the limits of thin film printed technology with its pursuit of fine designs of 250μm antennas. The project streamlines the manufacturing process for a combination substrate …

Smooth Muscle Cell Organization In The Stem Region Of The Gracilis Collateral Circulation, Amanda Krall

Biomedical Engineering

Many patients who suffer from the ischemic Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease (PAOD) experience intermittent claudication, which can be attributed to impaired vasodilation. Collateral vessels are the primary site of resistance to blood flow downstream; therefore maximizing vasodilation in collaterals is crucial for efficient circulation. Collaterals function as natural bypasses around the occluded arteries and the increase in flow into these vessels causes them to outwardly remodel into conduit vessels. However, functional vasodilation in the stem region of collateral vessels is impaired at day 7 following femoral ligation, which can be attributed to smooth muscle cell malfunction. However, the increase in …

Learning Redundant Motor Tasks With And Without Overlapping Dimensions: Facilitation And Interference Effects, Rajiv Ranganathan, Jon A. Wieser, Kristine M. Mosier, Ferdinando A. Mussa-Ivaldi, Robert A. Scheidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Prior learning of a motor skill creates motor memories that can facilitate or interfere with learning of new, but related, motor skills. One hypothesis of motor learning posits that for a sensorimotor task with redundant degrees of freedom, the nervous system learns the geometric structure of the task and improves performance by selectively operating within that task space. We tested this hypothesis by examining if transfer of learning between two tasks depends on shared dimensionality between their respective task spaces. Human participants wore a data glove and learned to manipulate a computer cursor by moving their fingers. Separate groups of …

In Vivo Imaging Of Human Cone Photoreceptor Inner Segments, Drew Scoles, Yusufu N. Sulai, Christopher S. Langlo, Gerald A. Fishman, Christine A. Curcio, Joseph Carroll, Alfredo Dubra

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose.

An often overlooked prerequisite to cone photoreceptor gene therapy development is residual photoreceptor structure that can be rescued. While advances in adaptive optics (AO) retinal imaging have recently enabled direct visualization of individual cone and rod photoreceptors in the living human retina, these techniques largely detect strongly directionally-backscattered (waveguided) light from normal intact photoreceptors. This represents a major limitation in using existing AO imaging to quantify structure of remnant cones in degenerating retina.

Methods.

Photoreceptor inner segment structure was assessed with a novel AO scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) differential phase technique, that we termed nonconfocal split-detector, in two healthy …