Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Skin Phantom For Biowearable Device Testing, Ruby Karimjee, Brooke Fitzwilson, Jordan Spice

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The biowearable industry currently utilizes animals, humans, and cadavers for testing skin mounted bio-devices. There is a need for a sustainable skin phantom that is capable of simulating the properties of skin. We proposed a skin phantom educational kit that emulates the perspiration and electrical properties (i.e. impedance spectrum) of skin. This kit can mimic the effects of different sweat concentrations and geometrical structures and allows students to visualize how these properties change electrical measurements. We designed a three-layered model composed of silicone rubber sandwiched between agar, which is similar to the skin's elastomeric and porous texture. We used simple …

Classification Of Breast Cancer Using Deep Learning And Mammogram Images, Travis Kay, Derrick Dang Nguyen, Lashan Wijayawickrama

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among US women. Thus, it is important for doctors to detect and diagnose breast cancer as early as possible. Mammography has been used for about 30 years, but there have been rapid developments using digital mammography technology and computer aided systems to help improve breast imaging. Deep learning techniques are being developed to provide a more effective tool for the classification of breast cancer. We adopt a transfer learning approach and fine-tune a pre-trained convolutional neural network model for accurate classification of breast masses based on screening mammograms. The model …

G-Map: Gastrointestinal Myoelectric Activity Phantom, Kei Castleberry, Sarah King, Edie O’Connor

Bioengineering Senior Theses

In the biowearable industry, there is a need for benchtop testing methods that present cost-effective, consistent, and ethical alternatives to current preclinical testing. Artificial phantoms serve to meet this need by mimicking the clinically relevant elements that biowearables monitor. They act as a tool for demonstrating a medical device’s safety and efficacy. The objective of this project is to create a gastrointestinal (GI) phantom that emulates the electrical and material properties of the stomach, small intestine, and colon in order to test diagnostic GI biowearables. Our team also aimed to create a computer-simulated model of the phantom in order to …

Tissue Engineering Pre-Reads, Ryan M. Williams

Open Educational Resources

This material provides an introduction to a tissue engineering module in an experimental methods in biomedical engineering course. Students are expected to be familiar with this material prior to a pre-assessment taken at the beginning of class as we have condense lecture time this semester.

Development And Mechanical Characterization Of A Composite Biomaterial Made From Agricultural Waste Reinforcement In A Fungal Mycelium Matrix., John Adam Howe

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Velocity Distribution And Stress Analysis In A Continuous Exchange Cell-Free Protein Synthesis System, Grace Nguyen

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Nanoanalytical Analysis Of Bisphosphonate-Driven Alterations Of Microcalcifications Using A 3d Hydrogel System And In Vivo Mouse Model, Jessica L. Ruiz, Joshua D. Hutcheson, Luis Cardoso, Amirala Bakhshian Nik, Alexandra Condado De Abreu, Tan Pham, Fabrizio Buffolo, Sara Busatto, Stefania Frederici, Andrea Ridolfi, Masanori Aikawa, Sergio Bertazzo, Paolo Bergese, Sheldon Weinbaum, Elena Aikawa

Publications and Research

Vascular calcification predicts atherosclerotic plaque rupture and cardiovascular events. Retrospective studies of women taking bisphosphonates (BiPs), a proposed therapy for vascular calcification, showed that BiPs paradoxically increased morbidity in patients with prior acute cardiovascular events but decreased mortality in event-free patients. Calcifying extracellular vesicles (EVs), released by cells within atherosclerotic plaques, aggregate and nucleate calcification. We hypothesized that BiPs block EV aggregation and modify existing mineral growth, potentially altering microcalcification morphology and the risk of plaque rupture. Three-dimensional (3D) collagen hydrogels incubated with calcifying EVs were used to mimic fibrous cap calcification in vitro, while an ApoE−/− mouse was used …

An Automated Framework For Connected Speech Evaluation Of Neurodegenerative Disease: A Case Study In Parkinson's Disease, Sai Bharadwaj Appakaya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people around the world. The progressive degeneration worsens the symptoms, heavily impacting the quality of life of the patients as well as the caregivers. Speech production is one of the physiological processes affected by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Speech is the most basic form of communication, and the effect of neurodegeneration degrades speech production, thereby reducing social interaction and mental well-being. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting speech production in 90% of the diagnosed individuals. Speech analysis methods for PD in clinical methods …

Moderate Heat-Assisted Gene Electrotransfer For Intradermal Dna Vaccination And Protein Replacement Therapy In The Skin, Chelsea Marie Edelblute

Biomedical Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Gene electrotransfer (GET) holds great promise for the delivery of therapeutic agents. The skin serves as an attractive target for GET due to its availability and unique cellular composition. Protein replacement therapy and DNA vaccination are potential applications for intradermal GET. The combination of moderate tissue preheating and GET has been shown to achieve elevated gene expression levels while reducing the necessary applied voltage. In the current work, we utilized a 16-pin multi-electrode array (MEA) and incorporated nine optical fibers, connected to an infrared laser, to pre-heat the tissue to 43°C before application of GET. In a guinea pig model, …

Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction And Effects On Arterial Wall Microstructure, Jeffrey Thomas Rodgers

Theses and Dissertations

Vascular endothelial cell dysfunction (ECD) is a disease characterized by the inability of the vascular endothelial cells to transmit signaling molecules, namely nitric oxide (NO), in response to changes in blood flow rate. This disease is shown to be incident in the onset of more severe vascular disease such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, and heart failure. Long-term ECD is shown to cause long-term remodeling such as decreased flow-mediated dilation, increased pulse-wave velocity, intimal-medial thickening, and increased wall stiffness due to collagen deposition. We used second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy to analyze this change in the collagen microstructure of the arterial extracellular …

Age And Sex Dependency Of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Progression In A Mouse Model Of Marfan Syndrome, Nazli Gharraee

Theses and Dissertations

Aneurysm of the ascending aorta is the most common type of thoracic aortic aneurysm, and it is a life-threatening manifestation of Marfan syndrome (MFS), a connective tissue disorder caused by mutation of the FBN1 gene. Incidence of Marfan syndrome is similar for men and women; however, men suffer from more severe aortic events compared to women.

This study aims to provide a better understanding of age and sex dependency of cell and extracellular matrix alterations of the aortic wall during the progression of the aneurysm caused by Marfan syndrome. To achieve this goal, the C1041G/+ mouse model of Marfan syndrome …

Defining The Pathophysiology Of Gut Humoral Immunodeficiency, Ahmed Dawood Mohammed

Theses and Dissertations

Mucosal antibodies maintain gut homeostasis by promoting spatial segregation between host tissues and luminal microbes. Antibody-deficiency is the most common form of primary immunodeficiency observed in humans. In antibody-deficient humans, abnormal composition of the gut microbiota ('dysbiosis') is associated with chronic inflammatory responses and gastrointestinal complications. However, the mechanisms by which dysbiosis promotes inflammatory disease are poorly defined. In the studies described in this dissertation, we utilize CD19-/- mice as a model of antibody deficiency to test the hypothesis that antibody deficiency negatively impacts gut physiology under steady-state conditions. Chapter #1 is an overview of B cell development and how …

Mechanism Of Therapeutic Efficacy Of New Drugs In Glioblastoma, Firas Hameed Khathayer

Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma is the most malignant and prevalent brain tumor in adults. It can grow and spread quickly causing harm to brain health. The deregulation of epigenetic mechanisms is considered the main agent in the developing of GBM. One of the enzymes involved in epigenetic alternation and cancer development are histone deacetylases enzyme (HDAC) by removal acetyl group from histone and create condensed chromatin that suppresses transcription gene to histone and non-histone proteins involved in tumorigenesis. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HADCi) are the most common therapeutic methods for many types of cancer treatments. In the present study, we used relative HDAC inhibitor …

Artificial Lumbar Spinal Disc Implant For Treating Degenerative Disc Disease, Sara Layton, Nikhil Pai, Michael Rueckert

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Degenerative disc disease has been one of the leading causes of debilitating back pain, affecting more than 400 million people yearly worldwide. This disease is so common that top neurosurgeons around the world are performing multiple surgeries every day to help relieve their patients of constant pain. The recovery time after an intense lumbar replacement surgery could vary from patient to patient but something most patients have in common is they do not want to do it again because they need to replace the disc after a few years. This is why our team is led by a top Neurosurgeon, …

Predictions Of Knee Joint Contact Forces Using Only Kinematic Inputs With A Recurrent Neural Network, Kaileigh Elisabeth Estler

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Knee joint contact (bone on bone) forces are commonly estimated using surrogate measures such as external knee adduction moments (with limited success) or musculoskeletal modeling (more successful). Despite its capabilities, modeling is not optimal for clinicians or persons with limited experience and knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design a novel prediction method for knee joint contact forces that is equal or more accurate than modeling, yet simplistic in terms of required inputs. METHODS: This study included all six subjects’ (71.3±6.5kg, 1.7±0.1m) data from the opensource “Grand Challenge” datasets (simtk.org) and two subjects from the "CAMS" …

Drive Leg And Stride Leg Ground Reaction Forces Relationship To Medial Elbow Stress And Velocity In Collegiate Baseball Pitchers, Brett Smith

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study examines several different kinetic variables in relation to pitch velocity and elbow varus torque in collegiate baseball pitchers using force plates, an inertial measurement unit, and a radar unit. The purpose of this study is to investigate the kinetic variables being measured and their relationship to pitch velocity and loads being placed on the medial elbow. Twelve collegiate baseball pitchers participated in this study, which was approved by the IRB. Impulse of the drive leg in the anterior-posterior direction, stride leg peak force in the anterior-posterior (AP) direction, elbow varus torque, and pitch velocity were all measured. Two …

The Influence Of Waste Water Sediment As A Component Of Asphalt Containing Heavy Metals On Soils Under Model Experimental Conditions, Elena Timofeeva Phd., Associate Professor, Vasilisa Kochetkova Master, Anatoly Klimanov Phd., Senior Lecturer, Sadritdin Turabdzhanov Dr. Professor

Technical science and innovation

Waste water sediment (WWS) is an ecological hazard to the environment and the search for its effective disposal is an urgent task. The main limitation of the WWS use is associated with the presence of the different ingredients - heavy metals, which can have a negative impact on the environment. There is asphalt production technolologies using WWS. This work considers the possibility of using asphalts with the WWS additives from car washes. This technology will reduce the negative influence on the environment due to the WWS recycling, as well as due to the possibility of using WWS instead of pure …

Chemical Properties Of Ordinary Chernozem Under Oil Contamination And Salinization Under The Conditions Of A Laboratory Experiment (Evidence From Republic Of Bashkortostan), Elena Timofeeva Phd., Associate Professor, Alisa Alexandrova Master, Sadritdin Turabdzhanov Dr., Professor

Technical science and innovation

The Republic of Bashkiria, Russia, is both an agricultural and crude producing region. Soil pollution and as the related process soil salinization are often caused by crude production. One of the most fertile soils - chernozems, represent more than a third of the soil cover of the Bashkortostan Republic. The research crucial task is to study chernozem salinization caused by petroleum pollution, it aims to research the chemism of soil salinization upon condition that crude oil and stratal waters flow into the soil simultaneously. The practical implementation of the proposed research is comprehension that we need to regulate the negative …

Foot Temperature Before And After Walking In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease, Jose Anguiano-Hernandez

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a pathology that can decrease blood flow to the lower limbs, resulting in the inability to regulate body temperature [1]. The effects of impaired blood flow caused by PAD on body temperature are unclear. The purpose of this study is to compare foot temperature changes before and after walking in healthy people and in patients with PAD. We hypothesize that 1) feet affected by PAD will experience a greater increase in temperature than healthy feet during walking and 2) feet affected by PAD will experience a slower rate of temperature recovery after walking compared …

Modeling Spatial Asymmetry In Visuomotor Coordination, Kolby Brink, Aaron Likens, Nikolaos Stergiou

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Coordination is foundational to human movement. One prominent model of coordination is the Haken-Kelso-Bunz which predicts change in relative phase between two oscillators during movement. Use of this model has shown that the body has a natural tendency to prefer certain coordination patterns over others. The generalizability of the model has sparked its use throughout the scientific community to observe movement through the lens of dynamical systems theory. We contend that this model can be advanced further through incorporation of visually perceived spatial asymmetries, a component not currently accounted for by the model. That is, we sought to find if …

Implementation And Evaluation Of A Baseball Pitching Program And Its Impact On Injury Prevention And Performance, Tyler Hamer

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The purpose of this study sought to examine the efficacy of biomechanical evaluations on collegiate baseball pitchers. Through this, we seek to develop a model for identifying at-risk athletes through a longitudinal assessment of pitching mechanics spanning pre-season to post-season along with in-season tracking of pathomechanics.

Design And Development Of A Semi-Rigid Hip Exoskeleton To Reduce Metabolic Cost, Arash Mohammadzadeh Gonabadi, Prokopios Antonellis, Sara Myers, Iraklis Pipinos, Philippe Malcolm

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Robotic exoskeletons can reduce metabolic cost in healthy individuals and restore mobility in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD is a cardiovascular disease produced by atherosclerosis of the leg arteries. The primary symptom of PAD is claudication or pain in the legs during walking, which severely shortens the distance a patient can walk. Knowing that up to 40% of the metabolic cost of walking comes from the hip muscles, different groups have been developing rigid exoskeletons and soft exosuits that assist the hip. Assisting at the hip has the advantage that the exoskeleton mass is positioned close to the …

The Effect Of Walking Speed And Magnitude Of Perturbation On Compensatory Responses, Farahnaz Fallah Tafti, Jenna Yentes

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Imposing a perturbation can induce an unstable condition during gait. Measuring the compensatory responses may be an accurate indicator of the ability to control stability. Responses to a perturbation can be quantified through the perturbed walking pattern deviations from an unperturbed condition. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of perturbation magnitude or speed of walking on compensatory responses to lateral perturbations during walking. Twenty healthy young participants recruited to this study and they were perturbed with the medium magnitude of perturbation, while walking on the treadmill at three different speeds (slow, preferred, and fast). They also …

Quantitative Pcr Of Small Nucleic Acids: Size Matters, Jay Min Lim, Rahul Tevatia, Ravi Saraf

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Quantitative dysregulation in small nucleic acids (NA), such as microRNA (miRNA), extracted from minimally invasive biopsies, such as, blood, stool, urine, nose, throat, are promising biomarker for diseases diagnosis and management. We quantify the effect of the extra step of poly(A) ligation for cDNA synthesis and small size of the NA on the limit of quantification (LOQ) of quantitative PCR (qPCR), the gold standard to measure copy number. It was discovered that for small NA, the cycle threshold, Ct that is proportional to −log[c], where [c] is the concentration of the target NA exhibits a sharp transition. The results indicate …

Pneumonia Radiograph Diagnosis Utilizing Deep Learning Network, Wesley O'Quinn

Honors College Theses

Pneumonia is a life-threatening respiratory disease caused by bacterial infection. The goal of this study is to develop an algorithm using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to detect visual signals for pneumonia in medical images and make a diagnosis. Although Pneumonia is prevalent, detection and diagnosis are challenging. The deep learning network AlexNet was utilized through transfer learning. A dataset consisting of 11,318 images was used for training, and a preliminary diagnosis accuracy of 72% was achieved.

Analysis Of Inflammation, Metabolic And Clinical Markers In Predicting Fat Mass In Hiv-Positive Males Using Artificial Neural Network, Nurul Farhah Shamsuddin

Student Works (2020-2029)

Increased inflammation has been discovered in people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which has been associated with the development and advancement of metabolic diseases. Immune activation and inflammation have been revealed to affect the redistribution of fat in people living with HIV (PLWH) whether the individual is on treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) or treatment naïve. Therefore, the assessment of body fat composition of PLWH based on markers of inflammation is important to develop keen diagnosis and prognosis of medical conditions facing by these patients, for example lipodystrophy syndrome, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this …

Effects Of Flight Altitude On The Lift Generation Of Monarch Butterflies: From Sea Level To Overwintering Mountain, Madhu K. Sridhar, Chang-Kwon Kang, Brian D. Landrum, Hikaru Aono, Shannon L. Mathis, Taeyoung Lee

PRC-Affiliated Research

Aerodynamic efficiency behind the annual migration of monarch butterflies, the longest among insects, is an unsolved mystery. Monarchs migrate 4000 km at high-altitudes to their overwintering mountains in Central Mexico. The air is thinner at higher altitudes, yielding reduced aerodynamic drag and enhanced range. However, the lift is also expected to reduce in lower density conditions. To investigate the ability of monarchs to produce sufficient lift to fly in thinner air, we measured the climbing motion of freely flying monarchs in high-altitude conditions. An optical method was used to track the flapping wing and body motions inside a large pressure …

Development Of Brain Atlases For Early-To-Middle Adolescent Collision-Sport Athletes, Yukai Zou, Wenbin Zhu, Ho-Ching Yang, Ikbeom Jang, Nicole L. Vike, Diana O. Svaldi, Trey E. Shenk, Victoria N. Poole, Evan L. Breedlove, Gregory G. Tamer Jr, Larry J. Leverenz, Ulrike Dydak, Eric A. Nauman, Yunjie Tong, Thomas M. Talavage, Joseph V. Rispoli

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Human brains develop across the life span and largely vary in morphology. Adolescent collision-sport athletes undergo repetitive head impacts over years of practices and competitions, and therefore may exhibit a neuroanatomical trajectory different from healthy adolescents in general. However, an unbiased brain atlas targeting these individuals does not exist. Although standardized brain atlases facilitate spatial normalization and voxel-wise analysis at the group level, when the underlying neuroanatomy does not represent the study population, greater biases and errors can be introduced during spatial normalization, confounding subsequent voxel-wise analysis and statistical findings. In this work, targeting early-to-middle adolescent (EMA, ages 13–19) collision-sport …

Acute Dose-Dependent Neuroprotective Effects Of Poly(Pro-17Β-Estradiol) In A Mouse Model Of Spinal Contusion Injury, Manoj K. Gottipati, Samuel A.T. Ellman, Devan L. Puhl, Zhen Guan, Phillip G. Popovich, Edmund F. Palermo, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

17β-Estradiol (E2) confers neuroprotection in preclinical models of spinal cord injury when administered systemically. The goal of this study was to apply E2 locally to the injured spinal cord for a sustained duration using poly(pro-E2) film biomaterials. Following contusive spinal cord injury in adult male mice, poly(pro-E2) films were implanted subdurally and neuroprotection was assessed using immunohistochemistry 7 days after injury and implantation. In these studies, poly(pro-E2) films modestly improved neuroprotection without affecting the inflammatory response when compared to the injured controls. To increase the E2 dose released, bolus-releasing poly(pro-E2) films were fabricated by incorporating unbound E2 into the poly(pro-E2) …

An Improved Clipped Sub-Histogram Equalization Technique Using Optimized Local Contrast Factor For Mammogram Image Analysis, Nurshafira Hazim Chan

Student Works (2020-2029)

Mammography has been known worldwide as the most common imaging modalities utilized for early detection of breast cancer. The mammographic images produced are in greyscale, however they often produced poor contrast images, non-uniform illumination, and the image often contain artefacts and noise. These limitations can be overcame during the pre-processing stage by improving the image enhancement process. Therefore, in this research an optimized enhancement framework is developed where the local contrast factor is manipulated to preserve details of the image. This technique aims to improve the overall image visibility without altering histogram of the original image, which will affect the …