Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Oriented Electrospun Fibers Of Poly(Pro-Curcumin/Peg) Sequester Reactive Oxygen Species And Promote The Growth Of Schwann Cells, Jack W. Devlin, Payton R. O'Connor, Conrad H. Cheung, John T. Leman, Martin Oudega, Edmund F. Palermo, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the biological injury microenvironment, pathologically elevated oxidative stress hinders healthy cell migration. Aligned electrospun fibers are used as tissue engineering scaffolds to support and guide the directionality of cell migration. The ability of cells in the central nervous system to sequester and quench reactive oxygen species is limited, and most electrospun fibers do not exert any antioxidant activity on contact. Thus, the challenge remains in designing a scaffold that can both guide cells to the injury site as well as sequester and quench excess free radicals, allowing cells to thrive and potentially regenerate. Curcumin is a well-known, potent antioxidant, …

Bioprinted Scaffolds For Investigating Fibroblast Alignment, Lillian Thro, Daeha Joung Ph.D.

UROP Posters

Fibroblasts play a vital role in tissue repair, ECM remodeling, and maintaining structural integrity in human tissues. However, their behavior in engineered 3D microenvironments remains poorly understood. Traditional 2D cultures fail to capture the complex cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions that govern fibroblast alignment, migration, and proliferation in vivo. To address this gap, this project uses bioprinted scaffolds that mimic native ECM structures and provide a platform for studying fibroblast behavior in controlled microenvironments. The project focuses on varying scaffold channel properties—such as width, depth, and geometry—to investigate how physical cues influence fibroblast organization and collective migration. A biodegradable gelatin-based ECM …

Recent Advances In Bioceramics, Fundamental Properties And Future Perspective In Biomedical Applications ‒ A Review, Ayesha Younas, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, Mohd Faizal Binte Abdullah, Lobat Tayebi, Shuanghu Wang, Abdalla Abdal-Hay, Yichi Xu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Bioceramics are important biomaterials in biomedical engineering because of their biocompatibility, bioactivity, osteoconductivity, and structural resemblance to actual bone tissue. In recent years, materials science and nanotechnology have enabled the use of bioceramics in bone regeneration, dental restoration, tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, and implantable medical devices. This comprehensive review covers advances in bioceramics, including calcium phosphates, hydroxyapatite (HAp), tricalcium phosphate, bioactive glasses, zirconia, alumina, and multifunctional ceramic nanocomposites. Priority is given to techniques such as additive manufacturing, 3D printing, sol-gel processing, electrospinning, and nanostructuring to improve mechanical strength, porosity, bioactivity, and cell interactions. Recent advances include ion doping, surface …

Harnessing Bioscaffold-Coupled Stimulation Through Electroactive Graphene Foam For Enhanced Cellular And Mechanical Responses: Applications In Cartilage Tissue Engineering, Mone't Sawyer

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of joint degeneration, with limited treatment options that fail to restore native cartilage. Tissue engineering offers a promising strategy by combining cells, scaffolds, and bioactive cues to regenerate functional tissue, though challenges remain in developing systems that integrate and precisely control these signals in three-dimensional environments. This work establishes a scaffold-coupled electrical stimulation (ES) platform using electroactive graphene foam (GF) to modulate cellular and mechanical responses relevant to cartilage tissue engineering. Custom stereolithography-printed bioreactors were developed to deliver low-voltage biphasic square waves (20–60 mVpp, 1 kHz) directly to GF scaffolds under submerged culture, maintaining waveform …

Mechanistic Investigation Of Ring-Opening Polymerization Of Polycaprolactone Using Tin(Ii) Catalysts: Ligand Effects And Biomedical Applications, Eva-Larue M. Barber

Honors Scholar Theses

This research explores the mechanistic aspects of ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone (CL) to produce polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable polymer widely used in biomedical applications. The study investigates how light exposure and catalyst concentration influence polymerization efficiency, using tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate [Sn(Oct)₂] as the catalyst in a non-polar toluene solvent at 90 °C. Reactions were conducted under either ambient light or black light bulb (BLB) illumination, with monomer-to-catalyst ratios of 1:1 and 200:1.

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy was used to analyze conversion efficiency by tracking the disappearance of monomer signals and appearance of characteristic PCL peaks. Results revealed …

Determining The Wound Closure Capabilities Of A Biological Engineered Blood Vessel For Hd Access, Brianna Regan, Alex Dumitru, Mai Lam

Medical Student Research Symposium

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is a prominent chronic condition with dialysis as a primary treatment option. Dialysis necessitates implementation of an access point, with the gold standard being an AV fistula which possesses multiple shortcomings. Alternative access points, namely synthetic grafts, do not allow wound healing characteristics. This work aims to explore how a tissue engineered vascular graft (TEVG) may be able to address these issues by allowing a long-term access point for HD that can close puncture wounds.

The effects of growth factors on our cells were tested preliminarily by means of a scratch assay on plates of …

Pancreatic Cancer Extracellular Vesicles Stimulate Schwann Cell Activation And Perineural Invasion In Vitro Via Il-8/Ccl2, Emory Gregory, Isabel Powers, Azemat Jamshidi-Parsian, Robert J. Griffin, Younghye Song

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, and perineural invasion (PNI), in which cancer cells infiltrate nerves, enables metastasis in most patients. PNI is largely attributed to Schwann cells (SC) that, when activated, accelerate cancer cell migration towards nerves. However, this cancer-associated reprogramming is generally under-appreciated. Additionally, tumor extracellular vesicle (EV) facilitation of cancer aggravation is well documented, but more investigation is required to better understand their role in PNI. Here, we assessed whether PDAC EVs mediate PNI via SC activation using tissue-engineered in vitro platforms and PANC-1 and HPNE human cell lines as models. …

Advances In Bacterial Cellulose-Based Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering: Review, Rewati Raman Ujjwal, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has emerged as a highly versatile and promising biomaterial in tissue engineering, with potential applications across skin, bone, cartilage, and vascular regeneration. Its exceptional properties like high mechanical strength, superior biocompatibility, excellent moisture retention, and inherent ability to support cell adhesion and proliferation, make BC particularly effective for wound healing and skin regeneration. These attributes accelerate tissue repair and foster new tissue formation, highlighting its value in skin-related applications. Additionally, BC's capacity to support osteogenic differentiation, combined with its mechanical robustness, positions it as a strong candidate for bone tissue engineering, facilitating regeneration and repair. Recent advancements …

3d Bioprinted Coaxial Tubule Optimization For Human Aortic Endothelial Cell Growth, Ilse Gabriela Perez Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This paper introduces a research study of printing parameter optimization of extruded, cell-laden, 3D bioprinted coaxial tubules, as well as cell interaction observations. Optimization of printing parameters seeks to reduce variability of the tubules’ inner and outer diameters. The tubules were manufactured from a 0.4% Collagen I - 1.6% NaC6H7O6 (Sodium Alginate) bioink, that reaches gelation through interaction with a 3.2% CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride) solution. The bioinks were extruded through a dual syringe pump mechanism connected to a coaxial nozzle, which is mounted on an adapted 3D FDM (Fused Deposition …

Tissue Engineered Models Of Environmental And Metabolism-Driven Cancer-Nerve Crosstalk, Emory Gregory

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Within the last 30 years, cancer-nerve interactions have garnered attention for causing patient pain, increasing the risk of recurrence, and decreasing patient prognosis. There are 2 key forms cancer-nerve crosstalk takes: perineural invasion (PNI), in which cancer cells infiltrate nerves as a route for metastasis, and tumor innervation (TI), in which neurites penetrate solid tumors to promote tumor progression. Present in vitro models of cancer-nerve crosstalk primarily include Matrigel® mouse matrix and collagen I hydrogels; whereas collagen I hydrogels neglect tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) complexity, Matrigel® is controversial for its batch-to-batch inconsistencies and inclusion of experiment-altering growth factors. Decellularized …

Analyzing Heat Generated From Electro-Osmotic Flow Utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics, Jordan Elizabeth Grothe

Honors Thesis

Without extensive vascularization, the transfer of fluid and nutrients through human tissue is limited to diffusion and weak interstitial flow. Electroosmosis, or the flow of fluid driven by an electrical field, has become a promising solution. Scientists have begun applying electricity to human tissue to promote stronger interstitial flow; however, optimization of this process has proven to be a challenge due to ohmic heating. Cells function within a small range of temperatures and exposure to voltages exceeding the threshold will cause cells to degrade and die prematurely. This research seeks to better understand and quantify the range of voltage where …

Investigation Of The Effect Of Preparation Parameters On The Structural And Mechanical Properties Of Gelatin/Elastin/Sodium Hyaluronate Scaffolds Fabricated By The Combined Foaming And Freeze-Drying Techniques, Mansour Qamash, S. Misagh Imani, Meisam Omidi, Ciara Glancy, Lobat Tayebi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper aimed to evaluate the effects of different preparation parameters, including agitation speed, agitation time, and chilling temperature, on the structural and mechanical properties of a novel gelatin/elastin/sodium hyaluronate tissue engineering scaffold, recently developed by our research group. Fabricated using a combination of foaming and freeze-drying techniques, the scaffolds were assessed to understand how these parameters influence their morphology, internal microstructure, porosity, mechanical properties, and degradation behavior. The fabrication process used in this study involved preparing a homogeneous aqueous solution containing 8% gelatin, 2% elastin, and 0.5% sodium hyaluronate (w/v), which was then subjected to mechanical agitation at speeds …

Design, Development, And Validation Of A Perfusion-Compression Bioreactor To Study Osteogenesis In Bone Explants, Alexis Victoria Graham

Theses and Dissertations

The current gold standard treatment for bone defects is autologous cancellous bone graft, which involves increased surgery time and donor site morbidity, and limited supply of bone and cells for regeneration. Bioreactors may aid in the generation of mechanically conditioned bone grafts with more cells compared to traditional grafts. However, the specific parameters of fluid flow and mechanical loading which contribute to osteogenesis and cell viability in bioreactors are not fully characterized. Here, a perfusion-compression bioreactor system was developed to study osteogenesis in porcine trabecular bone explants. Loading accuracy was over 88% across six bioreactors at a 0.1 s-1 strain …

Engineering Next-Generation Cardiovascular Therapies, Ryan Walker Barrs

All Dissertations

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Heart disease, in particular, accounted for 1 in every 5 deaths in the United States in 2021, representing a substantial public health burden that will require more effective treatment options to alleviate. Heart transplant surgery is currently the only option to completely restore cardiac function, but many patients die while waiting for a transplant due to a longstanding organ donor shortage. Thus, there is a dire need for accessible treatment options that can repair damaged hearts. Recent advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have accelerated the development of therapies for …

In Vitro And In Vivo Diabetic Models For Assessment Of Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts, Juan Carlos Carrillo Garcia

All Dissertations

Diabetes has become one of the leading causes of lower-limb loss worldwide. Every 30 seconds, a person loses a limb due to diabetic-related vascular complications. About one-third of patients needing lower-limb bypass surgery have debilitated autologous vessels unsuitable for use, and no other good long-term options are available. These detrimental effects on the vasculature are caused mainly by the hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic conditions derived from diabetes. Under these conditions, an increase in advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and reactive oxygen species leads to irreversible crosslinks of extracellular matrix proteins, accelerating vascular pathology through vascular stiffening, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, atherosclerosis, fibrosis, …

Editorial: Intervertebral Disc Degeneration And Osteoarthritis: Mechanisms Of Disease And Functional Repair., Graciosa Q Teixeira, Jana Riegger, Raquel M Gonçalves, Makarand V. Risbud

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

A Piezoelectric Gelatin Scaffold For Schwann Cell Induced Spinal Cord Repair, Scott Stratton

Dissertations

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in axonal damage and consequently, functional loss for which there is no effective treatment at the present time. Axon growth across the injured site is needed to restore disruptive axonal circuitry, which is needed for recovery of lost function, but endogenous axon growth is poor. A Schwann cell (SC) transplant has shown promise in promoting axon growth in the injured spinal cord. Similarly, it has been shown that axons grow into biomaterial conduits especially when they are engineered to provide physical and biochemical growth-promoting cues. While both approaches are promising, their overall effect on axon …

Exploring The Effects Of Microarchitecture On Astrocyte Behavior And Vascular Remodeling In Spinal Cord Injury, Devin Gerber

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common condition and is characterized by traumatic and progressive damage that results in limited neuron regeneration and thus a restricted recovery. In SCI, the vasculature is also severely damaged, which exacerbates inflammation at the injury site. Specifically, insufficient angiogenesis occurs at the site of injury due to the fibrotic pathological microenvironment1 . SCI also leads to the formation of a fluid-filled cavity and thus gliosis and fibrosis, forming a dense glial and fibrotic scar around the cavity. The microenvironment at the injury site plays a significant role in astrocyte behavior, promoting the transformation of …

Structure-Property-Processing Analysis Of Graphene Bioscaffolds For Viability And Differentiation Of C2c12 Cells, Lynn Karriem

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

We investigated the structure – property – processing correlation of graphene bioscaffolds produced using three different methods. Bioscaffolds were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sublimation of Silicon Carbide (SiC), and printed solvent assisted exfoliated graphene ink. To gain insight into the roughness and topography of graphene, AFM was performed on each bioscaffold. Raman spectroscopy mapping demonstrated differences in the I_2D/I_G ratio for each scaffold. Young’s modulus was determined by nanoindentation and indicated that epitaxial graphene had the highest average stiffness, followed by CVD, with printed graphene demonstrating the lowest average stiffness. To investigate the biocompatibility of …

Mechanical Properties And Morphological Alterations In Fiber-Based Scaffolds Affecting Tissue Engineering Outcomes, James Dolgin, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao, Stephen Farias, Carl G. Simon, Smitha Rao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Electrospinning is a versatile tool used to produce highly customizable nonwoven nanofiber mats of various fiber diameters, pore sizes, and alignment. It is possible to create electrospun mats from synthetic polymers, biobased polymers, and combinations thereof. The post-processing of the end products can occur in many ways, such as cross-linking, enzyme linking, and thermal curing, to achieve enhanced chemical and physical properties. Such multi-factor tunability is very promising in applications such as tissue engineering, 3D organs/organoids, and cell differentiation. While the established methods involve the use of soluble small molecules, growth factors, stereolithography, and micro-patterning, electrospinning involves an inexpensive, labor …

Fibroblast-Generated Extracellular Matrix Guides Anastomosis During Wound Healing In An Engineered Lymphatic Skin Flap, Alvis Chiu, Wenkai Jia, Yumeng Sun, Jeremy Goldman, Feng Zhao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

A healthy lymphatic system is required to return excess interstitial fluid back to the venous circulation. However, up to 49% of breast cancer survivors eventually develop breast cancer-related lymphedema due to lymphatic injuries from lymph node dissections or biopsies performed to treat cancer. While early-stage lymphedema can be ameliorated by manual lymph drainage, no cure exists for late-stage lymphedema when lymph vessels become completely dysfunctional. A viable late-stage treatment is the autotransplantation of functional lymphatic vessels. Here we report on a novel engineered lymphatic flap that may eventually replace the skin flaps used in vascularized lymph vessel transfers. The engineered …

Integrating Shear Flow And Trypsin Treatment To Assess Cell Adhesion Strength, Antra Patel, Bhavana Bhavanam, Trevor Keenan, Venkat Maruthamuthu

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Cell adhesion is of fundamental importance in cell and tissue organization and for designing cell-laden constructs for tissue engineering. Prior methods to assess cell adhesion strength for strongly adherent cells using hydrodynamic shear flow either involved the use of specialized flow devices to generate high shear stress or used simpler implementations like larger height parallel plate chambers that enable multihour cell culture but generate low wall shear stress and are, hence, more applicable for weakly adherent cells. Here, we propose a shear flow assay for adhesion strength assessment of strongly adherent cells that employs off-the-shelf parallel plate chambers for shear …

Finite Element Analysis Of 3d-Printed Pcl Scaffolds, Ireolu K. Orenuga, Joao Soares, Phillip D. Glass, Daeha Joung Ph.D.

UROP Posters

Finite Element Analysis of 3D-printed PCL Scaffolds for Synergizing Cellular Micro-Environment and Mechanical Stimuli to Enhance Engineered Tissue Growth in Vitro

Ireolu Orenuga,1 Phillip Glass,2 Daeha Joung,2 Joao S. Soares1

1. Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
2. Department of Physics, College of Humanities & Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University

Introduction: Tissue engineering aims to create viable and functional engineered tissues via biodegradable scaffolds and autologous cells. Scaffolds play an essential part in organizing the architecture of developing tissues and aid in the proper function of implants acutely by serving as mechanical support and long-term by …

A Novel Biomaterial Platform For Cardiac Tissue Engineering, Andrew House

Dissertations

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world. With a growing demand for in vitro cardiac models that can recapitulate the complex physiology of the cardiac tissue, there is a desire to create novel therapies and treatments. However, due to a lack of fundamental understanding of the heart's inflammatory response to myocardial infarction, the development of new therapies is both time consuming and costly. In this work, a novel approach to fabricating a dynamic hydrogel cardiac platform is reported. This platform better mimics the dynamic changes occurring in the native cardiac tissue microenvironment during cardiac …

Naturally Derived Fibrous Scaffolds Containing Metabolic Factors For Bone Tissue Engineering, Apurva Limaye

Dissertations

More than 500,000 bone grafting procedures are performed each year to treat bone defects, trauma, and non-unions. Current strategies, including autografts and allografts, face limitations that include donor site morbidity and poor integration, respectively. Treatments using the delivery of the growth factor, bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2), result in ectopic bone formation and adverse effects at high doses. Tissue engineering strategies are utilized to combat these challenges. Natural biomaterials are commonly used as tissue engineering scaffolds due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and they can promote cellular function. However, animal-derived materials can have limitations in availability, lot to lot variability and potential …

Bioengineered Scaffolds To Induce Alignment And Promote Axon Regeneration Following Spinal Cord Injury, Kiet Anh Tran

Theses and Dissertations

Scaffolds delivered to injured spinal cords to stimulate axon connectivity often act as a bridge to stimulate regeneration at the injured area, but current approaches lack the permissiveness, topology and mechanics to mimic host tissue properties. This dissertation focuses on bioengineering scaffolds through the means of altering topology in injectables and tuning mechanics in 3D-printed constructs as potential therapies for spinal cord injury repair. A self-assembling peptide scaffold, RADA-16I, is used due to its established permissiveness to axon growth and ability to support vascularization. Immunohistochemistry assays verify that vascularized peptide scaffolds promote axon infiltration, attenuate inflammation and reduce astrogliosis. Furthermore, …

Engineering Elastic And Functional Electrospun Nano-Fibers For Potential Heart Repair, Alan Mark Taylor

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

In the United States and around the world, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been one of the main causes of death since 1921, responsible for approximately 1 in 4 deaths domestically. Myocardial infarction (MI), or commonly called a heart attack, is a subset of CVD that often ends in heart failure (HF). Cardiac cells are incapable of regeneration, leading to severe impacts on quality of life. Current treatments for MI fail to target left ventricular remodeling and therefore do little to address the progression towards HF. Cardiac scaffolds for tissue engineering (TE) are a prominent solution in recent research. Developing various …

Engineering Of Ideal Systems For The Study And Direction Of Stem Cell Asymmetrical Division And Fate Determination, Martina Zamponi

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The cellular microenvironment varies significantly across tissues, and it is constituted by both resident cells and the macromolecules they are exposed to. Cues that the cells receive from the microenvironment, as well as the signaling transmitted to it, affect their physiology and behavior. This notion is valid in the context of stem cells, which are susceptible to biochemical and biomechanical signaling exchanged with the microenvironment, and which plays a fundamental role in establishing fate determination and cell differentiation events. The definition of the molecular mechanisms that drive stem cell asymmetrical division, and how these are modulated by microenvironmental signaling, is …

A Novel Electroconductive Nanofibrous Scaffold For Bone Regeneration, Mitchell Kenter

Medical Engineering Theses

The goal of this study was to develop a biodegradable and conductive scaffold to mimic the piezoelectric properties of bone and the architecture of the extracellular matrix. Poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is a conductive polymer of great interest in tissue engineering due to excellent electrical stability and biocompatibility. To enhance its conductivity, dopants such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) can be added. Engineered graphene oxide (GO) can also be introduced as oxidant to enhance conductivity and mechanical properties. PEDOT nanocomposites were synthesized by oxidative polymerization of 3, 4-Etylenedioxythiophene monomer (EDOT) in the presence of GO, DMSO, ferric chloride and various solvents. The …

A Bioactive Composite Scaffold Containing Zinc For Bone Tissue Engineering, Jennifer W. Moy

Dissertations

Non-union bone fractures occur during 5-10% of all bone fractures where the fracture is incapable of healing despite current surgical interventions with the use of bone grafts and graft substitutes. As an alternative, studies utilize growth factors and other biomolecules to differentiate mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts to aid in bone formation in vitro and in vivo studies. Zinc has known insulin-mimetic properties and are incorporated into multiple tissue engineering approaches to aid in osteogenesis, bone formation, and vascularization. In this work, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were evaluated for the effect of zinc on osteogenesis. The supplementation of zinc in …