Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Hypoxic Incubator Control System, Marina Zellers, Jennifer Rojas, Derek Tran

Biomedical Engineering

This paper describes the functionality of the current Hypoxic Incubator, a project started by BMED graduate students Simone Helfrich and Makenzie Jones, with the objective being to redesign the device to address potential areas of improvement. The hypoxic incubator has been designed to allow for the control of the O₂, CO₂, and N₂ levels such that researchers can grow and study cell culture in hypoxic conditions; however, its efficacy and efficiency are limited by the fact that it often overshoots the desired setpoints for O₂ and CO₂ in addition to being difficult to …

Postpartum Hemorrhage Detection Device, Kaitlyn Bailey, Adrian Diaz, Alcides Caballero

Biomedical Engineering

During a cesarean section, blood loss greater than 1000 mL is classified as a hemorrhage. Quantified blood loss methods are used to detect hemorrhage, however existing methods are inaccurate and time consuming. Our proposed device is inserted vaginally during a cesarean section to collect and quantify blood lost via the cervix during and after the procedure. The device also applies light suction to the uterus, which can aid in uterus collapse and decrease the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.

Biomaterials Redesign Of Microvascular Anastomotic Coupler, Nick Glatter, Sophie Jackson, Samuel Leingang

Biomedical Engineering

The key factors in the redesign of this part include the use of biomaterials, the redesign of the part geometry to include these biomaterials, and the proposition of production scale manufacturing methods suitable for these redesigns. The choice of biodegradable material was guided by previous literature, during which we found the PLGA polymer used in similar predicate devices with a biodegradability timeline similar to our goals. The model of coupler serving as the inspiration for the redesign utilizes two very strong but bioinert materials, polyethylene, and stainless steel. These high strength materials can withstand much greater forces than the biodegradable …

Gait Analysis Device For Elderly Fall Prediction, Ryan Hahn, Claudia Miller, Evan Yakligian

Biomedical Engineering

This document serves to outline the design process and final design for our project to address elderly independent living in collaboration with Apple. Included in this document is necessary academic literature of current fall risk assessments and descriptions of the current market of wearable gait analysis devices. Based on this research and data, we then outline a plan for design, manufacturing, prototyping, and testing a device to fulfill the original prompt given by our sponsors: create a device that will increase the ability of an aging loved one to live at home safely. This device is a wearable that collects …

Early Introduction Of 3d Modeling Modules Promotes The Development Of Simulation Skills In Downstream Biomedical Engineering Curricula, Mary S. Jia, Raj R. Rao, Mostafa Elsaadany

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Recent advancements in additive manufacturing have made 3D design a desirable skill in combating the historically slow development of biomedical products. Due to the broad applicability of additive manufacturing to biomedical engineering, 3D design and 3D printing are attractive educational tools for biomedical engineering students. However, due to the multidisciplinary nature of biomedical engineering, finding a suitable spot in the curriculum to teach students basic and application-based skills for 3D manufacturing is difficult. Furthermore, prior training in fundamental 3D design skills may be needed to support the use of application-based supplementary content.

Results

We designed a SolidWorks Simulations toolkit …

Prediction Of Persistent Post-Traumatic Headache With Long Short-Term Memory Networks, Todd C. Campo

Theses and Dissertations

Military members in combat situations are at a high risk for experiencing a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), often leaving them with Post-Traumatic Headache (PTH). There is currently a poor understanding of what factors predict if a patient will endure acute (short-term) PTH or Persistent PTH (PPTH). The Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium dataset contains a variety of pre-and-post-injury concussion assessments taken by NCAA athletes and service academy cadets between 2014 and 2018. Participants in this study (n = 1769) suffered a TBI. Using this longitudinal data, three models were constructed: an LSTM model using the raw assessment scores, …

Development Of Fibroblast/Endothelial Cell-Seeded Collagen Scaffolds For In Vitro Prevascularization, Daniela S. Masson-Meyers, Fahimeh Tabatabaei, Lane Steinhaus, Jeffrey M. Toth, Lobat Tayebi

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The development of vascularized scaffolds remains one of the major challenges in tissue engineering, and co-culturing with endothelial cells is known as one of the possible approaches for this purpose. In this approach, optimization of cell culture conditions, scaffolds, and fabrication techniques is needed to develop tissue equivalents that will enable in vitro formation of a capillary network. Prevascularized equivalents will be more physiologically comparable to the native tissues and potentially prevent insufficient vascularization after implantation. This study aimed to culture human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), alone or in co-culture with fibroblasts, on collagen scaffolds prepared by simple fabrication …

Analytical Methods For Determining Connectivity Leakage In Collaboration With Meissner Filtration Products, Ennis Cuhadaroglu, Finn Mccarthy, Alvin Ng

Biomedical Engineering

The scope of our project involved choosing existing testing procedures and determining a viable sample size to determine an accurate leakage rate of single-use system connections (SUS). Another goal was to assess the effects of gamma irradiation on the material integrity of the hose barb to tubing connections.

Our key customer requirements included: being able to determine an overall leakage rate and making a repeatable testing process. The importance of these requirements was determined through our house of quality and Pugh charts. To achieve the requirements, we tested the leakage in low-pressure and high-pressure scenarios with a large enough sample …

Dendrimer And Dendrimer Gel-Derived Drug Delivery Systems: Breaking Bottlenecks Of Topical Administration Of Glaucoma Medications, Juan Wang, Boxuan Li, Uday B. Kompella, Hu Yang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Due to high structural flexibility, multidrug carrying capability, and tunable size, dendrimers have been used as suitable carriers for ophthalmic drug delivery. Drug molecules can be either encapsulated or chemically coupled to dendrimers. the nanoscopic size, spheroidal shape, and cationic surface of Poly amidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers promote their interaction with the cornea and result in prolonged precorneal retention. Dendrimers could be further cross-linked to produce three-dimensional hydrogel networks or dendrimer hydrogels (DH). the properties of the DH can be readily adjusted to maintain both fluidity and adhesiveness, making them suitable for developing topical ocular drug formulations. Micro-/nano- sized DHs, that …

Split And Join: An Efficient Approach For Simulating Stapled Intestinal Anastomosis In Virtual Reality, Di Qi, Suvranu De

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Colorectal cancer is a life-threatening disease. It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Stapled anastomosis is a rapid treatment for colorectal cancer and other intestinal diseases and has become an integral part of routine surgical practice. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no existing work simulating intestinal anastomosis that often involves sophisticated soft tissue manipulations such as cutting and stitching. In this paper, for the first time, we propose a novel split and join approach to simulate a side-to-side stapled intestinal anastomosis in virtual reality. We mimic the intestine model using …

Microfluidic Concurrent Assessment Of Red Blood Cell Adhesion And Microcapillary Occlusion: Potential Hemorheological Biomarkers In Sickle Cell Disease, Yuncheng Man, Douglas H. Wu, Ran An, Karamoja Monchamp, Utku Goreke, Zoe Sekyonda, William J. Wulftange, Chiara Federici, Allison Bode, Lalitha V. Nayak, Umut A. Gurkan

Faculty Scholarship

Deformability and non-adherence are two fundamental functional properties of red blood cells (RBCs), which allow them to move unimpeded through the microvasculature. In sickle cell disease (SCD), polymerization of abnormal sickle hemoglobin leads to decreased deformability and increased membrane adhesiveness in RBCs. This contributes to abnormal blood vessel occlusion, which is central to the underlying pathophysiology. RBC deformability and adhesiveness are, therefore key hemorheological biomarkers in characterizing disease states as well as in evaluating novel therapeutics. To date, these important interrelated biomarkers have been assessed in distinct laboratory assays, without integration or concurrent assessment in vitro. To this end, we …

Effects Of Post-Translational Histone Modifications On Transcription Rate, Aaron Bohn

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Slow-Degrading Polymerized Curcumin Coating For Intracortical Microelectrodes, Alexis M. Ziemba, Mary Clare Crochiere Woodson, Jessica L. Funnell, Douglas Wich, Bailey Balouch, Deniz Rende, Dahlia N. Amato, Jonathan Bao, Ingrid Oprea, Dominica Cao, Neda Bajalo, Evon S. Ereifej, Jeffrey R. Capadona, Edmund F. Palermo, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Intracortical microelectrodes are used with brain-computer interfaces to restore lost limb function following nervous system injury. While promising, recording ability of intracortical microelectrodes diminishes over time due, in part, to neuroinflammation. As curcumin has demonstrated neuroprotection through anti-inflammatory activity, we fabricated a 300 nm-thick intracortical microelectrode coating consisting of a polyurethane copolymer of curcumin and polyethylene glycol (PEG), denoted as poly (curcumin-PEG1000 carbamate) (PCPC). The uniform PCPC coating reduced silicon wafer hardness by two orders of magnitude and readily absorbed water within minutes, demonstrating that the coating is soft and hydrophilic in nature. Using an in vitro release model, curcumin …

An Older Diabetes-Induced Mice Model For Studying Skin Wound Healing, Carlos Poblete Jara, Guilherme Nogueira, Joseane Morari, Thaís Paulino Do Prado, Renan De Medeiros Bezerra, Lício A. Velloso, William Velander, Eliana Pereira De Araújo

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Advances in wound treatment depend on the availability of animal models that reflect key aspects of human wound healing physiology. To this date, the accepted mouse models do not reflect defects in the healing process for chronic wounds that are associated with type two diabetic skin ulcers. The long term, systemic physiologic stress that occurs in middle aged or older Type 2 diabetes patients is difficult to simulate in preclinical animal model. We have strived to incorporate the essential elements of this stress in a manageable mouse model: long term metabolic stress from obesity to include the effects of middle …

Advancing Ionomer Design To Boost Interfacial And Thin-Film Proton Conductivity Via Styrene-Calix[4]Arene-Based Ionomers, Shyambo Chatterjee, Oghenetega Allen Obewhere, Ehsan Zamani, Rajesh Keloth, Seefat Farzin, Martha D. Morton, Anandakumar Sarella, Shudipto Konika Dishari

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Sub-micrometer-thick ion-conducting polymer (ionomer) layers often suffer from poor ionic conductivity at the substrate/catalyst interface. The weak proton conductivity makes the electrochemical reaction at the cathode of proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells sluggish. To address this, here we report on a class of polystyrene-based ionomers having sub-nanometer-sized, sulfonated macrocyclic calix[4]arene-based pendants (PS-calix). In films with thickness comparable to that of ionomer-based binder layers, the conductivity of PS-calix film (∼41 mS/cm) is ∼13 times higher than that of the current state-of-the-art ionomer, Nafion. We observe a similar improvement in proton conductivity when PS-calix interfaces with Pt nanoparticles, demonstrating the potential of PS-calix in …

Deutj: An Imagej Plugin For Improved Automatic Masking And Segmentation Of Images From Confocal Microscopy, Sunny Cui

Independent Student Projects and Publications

Due to advances in microscopic imaging, there are a plethora of biological molecules that can now be tagged and subsequentially imaged from almost any cell, organism, or tissue. However, the ability of software to analyze these images remains to be a challenge. ImageJ is open source software that allows for the processing of these images, but faces challenges when dealing with images that show weak contrast between objects of interest and background. DeutJ is an ImageJ plugin that color corrects and brightness corrects gradients that inhibit segmentation in confocal microscopy images. It can analyze hundreds of images from a given …

Formulation Of Encapsulated Nanoparticles Of Leek Extract As Antimicrobial And Anticancer Agent, Rawan Hassan Mohamed Elghanam

Theses and Dissertations

Leek extract (LEK) has broad therapeutic activity. However, plant extract use has many drawbacks, which could be resolved using nanocarriers. The purpose of this research work was to prepare chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) encapsulating LEK and investigate their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer activity. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy was used to determine the LEK components. The CS-LEK NPs were produced by tripolyphosphate (TPP) crosslinking with chitosan (CS) the ionic gelation methodology. The particle size was 331 nm, zeta potential (ZP) was 28.9 mv, polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.4, encapsulation efficiency (EE) was 65.6%, and loading capacity (LC) was 28.8 % of the …

Session 12: Active Learning To Minimize The Possible Risk From Future Epidemics, Kc Santosh

SDSU Data Science Symposium

In medical imaging informatics, for any future epidemics (e.g., Covid-19), deep learning (DL) models are of no use as they require a large dataset as they take months and even years to collect enough data (with annotations). In such a context, active learning (or human/expert-in-the-loop) is the must, where a machine can learn from the first day with minimum possible labeled data. In unsupervised learning, we propose to build pre-trained DL models that iteratively learn independently over time, where human/expert intervenes only when it makes mistakes and for only a limited data. In our work, deep features are used to …

2d Respiratory Sound Analysis To Detect Lung Abnormalities, Rafia Sharmin Alice, Kc Santosh

SDSU Data Science Symposium

Abstract. In this paper, we analyze deep visual features from 2D data representation(s) of the respiratory sound to detect evidence of lung abnormalities. The primary motivation behind this is that visual cues are more important in decision-making than raw data (lung sound). Early detection and prompt treatments are essential for any future possible respiratory disorders, and respiratory sound is proven to be one of the biomarkers. In contrast to state-of-the-art approaches, we aim at understanding/analyzing visual features using our Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) tailored Deep Learning Models, where we consider all possible 2D data such as Spectrogram, Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients …

Therapeutic Options For Covid-19: Drug Repurposing Of Serine Protease Inhibitor Against Tmprss2, Mohammad Wildan Abiyyi, Surya Dwira, Arleni Bustami, Linda Erlina

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

The SARS-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak is a serious global public health threat. Researchers around the world are conducting mass research to control this epidemic, starting from the discovery of vaccines, to new drugs that have specific activities as antivirals. Drug repurposing is a potential method of using drugs with known activity for reuse as COVID-19 therapy. This method has the advantage that it can reduce costs and also the duration in the development of potential drugs. The initial step in drug repurposing can be done computationally to determine the effectiveness and specificity of the drug on the target protein. Molecular …

Virtual Screening On Indonesian Herbal Compounds As Sars-Cov-2 Spike (S2) Glycoprotein Inhibitors: Pharmacophore Modelling & Molecular Docking Approaches, Syailendra Karuna Sugito, Artha Uli Cristina, Putri Saskia Harimurti, Gabriella Regita Cendani, Fauzi Azhar Insani, Linda Erlina, Rafika Indah Paramita, Fadilah Fadilah

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

Background: There are still no specific treatments for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) until present days. Several studies have been conducted to determine whether herbal medicine can be an option to be used as a definitive medicine for COVID-19. S2 subunit of spike protein which is responsible for SARS-CoV-2 entry to the host cell, is a potential drug target to inhibit the viral infection. In this study, we aimed to find some compounds from the HerbalDB database that have potential as SARS-CoV-2 spike (S2) glycoprotein inhibitor.

Methods: The 6LXT protein was used as the target protein. The procedure in this study consisted …

A Review Of 3d Polymeric Scaffolds For Bone Tissue Engineering: Principles, Fabrication Techniques, Immunomodulatory Roles, And Challenges, Hassan Nageh, Ahmed G. Abdelaziz, Sara M. Abdo, Mohga S. Abdalla, Asmaa A. Amer, Abdalla Abdal-Hay, Ahmed Barhoum

Nanotechnology Research Centre

Over the last few years, biopolymers have attracted great interest in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to the great diversity of their chemical, mechanical, and physical properties for the fabrication of 3D scaffolds. This review is devoted to recent advances in synthetic and natural polymeric 3D scaffolds for bone tissue engineering (BTE) and regenerative therapies. The review comprehensively discusses the implications of biological macromolecules, structure, and composition of polymeric scaffolds used in BTE. Various approaches to fabricating 3D BTE scaffolds are discussed, including solvent casting and particle leaching, freeze-drying, thermally induced phase separation, gas foaming, electrospinning, and sol–gel techniques. …

Process Intensification Strategies For Green Solvent Mediated Biomass Pretreatment, Ahamed Ullah, Yuxuan Zhang, Can Liu, Qi Qiao, Qing Shao, Jian Shi

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Demonstrated to be highly effective for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment, deep eutectic solvent (DES) has attracted increasing attention owing to its advantages of simple synthesis, relatively low chemical cost, and better biocompatibility as compared to certain ionic liquids. Here we provide a critical review of the status of the design/selection of DES for the pretreatment of biomass feedstocks with an emphasis on the process intensification strategies: 1) integration of microwave, ultrasound, and high solid extrusion for pretreating biomass, 2) one-pot DES pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation, 3) strategies for DES recycling and product recovery; and 4) recent progress on molecular simulations …

An Attention Residual U-Net With Differential Preprocessing And Geometric Postprocessing: Learning How To Segment Vasculature Including Intracranial Aneurysms, Nan Mu, Zonghan Lyu, Mostafa Rezaeitaleshmahalleh, Jinshan Tang, Jingfeng Jiang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Objective

Intracranial aneurysms (IA) are lethal, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Reliable, rapid, and accurate segmentation of IAs and their adjacent vasculature from medical imaging data is important to improve the clinical management of patients with IAs. However, due to the blurred boundaries and complex structure of IAs and overlapping with brain tissue or other cerebral arteries, image segmentation of IAs remains challenging. This study aimed to develop an attention residual U-Net (ARU-Net) architecture with differential preprocessing and geometric postprocessing for automatic segmentation of IAs and their adjacent arteries in conjunction with 3D rotational angiography (3DRA) images.

Methods

The …

An Assessment Of Blood Vessel Remodeling Of Nanofibrous Poly(Ε-Caprolactone) Vascular Grafts In A Rat Animal Model, Jana Horakova, Tereza Blassova, Zbynek Tonar, Connor Mccarthy, Katerina Strnadova, David Lukas, Petr Mikes, Patrick Bowen, Roger J. Guillory Ii, Megan C. Frost, Jeremy Goldman

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The development of an ideal vascular prosthesis represents an important challenge in terms of the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with respect to which new materials are being considered that have produced promising results following testing in animal models. This study focuses on nanofibrous polycaprolactone-based grafts assessed by means of histological techniques 10 days and 6 months following suturing as a replacement for the rat aorta. A novel stereological approach for the assessment of cellular distribution within the graft thickness was developed. The cellularization of the thickness of the graft was found to be homogeneous after 10 days and to have …

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 …

Local Il-10 Delivery Modulates The Immune Response And Enhances Repair Of Volumetric Muscle Loss Muscle Injury, Tai Huynh, Cassandra Reed, Zain Blackwell, Peyton Phelps, Luis Carlos Pinzon-Herrera, Jorge Almodovar, David A. Zaharoff, Jeffery Wolchok

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that in addition to repairing the architectural and cellular cues via regenerative medicine, the delivery of immune cues (immunotherapy) may be needed to enhance regeneration following volumetric muscle loss (VML) injury. We identified IL-10 signaling as a promising immunotherapeutic target. To explore the impact of targeting IL-10 signaling, tibialis anterior (TA) VML injuries were created and then treated in rats using autologous minced muscle (MM). Animals received either recombinant rat IL-10 or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) controls injections at the site of VML repair beginning 7 days post injury (DPI) and continuing …

Development Of A Porous Layer-By-Layer Microsphere With Branched Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Porogens, Farah Shahjin, Milankumar Patel, Mahmudul Hasan, Jacob D. Cohen, Farhana Islam, Md Ashaduzzaman, Mohammad Ullah Nayan, Mahadevan Subramaniam, You Zhou, Irene Andreu, Howard E. Gendelman, Bhavesh D. Kevadiya

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Porous polymer microspheres are employed in biotherapeutics, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Porosity dictates cargo carriage and release that are aligned with the polymer physicochemical properties. These include material tuning, biodegradation, and cargo encapsulation. How uniformity of pore size affects therapeutic delivery remains an area of active investigation. Herein, we characterize six branched aliphatic hydrocarbon-based porogen(s) produced to create pores in single and multilayered microspheres. The porogens are composed of biocompatible polycaprolactone, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), and polylactic acid polymers within porous multilayered microspheres. These serve as controlled effective drug and vaccine delivery platforms.

Extended Training Improves The Accuracy And Efficiency Of Goal-Directed Reaching Guided By Supplemental Kinesthetic Vibrotactile Feedback, Valay A. Shah, Ashiya Thomas, Leigh A. Mrotek, Maura Casadio, Robert A. Scheidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Prior studies have shown that the accuracy and efficiency of reaching can be improved using novel sensory interfaces to apply task-specific vibrotactile feedback (VTF) during movement. However, those studies have typically evaluated performance after less than 1 h of training using VTF. Here, we tested the effects of extended training using a specific form of vibrotactile cues—supplemental kinesthetic VTF—on the accuracy and temporal efficiency of goal-directed reaching. Healthy young adults performed planar reaching with VTF encoding of the moving hand's instantaneous position, applied to the non-moving arm. We compared target capture errors and movement times before, during, and after approximately …

Curcumin Release From Biomaterials For Enhanced Tissue Regeneration Following Injury Or Disease, Adelle E. Hamilton, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Curcumin, a bioactive phenol derived from turmeric, is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial molecule. Although curcumin exhibits beneficial effects in its innate form, it is highly hydrophobic, which leads to poor water solubility and, consequently, low bioavailability. The lack of bioavailability limits curcumin's effectiveness as a treatment and restricts its use in clinical applications. Furthermore, to achieve beneficial, clinically relevant results, high doses of curcumin are required for systemic administration. Many researchers have utilized biomaterial carriers, including electrospun fibers, nanoparticles, hydrogels, and composite scaffolds, to overcome curcumin's principle therapeutic limitation of low bioavailability. By using biomaterials to deliver curcumin directly …