Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Effects Of Training Intensity On Locomotor Performance In Individuals With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: A Randomized Crossover Study, Gabrielle Brazg, Meghan Fahey, Carey L. Holleran, Mark Connolly, Jane Woodward, Patrick W. Hennessy, Brian D. Schmit, T. George Hornby

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background. Many physical interventions can improve locomotor function in individuals with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI), although the training parameters that maximize recovery are not clear. Previous studies in individuals with other neurologic injuries suggest the intensity of locomotor training (LT) may positively influence walking outcomes. However, the effects of intensity during training of individuals with iSCI have not been tested. Objective. The purpose of this pilot, blinded-assessor randomized trial was to evaluate the effects of LT intensity on walking outcomes in individuals with iSCI. Methods. Using a crossover design, ambulatory participants with iSCI >1 year duration performed either …

Evaluating Outer Segment Length As A Surrogate Measure Of Peak Foveal Cone Density, Melissa A. Wilk, Brandon M. Wilk, Christopher S. Langlo, Robert F. Cooper, Joseph Carroll

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Adaptive optics (AO) imaging tools enable direct visualization of the cone photoreceptor mosaic, which facilitates quantitative measurements such as cone density. However, in many individuals, low image quality or excessive eye movements precludes making such measures. As foveal cone specialization is associated with both increased density and outer segment (OS) elongation, we sought to examine whether OS length could be used as a surrogate measure of foveal cone density. The retinas of 43 subjects (23 normal and 20 albinism; aged 6–67 years) were examined. Peak foveal cone density was measured using confocal adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO), and OS …

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Correlates With Short-Term Myelopathy Outcome In Patients With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy, Aditya Vedantam, Avinash Rao, Shekar N. Kurpad, Michael B. Jirjis, Gerald Eckardt, Brian D. Schmit, Marjorie C. Wang

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

To determine if spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging indexes correlate with short-term clinical outcome in patients undergoing elective cervical spine surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM).

Methods

A prospective consecutive cohort study was performed in patients undergoing elective cervical spine surgery for CSM. After obtaining informed consent, patients with CSM underwent preoperative T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging of the cervical spine. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values at the level of maximum cord compression and at the noncompressed C1-2 level were calculated on axial images. We recorded the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) scale, Neck Disability Index, and …

Limb Stabilization In Older Adults And Chronic Stroke Survivors: A Pilot Study, Raymond C. Doudlah, Robert A. Scheidt, Aaron J. Suminski

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Visual fidelity influences many aspects of daily living, including stabilizing wrist movements against environmental perturbations. Here, we present a pilot investigation to determine how visual feedback impacts wrist stabilization for populations with age related declines in motor function and chronic stroke. To quantify these interactions, behavioral performance and local brain activation were observed during a task requiring stabilization of the wrist against constant and stochastic extensor torque perturbations. All subjects were better able to stabilize their wrist when veridical visual feedback of their limb was provided. Examination of the neural activation maps in the Control and Aging populations revealed patterns …

Structurofunctional Resting-State Networks Correlate With Motor Function In Chronic Stroke, Benjamin Kalinosky, Reivian B. Barillas, Brian D. Schmit

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

Motor function and recovery after stroke likely rely directly on the residual anatomical connections in the brain and its resting-state functional connectivity. Both structural and functional properties of cortical networks after stroke are revealed using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). Specifically, functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) can extract functional networks of the brain at rest, while structural connectivity can be estimated from white matter fiber orientations measured with high angular-resolutiondiffusion imaging (HARDI). A model that marries these two techniques may be the key to understanding functional recovery after stroke. In this study, a novel set of voxel-level measures …

How A Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review Of Nidilrr’S Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers, David J. Reinkensmeyer, Sarah Blackstone, Cathy Bodine, John Brabyn, David Brienza, Kevin Caves, Frank Deruyter, Edmund Durfee, Stefania Fatone, Geoff Fernie, Steven Gard, Patricia Karg, Todd A. Kuiken, Gerald F. Harris, Mike Jones, Yue Li, Jordana Maisel, Michael Mccue, Michelle A. Meade, Helena Mitchell, Tracy L. Mitzner, James L. Patton, Philip S. Requejo, James H. Rimmer, Wendy A. Rogers, W. Zev Rymer, Jon A. Sanford, Lawrence Schneider, Levin Sliker, Stephen Sprigle, Aaron Steinfeld, Edward Steinfeld, Gregg Vanderheiden, Carolee Winstein, Li-Qun Zhang, Thomas Corfman

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their …

Lung Injury Pathways: Adenosine Receptor 2b Signaling Limits Development Of Ischemic Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia, John C. Densmore, Terry R. Schaid, Paul M. Jeziorczak, Meetha Medhora, Said H. Audi, Shraddha Nayak, John Auchampach, Melinda R. Dwinell, Aron M. Geurts, Elizabeth R. Jacobs

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose/Aim of the Study: Adenosine signaling was studied in bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) resulting from unilateral lung ischemia. Materials and Methods: Ischemia was achieved by either left main pulmonary artery or complete hilar ligation. Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats, Dahl salt sensitive (SS) rats and SS mutant rat strains containing a mutation in the A_2B adenosine receptor gene (Adora2b) were studied. Adenosine concentrations were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) by HPLC. A_2A (A_2AAR) and A_2B adenosine receptor (A_2BAR) mRNA and protein were quantified. Results: Twenty-four hours after unilateral PA …

Smartphone Based Optical Spectrometer For Diffusive Reflectance Spectroscopic Measurement Of Hemoglobin, Perry Edwards, Chenji Zhang, Baigang Zhang, Xiangqian Hong, Vivek K. Nagarajan, Bing Yu, Zhiwen Liu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We report a miniature, visible to near infrared G-Fresnel spectrometer that contains a complete spectrograph system, including the detection hardware and connects with a smartphone through a microUSB port for operational control. The smartphone spectrometer is able to achieve a resolution of ~5 nm in a wavelength range from 400 nm to 1000 nm. We further developed a diffuse reflectance spectroscopy system using the smartphone spectrometer and demonstrated the capability of hemoglobin measurement. Proof of concept studies of tissue phantoms yielded a mean error of 9.2% on hemoglobin concentration measurement, comparable to that obtained with a commercial benchtop spectrometer. The …

A Wireless, Passive Sensor For Measuring Temperature At Orthopedic Implant Sites For Early Diagnosis Of Infections, Salil Sidharthan Karipott

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sensorized implants with embedded wireless, passive temperature sensors were developed for early detection of implant-associated infections. The operation principle of the sensor is based on the hypothesis that infections can lead to an increase in local temperature prior to the rise of body temperature. The sensor was an inductive capacitive (LC) circuit that has been used for monitoring of different parameters wirelessly, often in difficult to access environments. The sensor was fabricated on to an interference screw, which is used for tendon and ligament reconstruction surgeries. In this project, a sensorized interference screw was designed and fabricated by accommodating an …

Design Of Robust Hydrogel Based On Mussel-Inspired Chemistry, Yuan Liu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The structure of catechol is found in mussel adhesive proteins and contributed to both wet-resistant adhesion and cohesive curing of these proteins. A synthetic nano-silicate, Laponite was incorporated into catechol-containing hydrogels and the hydrogel network-bound catechol formed strong reversible interfacial interaction with Laponite. The contribution of incorporated catechol-Laponite reversible interfacial interactions to the mechanics of hydrogels constructed by different strategies was studied. In the first strategy, Laponite and catechol were introduced into the double network hydrogel (DN) via the free radical co-polymerization of a catechol-containing monomer, backbone monomer, and crosslinker. The introduction of catechol-Laponite interactions significantly improved the compressive strength …

Implantable Wireless Sensor Networks: Application To Measuring Temperature For In Vivo Detection Of Infections, Praharsh Madappaly Veetil

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

It is has been proven that infection in the body cause a local temperature increase due to localized inflammation. Therefore, a method to provide early diagnostic or long-term tracking of this infection will provide great benefits to patients with diabetic foot ulcers or sickle cell disease, and those receiving hemodialysis where they suffer from a weakened immune system. The goal of this project is to develop an implantable wireless temperature sensor based on a wireless sensor network system for monitoring infections in situ. The analog signals from the thermistors are digitized and wirelessly transmitted to a computer with an ez430-rf2500 …

Computational Ultrasound Elastography: A Feasibility Study, Yu Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Ultrasound Elastography (UE) is an emerging set of imaging modalities used to assess the biomechanical properties of soft tissues. UE has been applied to numerous clinical applications. Particularly, results from clinical trials of UE in breast lesion differentiation and staging liver fibrosis indicated that there was a lack of confidence in UE measurements or image interpretation. Confidence on UE measurements interpretation is critically important for improving the clinical utility of UE. The primary objective of my thesis is to develop a computational simulation platform based on open-source software packages including Field II, VTK, FEBio and Tetgen. The proposed virtual simulation …

Surface Enabled Lab-On-A-Chip (Loc) Device For Protein Detection And Separation, Zhichao Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sensitive and selective chemical/biological detection/analysis for proteins is essential for applications such as disease diagnosis, species phenotype identification, product quality control, and sample examination. Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device provides advantages of fast analysis, reduced amount of sample requirements, and low cost, to magnificently facilitate protein detection research. Isoelectric focusing (IEF) is a strong and reliable electrophoretic technique capable of discerning proteins from complex mixtures based on the isoelectric point (pI) differences. It has experienced plenty of fruitful developments during previous decades which has given it the capability of performing with highly robust and reproducible analysis. This progress has made IEF devices …

Sugar Versus Lipid For Sustainable Biofuels, Yaşar Demirel

Yaşar Demirel Publications

Introduction

First‐generation biofuels, namely, ethanol and biodiesel, have led to far reaching impact on the peoples’ life world‐wide.[1] However, they inter-fere with the food supply chain and may not be sustainable although some of the biomass are converted to biofuels after those biomasses have met the human needs. Still, the first‐generation–based biofuels have proved that sugar and lipid platforms can be an answer to energy security and global warming concerns without the need for new infrastructure for feedstock delivery as well as for biomass‐to‐biofuel conversion tech-nologies. At the same time, we are discovering and assessing the long‐term environmental im-plications on …

Theoretically Proposed Optimal Frequency For Ultrasound Induced Cartilage Restoration, April D. Miller, Anuradha Subramanian, Hendrik J. Viljoen

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background: Matching the frequency of the driving force to that of the system’s natural frequency of vibration results in greater amplitude response. Thus we hypothesize that applying ultrasound at the chondrocyte’s resonant frequency will result in greater deformation than applying similar ultrasound power at a frequency outside of the resonant bandwidth. Based on this resonant hypothesis, our group previously confirmed theoretically and experimentally that ultrasound stimulation of suspended chondrocytes at resonance (5 MHz) maximized gene expression of load inducible genes. However, this study was based on suspended chondrocytes. The resonant frequency of a chondrocyte does not only depend on the …

A 3d Biomimetic Scaffold Using Electrospinning For Tissue Engineering Applications, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Electrospinning holds great promise for designing functional 3D biomimetic scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. The technique allows for the reproducible fabrication of 3D scaffolds with control over the porosity and thickness. In this work, a novel method for the synthesis of a 3D electroactive scaffold using electrospinning from polycaprolactone (PCL), Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) and Polyaniline (PANI) is reported. Additional scaffolds involving different morphologies of PCL, PCL-PVDF and PCL-PANI-PVDF were also fabricated and evaluated. The scaffolds were characterized using electron microscopy to visualize the morphologies. Infrared spectroscopy was used to confirm the presence of polymers and their respective phases in the …

Combination Of Bmp-2 And Relaxin To Induce Osteogenesis In Vivo, Sahitya Injamuri

Masters Theses

"Bone grafts are a common procedure for treating craniofacial injuries such as trauma, surgery, and reconstruction. Autografts and allografts have limitations which encourages the use of synthetic bone grafts. While synthetic bone grafts, such as hydroxyapatite (HA) microspheres, are advantageous for their cost and reproducibility, they lack the cells and growth factors needed for proper osteoinduction. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) has been shown to increase the osteoinduction of grafts but the effective dose is above physiological levels and causes undesired effects on the body. Relaxin has been shown to enhance BMP-2's ability to induce bone formation in vitro and thus …

Dynamic Model And Estimator Development For A Smart Refractory Brick With Embedded Wireless Sensors For Gasifier Applications, Qiao Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The operating temperature is one of the most important variables for gasifier operation. A higher temperature can shorten the service life of the refractory lining. A lower temperature can reduce the extent of carbon conversion and disrupt the flow of molten slag in a slagging gasifier. Therefore temperature is one of the most important variable in a gasifier. In slagging gasifiers, molten slag can penetrate into the refractory lining leading to refractory spallation, undesired downtime, and costly replacement. Even though the temperature and extent of slag penetration are extremely important for the gasifier operation, they cannot be measured reliably by …

Far-Field Optical Microscopy Based On Stimulated Emission Depletion, Yunxia Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Conventional lens-based (far-field) fluorescence microscopy is a widely used imaging technique with spatial resolution up to 150–350 nm. However, this technology cannot discern very small structural features, because the spatial resolution is limited by diffraction to about half of the wavelength of light (λ/2，λ is the wavelength of light). Hence, most of the developments in microscopy aim at improving resolution. In the past decades, stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy has been developed to bypass the diffraction limit for the application in biological imaging with resolution approaching the nanoscale. The basic principle of STED microscopy is to employ a doughnut-shape laser …

The Effect Of Twist On The Mechanical Properties Of The Intervertebral Disc, Maxine Harvey-Burgess

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Introduction: Intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation is a common injury to the IVD and a frequent source of low back pain. IVD herniation occurs when the nucleus pulposus migrates through both the inter- and intralamellar matrices of the annulus fibrosus (AF). There are a number of mechanical risk factors associated with herniation, including repetitive flexion and twist. In vivo, twist combined with repetitive flexion has been associated with increased experience of low back pain and herniation. Additionally, in vitro, when repetitive flexion is combined with twist, IVD herniation occurs more easily than repetitive flexion alone. However, the mechanisms behind …

Statistical Shape Modeling To Quantify Variation In The Proximal Humeral Anatomy, Paul B. Sade Sr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The fit of the humeral prosthesis to the intramedullary canal and the replication of the anatomic humeral head center are important factors in Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (TSA). The objective of this thesis was to develop a Statistical Shape Model (SSM) of the cortical and cancellous bone regions of the proximal humerus, and to assess potential shape differences with gender and ethnicity, with a goal of informing implant design. An SSM was used and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to data that represented both the cancellous and cortical humeral bone of 63 healthy subjects and cadavers. Anatomical measurements and PC …

Specimen-Specific Natural, Pathological, And Implanted Knee Mechanics Using Finite Element Modeling, Azhar Akber Ali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing incidence of knee pain and injury among the population, and increasing demand for higher knee function in total knee replacement designs. As a result, clinicians and implant manufacturers are interested in improving patient outcomes, and evaluation of knee mechanics is essential for better diagnosis and repair of knee pathologies. Common knee pathologies include osteoarthritis (degradation of the articulating surfaces), patellofemoral pain, and cruciate ligament injury and/or rupture. The complex behavior of knee motion presents unique challenges in the diagnosis of knee pathology and restoration of healthy knee function. Quantifying knee mechanics is essential for developing successful …

Statistical Shape And Intensity Modeling Of The Shoulder, Irene Sintini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anatomical variability in the shoulder is inherently present and can influence healthy and pathologic biomechanics and ultimately clinical decision-making. Characterizing variation in bony morphology and material properties in the population can support treatment and specifically the design, via shape and sizing, of shoulder implants. Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (TSA) is the treatment of choice for glenohumeral osteoarthritis as well as bone fracture. Complications and poor outcomes in TSA are generally influenced by the inability of the implant to replicate the natural joint biomechanics and by the bone quality around the fixation features. For this reason, knowledge of bony morphology and mechanical …

The Effect Of Vibrotactile Feedback On Remote Manual Task Performance, Matthew S. Standard

Theses and Dissertations

Vibrotactile feedback offers a unique opportunity to augment or reconstruct impaired tactile sensations, whether that be in the form of enhancing prosthetics or specialized protective clothing. Important information about temperature and object slippage serve to endanger the human operator or equipment. This thesis presents three experiments which investigate amplitude modulated vibrotactile signals as a scalar dimension of roughness, the effect those signals and their locations (finger pad, forearm, bicep) have on the performance of two tasks: the sensing of temperatures simulated by vibrotactile signals and gripping an object of simulated surface texture. The results show task performance increase when the …

Shear Driven Micro-Fluidic Pump, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

United States Patent, Patent Number US 9,528,503 B2, Date of Patent December 27, 2016.

An example includes an apparatus to pump a fluid. The apparatus includes a housing extending along a length defining an elongate interior, an actuator in the housing, conforming to the elongate interior, the actuator including a plurality of lumens, each having a length extending substantially parallel to the elongate interior, each from around 10 to 200 micrometers across and an actuator configured to oscillate the actuator in the actuator houslng along the length of the elongate interior with a rate differential between movement in a first …

Mannequin Challenge | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Who says that learning about the various properties of Biomaterials is boring? Clearly, they haven't taken Dr. Yu Huang's BENG 2330 Properties of Biomaterials course. Not only do these students know how to distinguish the differences between natural and synthetic biomaterials.They know how to have a good time bringing the mannequin challenge into their lab clean up.

Overexpression Of Timp-3 In Chondrocytes Produces Transient Reduction In Growth Plate Length But Permanently Reduces Adult Bone Quality And Quantity, Blandine Poulet, Ke Liu, Darren A. Plumb, Phoung Vo, Mittal Shah, Katherine Ann Staines, Alexandra Sampson, Hiroyuke Nakamura, Hideaki Nagase, Alessandra Carriero, Sandra J. Shefelbine, Andrew A. Pitsillides, George Bou-Gharios

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Bone development and length relies on the growth plate formation, which is dependent on degradative enzymes such as MMPs. Indeed, deletion of specific members of this enzyme family in mice results in important joint and bone abnormalities, suggesting a role in skeletal development. As such, the control of MMP activity is vital in the complex process of bone formation and growth. We generated a transgenic mouse line to overexpress TIMP3 in mouse chondrocytes using the Col2a1-chondrocyte promoter. This overexpression in cartilage resulted in a transient shortening of growth plate in homozygote mice but bone length was restored at eight weeks …

Activity Preservation Of Plasmonic Biosensors With A Metal-Organic Framework, Lu Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Antibody-antigen recognition enables antibody-conjugated nanostructures to serve as plasmonic biosensors with tunable specificity. However due to the instability of antibodies, these biosensors are susceptible to changes in the environment such as heat and aridity, leading to constraints on the transportation and handling of these sensors. Here we establish a method using a metal-organic framework crystal to preserve biosensor activity under severe environmental conditions, including exposure to high temperatures, an organic solvent and a proteolytic agent. After zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) crystals formed for 12 hours on a biosensor of gold nanorods conjugated with a model antibody, rabbit IgG, 80% of …

Differential Protein Adsorption And Cellular Uptake Of Silica Nanoparticles Based On Size And Porosity, Jiban Saikia, Mostafa Yazdimamaghani, Seyyed Pouya Hadipour Moghaddam, Hamidreza Ghandehari

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Slight alterations in nanoparticles' surface properties can significantly influence the corona composition which may alter their interaction with the biological milieu. Size and porosity of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) are known to be predominant factors influencing their dose-dependent toxicity. Little is known however about the extent and type of protein adsorption on SNPs as a function of physicochemical properties and the role this might play on mechanisms of cellular uptake and toxicity. In this work we investigated the influence of size and porosity of SNPs on protein adsorption, cellular uptake, and toxicity in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Toxicity of the SNPs was …

The Quantum Biology Of Reactive Oxygen Species Partitioning Impacts Cellular Bioenergetics, Robert J. Usselman, Cristina Chavarriaga, Pablo R. Castello, Maria Procopio, Thorsten Ritz, Edward A. Dratz, David John Singel, Carlos F. Martino

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Quantum biology is the study of quantum effects on biochemical mechanisms and biological function. We show that the biological production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in live cells can be influenced by coherent electron spin dynamics, providing a new example of quantum biology in cellular regulation. ROS partitioning appears to be mediated during the activation of molecular oxygen (O2) by reduced flavoenzymes, forming spin-correlated radical pairs (RPs). We find that oscillating magnetic fields at Zeeman resonance alter relative yields of cellular superoxide (O2•−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) ROS products, indicating coherent singlet-triplet mixing at the point of ROS formation. Furthermore, …