Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation Commons^™

Characterizing Stiffness Dynamics Of Normal And Malignant Breast Spheroids Using Brillouin Microscopy, Razanne Rafat Zaghloul, Karlin Hilai, Chenjun Shi, Jitao Zhang

Medical Student Research Symposium

Background: Breast cancer progression and metastasis are closely linked to alterations in the mechanical properties of tumor cells and their microenvironment. Softer, more deformable cells are often associated with higher metastatic potential. While atomic force microscopy (AFM) is the current gold standard for mechanical characterization, it is limited to surface measurements and can damage 3D cultures. It remains unclear how the mechanical properties evolve over time in normal versus malignant spheroids. This study utilizes Brillouin light-scattering microscopy, a non-contact and label-free optical technique, to assess stiffness changes in normal and malignant breast epithelial spheroids over time. Understanding these mechanical signatures …

Jaundease Phototherapy Vest Test Plan, Sujay Panthulu, Jasdev Banwait, Gwynn Moss, Solomon M. Fernandez

Biomedical Engineering

Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is a common condition affecting more than 60% of newborns, caused by an excess buildup of bilirubin in the blood due to the liver’s limited ability to process it efficiently [1]. The standard treatment involves hospital-based phototherapy, where infants are placed in incubators under blue light to break down bilirubin in the skin. Although effective, this approach requires infants to remain under the lights for 12–18 hours per day, often with eye protection, and separated from their parents—disrupting early bonding and potentially contributing to toxic stress that can impact neurological and emotional development [2]. While at-home phototherapy solutions …

Stentrx, Emma Barna, Minuthi Cooray, Bruce Newlands, Joseph A. Sabetta

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project aims to develop a biodegradable, drug-eluting biliary stent for the treatment of biliary cancers. Current metal stents that restore bile flow bit are non-degradable, prone to migration, and unable to deliver drugs locally. The proposed stent will be biocompatible, biodegradable, and capable of controlled drug release to both maintain bile flow and treat tumors. The end goal is to produce a functional prototype that can be deployed via a minimally invasive catheter and maintain bile duct patency for at least three months. The project is expected to be involved in the NEOMED Bench-to-Bedside competition and provisionally patented.

Design And Validation Of A Novel Patterned Microfluidic Culture Platform For Hipsc-Cm Maturation, Anisia Gabriela Țiplea

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Adult cardiomyocytes (CMs) are among the most challenging cells to culture in vitro, given their poor adherence to plastic culture wells and poor maturation outside the native extracellular matrix (Narkar et al., 2022). Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived CMs (hiPSC-CMs) offer a viable alternative to study heart development and disease progression. While not comparable to adult CMs in their maturity (Narkar et al., 2022), they mimic the clinical phenotypes of heart failure and are more feasible to culture. Nevertheless, hiPSC-CMs require specialized culture conditions that cannot be achieved with 2D static culturing, which fail to replicate native tissue environments (X. …

De Novo Protein Binding To Zinc Oxide Through Biomineralization Pathways, Jean-Mark A. Francis

Theses and Dissertations

De novo proteins are structurally distinct from proteins found in nature and thus capable of having their amino acid sequence modified to accomplish tasks such as increasing protein-nanoparticle binding without unfolding or decomposing. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles are functionally distinct from their bulk counterparts and are widely used as semiconductors in a variety of fields such as medicine and agriculture. With demand for these nanoparticles increasing, environmentally sustainable methods of Zinc Oxide nanoparticle synthesis are being investigated as an eco-friendly alternative to currently utilized but environmentally hazardous chemical and physical techniques. This research investigates the binding characteristics between Zinc Oxide nanoparticles …

A Smart System For Detecting Anatomic And Histological Symptoms Of Diseased Agricultural Plants, Rustam Baratov, Himola Sunnatillayeva, Alimardon Mamatovich Mustafoqulov

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

This study describes a novel agricultural plant disease detecting smart system, capable of handling measured plant body parameters and images received by high resolution camera at the same time. The proposed plant disease detection method is based on evaluation of the signals received by measured and controlled plant body physical parameters like resistance, temperature and capacitance of the plant stem and image processing. An analogue plant model based on an electrical circuit with distributed parameters was developed. In addition, in the article the block diagram of the smart system for the early detection of plant diseases, the circuit diagram, its …

Development Of Translational Microscale Systems To Interrogate How Biophysical And Biochemical Cues Alter The Phenotype Of Hormone Positive Breast Cancer, Braulio Ortega Quesada

All Dissertations

Cancer is a complicated disease and one in every three diagnoses are women with breast cancer. Recent research shows that the progression of cancer depends strongly on interactions with other non-cancerous cells and non-cellular components. Metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body, is a key step in cancer progression and makes treatment harder, leading to poor response to treatments culminating in death in ~90% of patients. This dissertation focused on creating a series of microdevices as novel pre-clinical models of breast cancer. Two different devices were fabricated to (1) study how exposing cancer cells to the …

Simplified Molecular Diagnostics Methods For Environmental Testing Of Pathogens And Other Applications, Mohammad Dehghan Banadaki

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Environmental Surveillance (ES) has emerged as a powerful tool to monitor the emergence and persistence of a pathogen within a facility or community using wastewater/water analysis. Over the past four years, implementation of ES has experienced an explosive acceleration, driven by efforts to monitor the spread of SARS-CoV-2, which has made ES a routinely used public health tool in many locations. We can now use ES to measure the emergence/presence/abundance of different viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, influenza, mpox), bacteria (e.g., E. coli, V. cholerae, antibiotic-resistant strains), fungi (e.g., C. auris), and other biological markers indicative of infectious diseases. However, its broad …

Comparative Analysis Of Electrode Encapsulation Reliability: Planar Vs. Thermoformed Interdigitated Neural Electrodes In Biomedical Engineering, Tatum Peyerl

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Durable dielectric encapsulation is crucial for the long-term function of implantable neural electrodes; however, the reliability of curved, thermoformed coatings remains underexplored. This study addresses that gap by comparing planar (non-thermoformed) and thermoformed interdigitated neural electrodes (IDEs) encapsulated in Polyimide-2611. Both device types underwent accelerated in vitro aging in phosphate‑buffered saline (PBS) at 67 °C for approximately 91 days, simulating two years of physiological exposure. Post-accelerated aging evaluation included electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) from 0.1 Hz to 100 kHz to monitor moisture‑induced leakage, and high‑voltage breakdown testing under saline immersion to assess dielectric strength. After aging, all electrodes maintained impedance …

Hypoxic Incubator: Improving Robustness/Reliability And Demonstrating Physiological Efficacy, Damon Dennis Tan

Master's Theses

The Microphysiological Systems Laboratory aims to develop colorectal cancer tumor models under a hypoxic environment to assess model response to pharmaceutical compounds in vitro. To perform relevant studies, researchers have attempted to use different hypoxic inducing strategies such as a nitrogen pod and hypoxic incubator to recreate in vivo physiological responses to hypoxia. However, studies would be interrupted due to incubator functionality failure. To ensure successful and physiologically relevant studies, I improved and verified the robustness and reliability of a hypoxic incubator previously designed and manufactured in the lab. Through the testing and iterating design processes, I engineered and implemented …

Shape Memory Alloy Capsule Micropump For Drug Delivery Applications, Youssef Mohamed Kotb

Theses and Dissertations

Implantable drug delivery devices have many benefits over traditional drug administration techniques and have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. By delivering the medication directly to the tissue, they enable the use of larger localized concentrations, enhancing the efficacy of the treatment. Passive-release drug delivery systems, one of the various ways to provide medication, are great inventions. However, they cannot dispense the medication on demand since they are nonprogrammable. Therefore, active actuators are more advantageous in delivery applications. Smart material actuators, however, have greatly increased in popularity for manufacturing wearable and implantable micropumps due to their high energy …

Microwave Imaging Technique For Breast Cancer Detection, Nure Alam Chowdhury

Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer is a global problem, and it is inevitable to detect cancerous cells at early stages. In recent years, microwave imaging technology has been widely applied in biomedical applications for its non-ionizing radiation. In this study, we design a micro-strip patch antenna with an inverted T-type notch in the partial ground to detect tumor cells inside the human breast. The size of the current antenna is small enough (18 mm × 21 mm × 1.6 mm) to distribute around the breast phantom. The operating frequency has been observed from 6–14 GHz with a minimum return loss of −61.18 dB …

Cellular Level Changes Induced In Cancer Cells Due To Microgravity, Sai Deepika Reddy Yaram

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The increase in human activity in space has revealed several kinds of physiological challenges brought on by the absence of Earth's gravitational pull. NASA observed that during spaceflight, astronauts experience a 1-1.5% monthly loss in the mineral density of weight-bearing bones, with rehabilitation efforts on Earth often proving ineffective. This issue extends to muscles, the neuro vestibular system, the cardiovascular system, and vision. Cancer has emerged as a significant cause of mortality among astronauts, with studies up to 2017 showing that 41.3% of natural cause deaths among U.S. astronauts were due to cancer, primarily due to space radiation exposure. Cancer …

Degradable Staples And Delivery Device, Meha Elango, Jessica Cabrera, Makayla Scarpitti, Kareemat Melaiye

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The scope of this project is to design a method to secure skin grafts to healthy tissue. The ultimate goal for the proposed method is to be dissolvable in some form. Currently, skin grafts procedures utilize staples in most cases to hold a skin graft in place, but there are disadvantages that come with it. Staples are easy to place, but time consuming during the removal procedure. They also cause a lot of pain and discomfort for the patient. The goal of this project is to determine a way a secure skin grafts to healthy skin in order to reduce …

Air-Jet Bioprinting Of Stem Cell-Encapsulated Alginate Micro-Droplets For Organoid Biomanufacturing, Mirabella B. Stump

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biomanufactured 3D-organoids show promise for modeling and treating various conditions, particularly insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type-1 diabetes). Pancreatic islet organoids serve as sustainable sources of insulin-producing β-cells, potentially restoring insulin regulation in patients and providing a long-term solution for diabetes. Hydrogel droplet printing is an emerging technique in regenerative medicine due to its advantageous tunability and biocompatibility; however, challenges of consistency, quality control, and scalability persist. To address these issues, we developed a novel air-jetting based droplet bioprinting system for the generation of monodispersed alginate micro-droplets. The objective of this project was to incorporate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into …

A Framework Of Flow Models For The Development And Testing Of Cardiovascular Devices, Megan Laughlin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide and its treatment continues to improve due to the advancement of innovative cardiovascular medical devices. In vitro and in silico models serve to replicate the in vivo environment for the development and testing of these devices prior to using animals for testing, and eventually humans in clinical trials. However, limitations related to these models exist in multiple areas including general, cardiac, and venous applications. Specifically, current gaps have been identified with customizable, tissue-mimicking phantoms (general), 2D Blood Speckle Imaging (BSI) (cardiac) and a bioprosthetic venous valve (venous). This dissertation focuses …

Evaluation Of Cellulose Nanocrystal Inks And Their Structural Characteristics For 3d Bioprinting Of Customized Scaffolds, Patrick William Kuczwara

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

3D bioprinting of biological scaffolds requires control of the physicochemical properties of each unique structures. A promising material for control of properties is hydrogels, which can help create biomimetic scaffolds with controlled spatial arrangement of materials by integrating biological materials directly into layers during the bioprinting process. Nanocellulose offers a unique combination of properties including mechanical, biomimetic, and biocompatibility. These properties offer flexibility over the types, shapes, and applications of their printed hydrogel scaffolds, (i.e., tissue, drug, encapsulation). However, 3D bioprinting of nanocellulose-based hydrogels requires high loading percentages (i.e., >10 wt%) or chemical crosslinkers (i.e., bis(acyl)phosphane oxides (BAPO)). High solid …

Hypoxic Incubation Chamber, Simone Lisette Helfrich, Makenzie Nicole Jones

Biomedical Engineering: Graduate Reports and Projects

This paper describes the design, manufacturing, and testing of a novel controllable hypoxic incubator with fully functional oxygen gas control and temperature control in a humid environment. On the current market, a majority of the few hypoxic incubators use pre-mixed gas that does not offer precise control over gas concentration. The objective for this project was to create a chamber that allows the user to set the O2 concentration to varying set points of % O2 while maintaining the chamber at a constant body temperature, CO2 level, humidity, and sterility. To start the project, multiple concepts were developed for the …

A Portable Point-Of-Care Device Using Joule Heating And Latent Energy Storage For The Temperature Regulation Of Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests, Aubrey Lynn Schultz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurate and early diagnosis of infectious diseases extremely important. Rapid diagnosis allows for effective treatment and increases the chance for recovery without complications. Additionally, the ability to test the populace frequently, swiftly, and affordably significantly aids in containing wide-scale outbreaks. In terms of specificity and sensitivity, nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) are one of the best options for diagnosing infectious diseases. Isothermal NAATS present a unique opportunity to create diagnostic tests deployed at a Point-of-Care (POC) level. Specifically, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) have the potential to deliver reliable POC diagnostics in low-resource settings. When designing …

Preclinical Development Of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube-Based Optical Biosensors, Eric M. Hofferber

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

High resolution, long-term monitoring of key biological analytes would improve patient outcomes by providing earlier detection of disease states and improved efficacy of treatment. One class of biosensors that have gained much attention in recent years are optical biosensors. Optical probes are attractive biosensors due to their noninvasive nature of detection, as certain light can pass through tissue, water, and blood. Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are a specific type of optical biosensor that fluoresce in the near infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and offer unparalleled spatial and temporal resolution. SWNT have been applied as biosensors in vitro, …

Development Of Light Actuated Chemical Delivery Platform On A 2-D Array Of Micropore Structure, Hojjat Rostami Azmand, Hojjat Rostami Azmand

Dissertations and Theses

Localized chemical delivery plays an essential role in the fundamental information transfers within biological systems. Thus, the ability to mimic the natural chemical signal modulation would provide significant contributions to understand the functional signaling pathway of biological cells and develop new prosthetic devices for neurological disorders. In this paper, we demonstrate a light-controlled hydrogel platform that can be used for localized chemical delivery in a high spatial resolution. By utilizing the photothermal behavior of graphene-hydrogel composites confined within micron-sized fluidic channels, patterned light illumination creates the parallel and independent actuation of chemical release in a group of fluidic ports. The …

Ecg Monitoring In Athletes, Jalal Jwayyed, Kelly Purgason, Joseph Linder, Annamarie Alfery, Silvia Furman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Athletes and medical personnel need reliable methods to monitor vital signs and detect potentially life-threatening issues before they occur. Electrocardiograph (ECG) monitors are currently the best method of detecting heart-related health issues. Current ECG monitors worn by athletes are difficult to use and lack the ability to track ECGs in real time. Through research and interviews with various clinicians, further problems have been identified that include poor electrode adhesion, and a lack of compatibility with the equipment worn by athletes. Our team proposes to develop solutions that will improve performance and comfort associated with ECG monitors for athletic applications. This …

Bacteria Analysis By Using A Supervised Machine Learning Algorithm Based On Droplet Microfluidics, Yulder Daniel Angarita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sepsis is a major medical problem and massive resources have been invested in developing and evaluating alternative treatments. Statistics indicate that sepsis causes between one third and one half of all hospital deaths in the United States. Sepsis has a high impact on health care in the US, with direct sepsis costs in 2009 exceeding $15.4 billion. A research study found that a 1-hour delay in appropriate antimicrobial care resulted in a 7% - 10% rise in mortality. Several professional societies seek to reduce sepsis mortality by targeting the timely use of diagnostic tests and antimicrobial therapy. The diagnostic instruments …

A Microfluidic Platform For High-Throughput Screening Of Aquaporin Performance, Adriana Del Pino Herrera, Jordan Hoydick, Rachel Rauh, Elyssa El-Hajj, Madison Burchfield

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Aquaporins are a family of small integral membrane proteins that transport water across cell membranes in response to osmotic gradients. They facilitate fluid secretion and absorption across epithelial surfaces in kidney tubules, exocrine glands, and gastrointestinal tract. Here, we describe a novel microfluidic method to evaluate and screen for aquaporin-based transmembrane permeability in mammalian cells. A microfluidic device was designed and fabricated for the encapsulation of single mammalian and yeast cells in micron-sized droplets. For this purpose, Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO) cells were used. CHO cells express AQP1 (aquaporin-1) homologous to human kidney aquaporins. The cells were cultivated and exposed …

Designing An Antibiotic Eluting Trauma Screw To Reduce Short Term Infection In Bone Fractures, Dominic Lincoln

Honors Theses

Orthopedic infection in the United States is one of the most common and severe health risks faced by trauma patients. The most prevalent infection is orthopedic and trauma device-related infection (ORDI) and often occurs in long bones at the fracture site. The purpose of this paper is to explore this infection, its causes, and solutions currently on the market while providing novel solutions to the problem. The designs proposed will be evaluated for their effectiveness and value, while attempting to keep costs low for all stakeholders. The feasibility of patenting these ideas will also be considered, as will the testing …

Experimental And Computational Tools For Single Cell Analysis In Cancer Diagnostics, Manibarathi Vaithiyanathan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Substantial evidence shows that cellular heterogeneity commonly exists within an isogenic or clonal population. Whether in isolation or caused through a combination of the above events, cellular heterogeneity can dramatically influence cellular decision making and cell fate, however, this can be masked by the average response from a population. One approach to solve this issue is to analyze a population at the individual cell level. The goal of this work is to develop high-throughput experimental and computational platforms to screen and quantify single cancer cells for specific intracellular enzyme activities. An interdisciplinary approach was taken to 1) better understand the …

Noncontact Multiscale Diffuse Optical Imaging Of Deep Tissue Hemodynamics In Animals And Humans, Siavash Mazdeyasna

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Blood flow (BF) impacts the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues and the removal of metabolic byproducts from tissues. Imaging of BF distributions helps characterize many diseases associated with tissue hypoxia/ischemia. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a novel, noninvasive, noncontact, high-density camera-based speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography (scDCT) device for use in both animal and human studies. The scDCT uses a galvo-mirror to remotely deliver the focused point near-infrared light to source positions and a sensitive 2D camera to quantify spatial diffuse speckle fluctuations, resulting from the movement of red blood cells in deep …

Development Of A Torque-Based Device For The Quantification Of Arm Rigidity In Patients With Parkinson’S Disease, Georgina O. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinsonian rigidity is caused by the inability of the muscles to relax and extend properly, due to reduced dopamine levels and often begins on one side of the body before spreading contralaterally. The current standard for determining joint rigidity in a clinical setting is a test completed by the clinician based on the feel of the relaxed wrist and elbow joints as they are passively flexed and extended and a series of ordinal rating scales, the Movement Disorder Society’s – Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Hoehn and Yahr Scale (H&Y), and Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). These methods are used …

Blood Glucose Predictor, Jessica Patterson

Electrical Engineering

For my senior project, I perform data analysis using statistical methods to determine body metrics that correlate with blood glucose levels. Working with Dr. Tina Smilkstein, I take repeat measurements from 6 different volunteers to establish trends in bodily metric data. The data taken includes weight, body fat, pulse rate, VO2, blood glucose, blood pressure, hours slept, and quality of sleep. Using these values, I use the program MiniTab to view results.

A few examples of correlations with blood glucose found in this project are:

• Systolic blood pressure for females had a regression line of 124.0 -0.3366*Blood Pressure. This indicates …

Developing An Optomechanical Approach For Characterizing Mechanical Properties Of Single Adherent Cells, Ali Mehrnezhad

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mechanical properties of a cell reflect its biological and pathological conditions including cellular disorders and fundamental cellular processes such as cell division and differentiation. There have been active research efforts to develop high-throughput platforms to mechanically characterize single cells. Yet, many of these research efforts are focused on suspended cells and use a flow-through configuration. Therefore, adherent cells are detached prior to the characterization, which seriously perturbs the cellular conditions. Also, methods for adherent cells are limited in their throughput.

My study is aimed to fill the technical gap in the field of single cell analysis, which is a high-throughput …