Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation Commons^™

Applied Machine Learning In Extrusion-Based Bioprinting, Shuyu Tian

Theses and Dissertations

Optimization of extrusion-based bioprinting (EBB) parameters have been systematically conducted through experimentation. However, the process is time and resource-intensive and not easily translatable across different laboratories. A machine learning (ML) approach to EBB parameter optimization can accelerate this process for laboratories across the field through training using data collected from published literature. In this work, regression-based and classification-based ML models were investigated for their abilities to predict printing outcomes of cell viability and filament diameter for cell-containing alginate and gelatin composite hydrogels. Regression-based models were investigated for their ability to predict suitable extrusion pressure given desired cell viability when keeping …

Nebulizer-Based Systems To Improve Pharmaceutical Aerosol Delivery To The Lungs, Benjamin M. Spence

Theses and Dissertations

Combining vibrating mesh nebulizers with additional new technologies leads to substantial improvements in pharmaceutical aerosol delivery to the lungs across therapeutic administration methods. In this dissertation, streamlined components, aerosol administration synchronization, and/or Excipient Enhanced Growth (EEG) technologies were utilized to develop and test several novel devices and aerosol delivery systems. The first focus of this work was to improve the poor delivery efficiency, e.g., 3.6% of nominal dose (Dugernier et al. 2017), of aerosolized medication administration to adult human subjects concurrent with high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy, a form of continuous-flow non-invasive ventilation (NIV). The developed Low-Volume Mixer-Heater (LVMH) …

Analysis Of Glutathione Supplementation Effects On Female Metabolic Syndrome Condition Using Classification Techniques, Nur Rasyidah Hasan Basri

Student Works (2020-2029)

Lesser known to the public that main antioxidants in our body, Glutathione are also said to influence the metabolic syndrome (MS) condition. Oral supplementation consisting of glutathione precursors and vitamin C introduced in the study was to improve glutathione (GSH) status of the consumer and the main objective of this study is to investigate GSH effects on selected MS condition. Several known studies had proven that oral supplementation improved GSH level of consumer. However, there is no definite proof on how it’s affecting MS parameters. Also, there is less study carried out on the relationship between glutathione levels and metabolic …

A Centralised Multi-Objective Model Predictive Control For Biventricular Assist Devices, Vivian Koh Ci Ai

Student Works (2020-2029)

Heart failure is defined as failure of heart to deliver adequate blood flow rate to support tissue perfusion. Heart failure can be treated by implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for left heart failure patients, or a biventricular assist device (BiVAD) for bi-heart failure patients. Since left heart failure predominates right heart failure, all commercial ventricular assist devices are LVADs. Therefore, two LVADs are frequently used as BiVAD for bi-heart failure patients. Clinically, the constant speed (CS) control of BiVAD fails to adapt pump flow rate according to physiological changes, thus putting patients at risk of ventricular suction …

Utilizing Neural Networks And Wearables To Quantify Hip Joint Angles And Moments During Walking And Stair Ascent, Megan V. Mccabe

ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students)

Wearable sensors were leveraged to develop two methods for computing hip joint angles and moments during walking and stair ascent that are more portable than the gold standard. The Insole-Standard (I-S) approach replaced force plates with force-measuring insoles and achieved results that match the curvature of results from similar studies. Peaks in I-S kinetic results are high due to error induced by applying the ground reaction force to the talus. The Wearable-ANN (W-A) approach combines wearables with artificial neural networks to compute the same results. Compared against the I-S, the W-A approach performs well (average rRMSE = 18%, R^{2 …}

Heel Down And Toe-Off Time Measured With Ultrasonic Doppler System And Force Plate Sensor, Sabin Timsina

Honors Theses

Collie Box is a medical device that measures the gait parameters of the person walk- ing in front of it. This device uses the Ultrasonic Doppler system to extract the heel-contact and toe-off times of a person walking within the range of 2-10 meters. These times are used to determine the leg’s swing phase and double stance times. The ultrasonic transducer of 10mm diameter is driven at 40kHz. At the time of the heel-contact and toe-off, foot velocity is zero while the torso part of the human body is still in motion. The wide directivity of 10mm diameter ultrasonic transducer …

Paper-Based Flexible Electrode Using Chemically-Modified Graphene And Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Composites For Electrophysiological Signal Sensing, Md Faruk Hossain, Jae Sang Heo, John Nelson, Insoo Kim

Bioelectrics Publications

Flexible paper-based physiological sensor electrodes were developed using chemically-modified graphene (CG) and carboxylic-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube composites (f@MWCNTs). A solvothermal process with additional treatment was conducted to synthesize CG and f@MWCNTs to make CG-f@MWCNT composites. The composite was sonicated in an appropriate solvent to make a uniform suspension, and then it was drop cast on a nylon membrane in a vacuum filter. A number of batches (0%~35% f@MWCNTs) were prepared to investigate the performance of the physical characteristics. The 25% f@MWCNT-loaded composite showed the best adhesion on the paper substrate. The surface topography and chemical bonding of the proposed CG-f@MWCNT …

Development Of A Statistical Shape-Function Model Of The Implanted Knee For Real-Time Prediction Of Joint Mechanics, Kalin Gibbons

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Outcomes of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are dependent on surgical technique, patient variability, and implant design. Non-optimal design or alignment choices may result in undesirable contact mechanics and joint kinematics, including poor joint alignment, instability, and reduced range of motion. Implant design and surgical alignment are modifiable factors with potential to improve patient outcomes, and there is a need for robust implant designs that can accommodate patient variability. Our objective was to develop a statistical shape-function model (SFM) of a posterior stabilized implant knee to instantaneously predict output mechanics in an efficient manner. Finite element methods were combined with Latin …

Modification And Optimization Of Conducting Polymer-Modified, Redox-Magnetohydrodynamics (R-Mhd) Pumping For Enhanced And Sustained Microfluidics Applications, Md Foysal Zahid Khan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work, a novel microfluidic pumping approach, redox-magnetohydrodynamics (R-MHD) has improved by materials and device optimization to use in lab-on-a-chip applications. In R-MHD, magnetic flux (B) and ionic current density (j) interacts to generate body force (FB) in between active electrodes, according to the equation FB = j×B. This unique fluid pumping approach is scalable, tunable, generates flat flow profile, and does not require any channels or valves. Pumping performance, such as speed scales with the ionic current density (j) and duration depends on the total charge (Q). The ionic current density (j) results from the conversion of electronic …

Improving 3d Printed Prosthetics With Sensors And Motors, Rachel Zarin

Honors Projects

A 3D printed hand and arm prosthetic was created from the idea of adding bionic elements while keeping the cost low. It was designed based on existing models, desired functions, and materials available. A tilt sensor keeps the hand level, two motors move the wrist in two different directions, a limit switch signals the fingers to open and close, and another motor helps open and close the fingers. All sensors and motors were built on a circuit board, programmed using an Arduino, and powered by a battery. Other supporting materials include metal brackets, screws, guitar strings, elastic bands, small clamps, …

Seeing Eye To Eye: A Machine Learning Approach To Automated Saccade Analysis, Maigh Attre

Honors Scholar Theses

Abnormal ocular motility is a common manifestation of many underlying pathologies particularly those that are neurological. Dynamics of saccades, when the eye rapidly changes its point of fixation, have been characterized for many neurological disorders including concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and Parkinson’s disease. However, widespread saccade analysis for diagnostic and research purposes requires the recognition of certain eye movement parameters. Key information such as velocity and duration must be determined from data based on a wide set of patients’ characteristics that may range in eye shapes and iris, hair and skin pigmentation [36]. Previous work on saccade analysis has …

The Affective Perceptual Model: Enhancing Communication Quality For Persons With Pimd, Jadin Tredup

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Methods for prolonged compassionate care for persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) require a rotating cast of import people in the subjects life in order to facilitate interaction with the external environment. As subjects continue to age, dependency on these people increases with complexity of communications while the quality of communication decreases. It is theorized that a machine learning (ML) system could replicate the attuning process and replace these people to promote independence. This thesis extends this idea to develop a conceptual and formal model and system prototype.

The main contributions of this thesis are: (1) proposal of …

Relaxed Mental State Detection Using The Emotiv Epoc And Adaptive Threshold Algorithms, Olin L. Anderson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

The electroencephalogram (EEG) has proven to be useful in a wide variety of applications, including: diagnosis of mental disorders, psychological research, neurofeedback, and brain-computer interfacing. Most such applications of the EEG benefit from an ability to automatically detect when the subject is in a relaxed state. Recently, inexpensive and relatively easy to use EEG systems, with multiple electrodes, have become available at prices comparable to cellular phones or game machines. This project’s purpose is to investigate the feasibility of real-time classification of a subject's relaxation state using one such consumer-grade EEG system, the Emotiv Epoc. The subject's state is classified …

Multiscale Mathematical Modelling Of Nonlinear Nanowire Resonators For Biological Applications, Rosa Fallahpourghadikolaei

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Nanoscale systems fabricated with low-dimensional nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes, nanowires, quantum dots, and more recently graphene sheets, have fascinated researchers from different fields due to their extraordinary and unique physical properties. For example, the remarkable mechanical properties of nanoresonators empower them to have a very high resonant frequency up to the order of giga to terahertz. The ultra-high frequency of these systems attracted the attention of researchers in the area of bio-sensing with the idea to implement them for detection of tiny bio-objects. In this thesis, we originally propose and analyze a mathematical model for nonlinear vibrations of nanowire …

Chemotherapeutic Drug Cytotoxicity Measurement With A 3d Biomimetic Microfluidic Device And Computational Fluid Dynamics Model, Maryam Moarefian, Caroline Jones, Luke Achenie, Danesh Tafti

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Design & Delivery Of Automated Winston-Lutz Test For Isocentric & Off-Axis Delivery Stability Utilizing Truebeam Developer Mode & Electronic Portal Imaging Device, Mahmoud Mohammad Yaqoub

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The uncertainties in treatment delivery cannot be ignored in radiation therapy. Thus, the quality assurance QA tests are very important task of the medical physicist in clinical practice. Assuring the coincidence between the mechanical isocenter of the Linear Accelerator (LINAC) and its radiation beams isocenter is one of the most important qualities need to be tested, and the Winston Lust (WL) test is the

most popular technique to perform this task, especially for the treatment modalities which need high precision in beam delivery such as the stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic body radiotherapy (SRS/SBRT). The linear accelerator-based SRS/SBRT is a well-established method in …

A Deterministic Model Of The Effect Of Electric Field On Chemotherapeutics Delivery Into A Tumor, Maryam Moarefian, Luke Achenie

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Shear Driven Micro-Fluidic Pump For Cardiovascular Applications, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

A valveless shear-driven micro-fluidic pump design (SDMFP) for hemodynamic applications is presented in this work. One of the possible medical and biomedical applications is in-vivo hemodynamic (human blood circulation) support/assist. One or more SDMFPs can be inserted/implanted into vascular lumens in a form of a stent/duct in series and/or in parallel (bypass duct) to support blood circulation in-vivo. A comprehensive review of various micro-pump designs up to about mid 2000’s is given in [1,2]. Many of micropump designs considered are not suitable for in-vivo or even in-vitro medical/biomedical applications.

Operating principles, design, and SDMFP features are given in [3]. A …

Impairment Of Continuous Insulin Delivery Therapy And Analysis From Graeco-Latin Square Design Model, Norou Diawara, Ayodeji Demuren, Eric Gyuricsko

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The desire to deliver measured amount of insulin continuously to patients with type I diabetes, for glycemic control, has attracted a lot of attention. Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion has seen some success in recent years. However, occlusion of insulin delivery may prevent the patient from receiving the prescribed dosage, with adverse consequence. An in vitro study of insulin delivery is performed, using different insulin pumps, insulin analogs and operating conditions. The aim is to identify incidences of occlusion due to bubble formation in the infusion line. A detailed statistical analysis was performed on the data collected to determine any significant …

Lpcoms: Towards A Low Power Wireless Smart-Shoe System For Gait Analysis In People With Disabilities, Ishmat Zerin

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Gait analysis using smart sensor technology is an important medical diagnostic process and has many applications in rehabilitation, therapy and exercise training. In this thesis, we present a low power wireless smart-shoe system (LPcomS) to analyze different functional postures and characteristics of gait while walking. We have designed and implemented a smart-shoe with a Bluetooth communication module to unobtrusively collect data using smartphone in any environment. With the design of a shoe insole equipped with four pressure sensors, the foot pressure is been collected, and those data are used to obtain accurate gait pattern of a patient. With our proposed …

Computational Approaches For Remote Monitoring Of Symptoms And Activities, Ferdaus Kawsar

Dissertations (1934 -)

We now have a unique phenomenon where significant computational power, storage, connectivity, and built-in sensors are carried by many people willingly as part of their life style; two billion people now use smart phones. Unique and innovative solutions using smart phones are motivated by rising health care cost in both the developed and developing worlds. In this work, development of a methodology for building a remote symptom monitoring system for rural people in developing countries has been explored. Design, development, deployment, and evaluation of e-ESAS is described. The system’s performance was studied by analyzing feedback from users. A smart phone …

Person Identification From Streaming Surveillance Video Using Mid-Level Features From Joint Action-Pose Distribution, Binu M. Nair, Vijayan K. Asari

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We propose a real time person identification algorithm for surveillance based scenarios from low-resolution streaming video, based on mid-level features extracted from the joint distribution of various types of human actions and human poses.

The proposed algorithm uses the combination of an auto-encoder based action association framework which produces per-frame probability estimates of the action being performed, and a pose recognition framework which gives per-frame body part locations.

The main focus in this manuscript is to effectively combine these per-frame action probability estimates and pose trajectories from a short temporal window to obtain mid-level features. We demonstrate that these mid-level …

Diffuse Optical Measurements Of Head And Neck Tumor Hemodynamics For Early Prediction Of Chemo-Radiation Therapy Outcomes, Lixin Dong

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Chemo-radiation therapy is a principal modality for the treatment of head and neck cancers, and its efficacy depends on the interaction of tumor oxygen with free radicals. In this study, we adopted a novel hybrid diffuse optical instrument combining a commercial frequency-domain tissue oximeter (Imagent) and a custom-made diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) flowmeter, which allowed for simultaneous measurements of tumor blood flow and blood oxygenation. Using this hybrid instrument we continually measured tumor hemodynamic responses to chemo-radiation therapy over the treatment period of 7 weeks. We also explored monitoring dynamic tumor hemodynamic changes during radiation delivery. Blood flow data analysis …

Monolithic Optofluidic Ring Resonator Lasers Created By Femtosecond Laser Nanofabrication, Hengky Chandrahalim, Qiushu Chen, Ali A. Said, Mark Dugan, Xudong Fan

Faculty Publications

We designed, fabricated, and characterized a monolithically integrated optofluidic ring resonator laser that is mechanically, thermally, and chemically robust. The entire device, including the ring resonator channel and sample delivery microfluidics, was created in a block of fused-silica glass using a 3-dimensional femtosecond laser writing process. The gain medium, composed of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) dissolved in quinoline, was flowed through the ring resonator. Lasing was achieved at a pump threshold of approximately 15 μJ/mm². Detailed analysis shows that the Q-factor of the optofluidic ring resonator is 3.3 × 10⁴, which is limited by both solvent …

Designing A Biomimetic Testing Platform For Actuators In A Series-Elastic Co-Contraction System, Ryan Tyler Schroeder

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Actuators determine the performance of robotic systems at the most intimate of levels. As a result, much work has been done to assess the performance of different actuator systems. However, biomimetics has not previously been utilized as a pretext for tuning a series elastic actuator system with the purpose of designing an empirical testing platform. Thus, an artificial muscle tendon system has been developed in order to assess the performance of two distinct actuator types: (1) direct current electromagnetic motors and (2) ultrasonic rotary piezoelectric motors. Because the design of the system takes advantage of biomimetic operating principles such as …

Preliminary Test Of A Real-Time, Interactive Silent Speech Interface Based On Electromagnetic Articulograph, Jun Wang, Ashok Samal, Jordan R. Green

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

A silent speech interface (SSI) maps articulatory movement data to speech output. Although still in experimental stages, silent speech interfaces hold significant potential for facilitating oral communication in persons after laryngectomy or with other severe voice impairments. Despite the recent efforts on silent speech recognition algorithm development using offline data analysis, online test of SSIs have rarely been conducted. In this paper, we present a preliminary, online test of a real-time, interactive SSI based on electromagnetic motion tracking. The SSI played back synthesized speech sounds in response to the user’s tongue and lip movements. Three English talkers participated in this …

Formulation Development Of A Polymer-Drug Matrix With A Controlled Release Profile For The Treatment Of Glaucoma, Eric W. Tsoi

Master's Theses

Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the United States accounting for 9-12% of all cases of blindness. Currently, the front line treatment for glaucoma are prostaglandins that may have to be taken up to several times a day. Even with proper treatment, roughly 11% of the patients using the treatment are non-compliant and lose their vision. In this project, ForSight Laboratories has developed a pharmaceutical drug delivering implant with the capability of sustaining long-term release of a prostaglandin as a new way to treat the condition. This project reports the product development of a polymer drug matrix with …

Near-Infrared Surface-Enhanced Fluorescence Using Silver Nanoparticles In Solution, Michael D. Furtaw

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a widely used detection technology in many research and clinical assays. Further improvement to assay sensitivity may enable earlier diagnosis of disease, novel biomarker discovery, and ultimately, improved outcomes of clinical care along with reduction in costs. Near-infrared, surface-enhanced fluorescence (NIR-SEF) is a promising approach to improve assay sensitivity via simultaneous increase in signal with a reduction in background. This dissertation describes research conducted with the overall goal to determine the extent to which fluorescence in solution may be enhanced by altering specific variables involved in the formation of plasmonactive nanostructures of dye-labeled protein and silver nanoparticles …

St. Jude Medical: An Object-Oriented Software Architecture For Embedded And Real-Time Medical Devices, Atila Amiri

Master's Theses

Medical devices used for surgical or therapeutic purposes require a high degree of safety and effectiveness. Software is critical component of many such medical devices. The software architecture of a system defines organizational structure and the runtime characteristic of the application used to control the operation of the system and provides a set of frameworks that are used to develop that. As such, the design of software architecture is a critical element in achieving the intended functionality, performance, and safety requirements of a medical device. This architecture uses object-oriented design techniques, which model the underlying system as a set of …

Development Of The Mask Scentometer, A Comparison Of Ambient Odor Assessment Methods, And Their Application In Ground Truthing Atmospheric Dispersion Models, Christopher G. Henry

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

This dissertation is organized as four stand-alone papers. Paper No. 1 describes the development of the Mask Scentometer and reports dilution ratios measured during use by twelve different people. Dilution ratios at the Mask Scentometer’s five dilution-to-threshold (D/T) settings were found to be 0.35, 1, 2, 4.5 and 18. In Paper No.’s 2 and 4, ambient odor assessment methods were compared in both controlled laboratory conditions and in the field. Laboratory analysis of ambient air samples using dynamic triangular forced-choice olfactometry (DTFCO) did not correlate well with any of the ambient odor assessment methods. Average intensity-predicted D/T was roughly five …