Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation Commons^™

Effects Of A Passive Assistive Hamstring Device On Overground Running Kinematics And Hamstring Activation., Quinn Castner

All Theses

Hamstring strain injuries are among the most common and recurring injuries in sports, occurring most often during the terminal swing phase of gait. Despite progress in rehabilitation, the incidence of injury has only increased, suggesting a need for a novel intervention. We designed a passive, assistive, wearable device with two specific criteria in mind: to offload the hamstrings during running, and do so without hindering normal kinematic patterns. The device consists of an adjustable elastic band anchored proximally at the waist and distally just above the ankle joint center. It stretches and shortens with the hamstrings, providing passive hip extension …

Development Of Low-Cost Triaxial Force Sensor For Measurement Of Human-Exoskeleton Interaction Forces, Hamdan Khan Sarvathullah

All Theses

Contemporary research suggests that shear force is a major contributor to discomfort and pressure injury. However, the variation of shear forces during human-exoskeleton interaction dynamics is a highly unexplored field. The high cost of commercial triaxial force sensors may be a major factor in the notable lack of research in this field. Therefore, in this paper, we present a low-cost, 3D-printed triaxial force sensor designed specifically to measure the triaxial interaction forces between an exoskeleton and its user. The triaxial force sensor uses Carbon-Black/Silicone Rubber (CB/SR) strings to measure shear forces, whereas the normal force is measured with a Force …

Impact Of Shear Flow On Marine Biofilms Using Hyperspectral Imaging, Shantanu Mahesh Kore

All Theses

Various microbial communities in marine biofilms cause biofouling on submerged surfaces, posing challenges to marine industries. Despite their ecological and economic importance, biofilms' biomechanical and biochemical responses to hydrodynamic shear stress are insufficiently understood, particularly in dynamic flow conditions. To fill this gap, our study uses an innovative fiber-optic hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system and a supercontinuum laser source to examine marine biofilms' structure, composition, and detachment behavior at different shear stress levels.

To detect spectral and spatial heterogeneity in live biofilms without labeling, we created a custom imaging pipeline that captures reflectance spectra in the 600-850 nm range, targeting microbial …

The Effect Of Pressure Gradients On Perceived Discomfort, Zachary Bush

All Theses

Introduction:

A pressure gradient is where high and low pressure meet. It is responsible for displacement and irritation of the skin commonly caused by tight bandages, bracelets, or socks. The irritation is at the edge where the skin is displaced by the high and low pressure. An analysis of the effect pressure gradients have on discomfort would have significant medical relevance for any device, fixture, or clothing pressed against the skin at high pressure. This primarily includes prosthetic and orthotic devices.

The bottom surface of the heel provides a naturally circular, uniform pressure profile. This makes it the optimal testing …

Expandable Tissue-Engineered Living Surgical Pulmonary Heart Valve For Pediatric Patients, Jacob M. Lautenschlager

All Theses

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of mortality in developed countries, with 607.74 million cases globally in 2020.^1,2 Advances in medicine have changed the current demographic suffering from heart valve disease into an aging population suffering from degenerative heart valve disease, creating a growing population treated by surgical or transcatheter intervention.^3-6 Current treatments of valvular heart disease are therefore directed toward valve replacements for the adult population, leaving a treatment gap for pediatric patients suffering from heart valve disease.^7-10

Congenital heart defects are defined as structural abnormalities of the heart or intrathoracic great vessels and are …

Advancements Of A Breast Tissue Marker And Localization System, Azrin Jamison

All Theses

Breast cancer has become the most prominent cancer worldwide in women. Annual mammograms are encouraged for women of high risk to increase early detection allowing for lumpectomies rather than mastectomies to occur. Prior to a lumpectomy, a biopsy must be taken to determine if the tissue is cancerous, and a breast cancer biopsy marker (BBM) is left in the region of possible cancerous tissue. Wire localization has been the gold standard for localizing these BBMs. However, due to the reported patient discomfort and logistical inefficiencies faced by healthcare providers (HCP), non-wire localization solutions have been recently developed. This study aims …

Hand Movement Analysis For Surgical Suturing Skill Assessment, Amir Mehdi Shayan

All Theses

To enhance patient safety, surgical education is increasingly incorporating simulation for formative skills assessment and training. However, many standardized assessment tools rely on human raters for performance assessment, which is resource-intensive and subjective. Simulators that provide automated and objective metrics from sensor data can address this limitation. This thesis presents an instrumented bench suturing simulator, patterned after the Clock Face (CF) radial suturing model from the Fundamentals of Vascular Surgery (FVS), for automated and objective assessment of open suturing skills by particularly focusing on biomechanical analysis of hand movements. For this research, 97 participants (35 attending surgeons and fellows, 32 …

Design Of A Four Channel Pulsatile Perfusion Bioreactor For Ex-Vivo Study Of Vascular Grafts, Thomas M. Fair

All Theses

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States. Atherosclerosis in peripheral arteries is a major contributing factor. Autologous saphenous vein grafts are the most common bypass grafts for treating peripheral artery diseases. A quarter of these grafts fail within a year, and around half have failed within 10 years of the initial surgery. Graft failure is attributed to the development of intimal hyperplasia indicated by the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and the deposition of extracellular proteins.

Increases in flow, pressure, the pulse frequency, and the differential of pressure that model an …

Portable U-Bent Optical Fiber Biosensor For Detecting Microcystin-Lr, Quan Dio Anh Le

All Theses

Cyanobacteria are the only known prokaryotes that can photosynthesize. Due to their unique ability, they are important entities in the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. However, two factors can turn cyanobacteria into a nuisance. In general, eutrophication is the process that supplies external nutrients that are needed for cyanobacteria blooms into bodies of water from the surrounding environment. Climate warming intensifies this process by producing carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. With cyanobacteria blooms occurring worldwide, they are becoming a bigger threat to human health, and there has been increased interest in detecting cyanobacteria and their toxic byproducts.

For instance, …