Other Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Restoring An Iso:5840-Compliant Pulse Duplicator Device For Hydrodynamic Performance Characterization Of Artificial Cardiac Valves, Denver Eagar

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

During the summer of 2021, I was employed as an intern at Dynatek Labs, an implantable prosthetics testing company located in southern Missouri. My primary project was to modernize an abandoned pulse duplicator device and protocol to allow the company to re-enter a market area which they left nearly 15 years prior: heart valve testing. The company halted this initiative due to changes in international testing standards in previous years. The International Standards Organization Cardiac Valves Working Group released the latest version of standards concerning artificial heart valve testing (ISO 5840) in January of 2021. Accordingly, my project required that …

Surface Laser Texturing Of Cocrmo Alloys, Gabriel Dharwadker

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Artificial orthopedic implants such as hip joints suffer from excessive wear due to excess friction between the polyethylene and cobalt-chromium-molybdenum surfaces of the device. This increase in friction causes a fraction of them to give out within ten years. Therefore, to minimize the probability of this happening, recent research has been conducted regarding laser surface texturing of the cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy components of artificial joints. These surface textures serve to mimic the native lubrication mechanisms of cartilage in natural joints, which, in a natural joint, lowers the friction. However, the production of these laser surface textures is still a field of …

Impact Of Percutaneous Transluminal Intervention On Vascular Hypoxia And The Role Of Micro-Calcifications On Atherosclerotic Plaque Rupture, Andrea Corti

Dissertations and Theses

Atherosclerotic disease is initiated by cholesterol build-up beneath the endothelium, which evolves into a fibroatheroma, a lipid-rich plaque covered by a fibrous cap. Many of these plaques are considered as vulnerable, as they grow to occlude the luminal section of the artery (chronically stenotic) or become mechanically unstable with a higher chance of rupturing (rupture-prone). On one hand, chronically stenotic vulnerable plaques are symptomatic lesions that are often treated with Percutaneous Transluminal Intervention (PTI). Unfortunately, approximately 10% of PTI procedures are followed by severe Neointima Hyperplasia (NH), which causes a new occlusion and failure of the implant. A significant precursor …

Detecting Viral Particles In Vitro Using Photoacoustic Flow Cytometry, Anie-Pier Samson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Covid-19 pandemic is a powerful example of just how damaging the rapid spread of an unknown virus can be. Viruses have the ability to spread rapidly amongst individuals if not treated and controlled. The first key step towards treatment is the timely and specific diagnosis of the virus causing the infection. An innovative method for the rapid detection of viral particles in solution consists of tagging the viral particles paired with using photoacoustic flow cytometry to irradiate the particles and get a signal. The high affinity of Streptavidin for Biotin can be used to bind Streptavidin-coated microspheres to biotinylated …

Hand Strength And Dexterity Enhancer, Julia Ann Denison, Autumn B. Rexford, Melissa A. Kurani, Christina K. Fong

Biomedical Engineering

Good Grips created the hand strength and dexterity enhancer project to meet the challenge presented by Bill Phelps. He has Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), an inflammatory muscle disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. Bill has limited strength in both hands and lost the ability to bend his fingers, making it difficult to grip anything. He needed a device that would help with everyday tasks such as writing, lifting, and holding various objects.

Our team consists of four engineering students attending Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. We researched, designed, manufactured, and tested a device that would fulfill the problem …

Isomotive Dielectrophoresis For Enhanced Analyses Of Cell Subpopulations., Mohamed Zakarya Rashed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the relentless dream of creating a true lab-on-a-chip device is closer to realization than ever before, which will be enabled through efficient and reliable sample characterization systems. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a term used to describe the motion of dielectric particles/ cells, by means of a non-uniform electric field (AC or DC). Cells of different dielectric properties (i.e., size, interior properties, and membrane properties) will act differently under the influence of dielectrophoretic force. Therefore, DEP can be used as a powerful, robust, and flexible tool for cellular manipulation, separation, characterization, and patterning. However, most recent DEP applications focus on …

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, …

Primer Payload System For Higher-Order Multiplex Lamp: Design And Development Of Unit Processes, Tochukwu Dubem Anyaduba

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Design and Development of Platforms for the Application of Loop-mediated Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification, LAMP, in the Diagnosis of Polymicrobial Diseases

Tochukwu Dubem Anyaduba, Travis Schlappi (PI)

For the past two decades, several isothermal nucleic acid amplification technologies have emerged. These are mostly in response to the need for robust molecular diagnostic tools amenable to point-of-care and limited-resource settings. Of these, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, LAMP, stands out as a highly specific and rapid alternative to the polymerase chain reaction, PCR. One of LAMP's significant characteristics involves using four essential and two loop (rate increasing) primers to recognize six to eight …

Gyroscopic Human Balance Device, Randy Lam Hau, Spencer Ross, Yael Farkash

Biomedical Engineering

This project’s sponsor, Charlie Guitierrez, has decades of experience building assistive walking devices for the wheelchair bound population. During his work, he noticed that many of his clients retained some ability to balance themselves and so theorized that they would be able to walk independently if given some form of assistance. This assistance could potentially be in the form of a wearable gyroscope. Gyroscopes are commonly used to stabilize objects subjected to instability, such as bicycles, motorcycles, and ships. Thus, a wearable gyroscope would assist its user in maintaining overall stability by imparting reactive torques and forces if the user …

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 …

A Novel Method To Commercialize Medical Devices Initially Developed At California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, Christina Grigorian

Master's Theses

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is a university that encourages students to approach learning hands-on. As such, there is cutting-edge technology being developed by students in all departments on campus. Being that the university possesses an outstanding biomedical engineering department, there are groundbreaking medical devices that students are creating at Cal Poly SLO. These are devices that can better the lives of individuals suffering from ailments or fulfill needs in the medical industry. Subsequently, it is vital that these devices make it out of campus laboratories and into the hands of consumers. In order to move a product …

Fuzzy Logic Based Control For Membrane Oxygenator In Blood Purification Process, Hany Hazfiza Manap

Student Works (2020-2029)

Membrane oxygenator in Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) is commonly used as a main component in Cardiopulmonary Bypass (CPB), Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator (ECMO) and Extracorporeal Carbon Dioxide Removal (ECCO2R). In this study, the focus is on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) gas exchange process in membrane oxygenator, which the CO2 is automatically controlled by adjusting sweep gas flow rate that entering the membrane oxygenator in achieving the desired pCO2 required by the particular patients. This automatic control action is controlled by the implementation of three controllers, Proportional-IntegralDerivative (PID) that is tuned by Ziegler-Nichols continuous cycling method, Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) and Fuzzy-PID controllers. …

Immediate Effects Of Dynamic Lycra® Orthosis On Sitting To Standing Ability Children With Cerebral Palsy / Ida Hasni Shaari, Ida Hasn Shaari

Student Works (2020-2029)

Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) are highly exposed to postural mal-alignment which interrupt their functional movement pattern and the ability to attain certain functional activities, like walking and Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) are highly exposed to postural mal-alignment which interrupt their functional movement pattern and the ability to attain certain functional activities, like walking and sitting-to-standing motion (STS). Orthoses are commonly prescribed to give good posture in these children. Yet, none of the orthoses has been found to be suitable in addressing trunkpelvis alignment in children with cerebral palsy, to enhance their STS performance. Therefore, this study was conducted …

Automatic Detection Of Dynamic And Static Activities Of The Older Adults Using A Wearable Sensor And Support Vector Machines, Jian Zhang, Rahul Soangra, Thurmon E. Lockhart

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Although Support Vector Machines (SVM) are widely used for classifying human motion patterns, their application in the automatic recognition of dynamic and static activities of daily life in the healthy older adults is limited. Using a body mounted wireless inertial measurement unit (IMU), this paper explores the use of an SVM approach for classifying dynamic (walking) and static (sitting, standing and lying) activities of the older adults. Specifically, data formatting and feature extraction methods associated with IMU signals are discussed. To evaluate the performance of the SVM algorithm, the effects of two parameters involved in SVM algorithm—the soft margin constant …

Septal Closure Device, Olivia N. Welch, Hillal H. Jarrar, Kai Harrison

Biomedical Engineering

The septal closure device was designed to seal defects in the atrial septum. To fully seal an atrial defect, the device was designed to consist of two circular seals to cover the defect in both the right and left atria, attached with a central rod. The materials were chosen for compressibility (for ease of insertion), biocompatibility, and tissue ingrowth. A CAD model was drafted in SolidWorks. Key customer requirements include ease of implantation (specifications: adjustable sizing and clear directions for use), physician controlled (specifications: short implantation time and compatibility with current catheter/scope techniques), and a long lifetime (specifications: materials that …

Insulative (Direct Current) Dielectrophoretic Foul-Less Filtration In Microfuidic Systems, Matthew A A Whitman

Master's Theses

Filtration is a technology that is used almost ubiquitously in society from uses raging from filtration of macroparticles from water to pharmaceutical grade filtration products to remove anything larger than a protein. However, with such a wide range of uses, most filtration products have the same issue; membrane clogging (fouling) that prevents continuous use and requires frequent maintenance. This thesis hypothesizes that by applying a direct current (DC) to an insulating array of posts, they will create a foul-less insulative dielectrophoretic filter (iDEP) that does not clog since particles will levitate above the insulating array.

This thesis tested an inherited …

Solostand, Hau Nhat Doan, Sydney Gray, Celina Dioso

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this scope of work is to highlight the progress and development of SoloStand sponsored by Derek Herrera, chief technical officer and founder of SpinalSingularity. SoloStand is an attachment to a wheelchair that will benefit paraplegics that use wheelchairs. A portable and customizable attachment to a wheelchair will allow the user to do everyday tasks without transferring into a separate standing wheelchair and travel more easily. This document outlines everything that has been done in fulfillment of our senior project requirements.

The Tera Multi Terrain Mobility Aid Chassis, Colton Kemp, Daniel Nicoll, Ibrahim Suleiman, Mohammad Alyami

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The natural environment poses a significant number of obstacles and dynamic settings that makes mobility difficult for those with physical and mobility impairments. To approach this problem, a suspension was designed using inspiration from the early Mars rovers developed by NASA for traversing the varied Martian landscape. The course of the project followed the direction of a start-up through problem identification, early design generation and review, and final design production. The project outcome, through client request and proven market research, aimed to produce a multi-terrain wheelchair. The final product is a kinematic body with mobile front “legs” and a rotational …

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 …

Single-Cell Impedance Spectroscopy, David Paul Lange

Master's Theses

Impedance spectroscopy (IS) is an important tool for cell detection and characterization in medical and food safety applications. In this thesis, the Cal Poly Biofluidics Lab’s impedance spectroscopy system was re-evaluated and optimized for single-cell impedance spectroscopy. To evaluate the IS system, an impedance spectroscopy bioMEMS chip was fabricated in the Cal Poly Microfabcrication lab, software was developed to run IS experiments, and studies were run to validate the system. To explore IS optimization, Maxwell’s mixture theorem and the Schwartz-Christoffel transform were used to calculate an analytic impedance solution to the co-planar electrode system,a novel volume fraction to account for …

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 …

The Effect Of Radial Head Hemiarthroplasty Stem Fit On Radiocapitellar Contact Mechanics: Is Loose Fit Better Than Rigidly Fixed?, Jakub Szmit, Graham J.W. King, James A. Johnson, G. Daniel G. Langohr

Western Research Forum

Background/Methods: Radial head hemiarthroplasty is commonly employed to manage comminuted displaced fractures. With regards to implant fixation, current designs vary with some prostheses aiming to achieve a tight 'fixed' fit, and others utilizing a smooth stem with an over reamed 'loose' fit. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of radial head hemiarthroplasty stem fit on radiocapitellar contact using a finite element model which simulated both fixed (size-for-size) and loose (1, 2 & 3mm over reamed) stem fits.

Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that a loose stem fit would improve radiocapitellar contact mechanics, with increased contact area …

Cooking Hand Multi-Tool, Amanda D. Meares, Amy H. Wilson, Ethan G. Littlejohn, Duania A. Evans

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to devise a solution for Jorge Segura, a US Marine who was wounded in Afghanistan and had to have his non-dominant arm amputated above the elbow. His current prosthetic attachments are not suited to cooking tasks, so he needed a way to cook more effectively with either prosthetic attachments or accessibility devices. The main tasks that he needed help with was holding down food on cutting boards and stabilizing pots, pans, and bowls especially when stirring. After background research, exploring commercially available devices, and talking with our challenger, our solution was to design three …

A 3-Dimensional In Silico Test Bed For Radiofrequency Ablation Catheter Design Evaluation And Optimization, Carolyn Teng

Master's Theses

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the disordered activation of the atrial myocardium, which is a major cause of stroke. Currently, the most effective, minimally traumatic treatment for AF is percutaneous catheter ablation to isolate arrhythmogenic areas from the rest of the atrium. The standard in vitro evaluation of ablation catheters through lesion studies is a resource intensive effort due to tissue variability and visual measurement methods, necessitating large sample sizes and multiple prototype builds. A computational test bed for ablation catheter evaluation was built in SolidWorks® using the morphology and dimensions of the left atrium adjacent structures. From this geometry, the …

Development Of A Sonically Powered Biodegradable Nanogenerator For Bone Regeneration, Avi S. Patel

University Scholar Projects

Background: Reconstruction of bone fractures and defects remains a big challenge in orthopedic surgery. While regenerative engineering has advanced the field greatly using a combination of biomaterial scaffolds and stem cells, one matter of difficulty is inducing osteogenesis in these cells. Recent works have shown electricity’s ability to promote osteogenesis in stem cell lines when seeded in bone scaffolds; however, typical electrical stimulators are either (a) externally housed and require overcomplex percutaneous wires be connected to the implanted scaffold or (b) implanted non-degradable devices which contain toxic batteries and require invasive removal surgeries.

Objective: Here, we establish a biodegradable, piezoelectric …

Vector Flow Imaging In Pediatric Cardiology - Extracting And Validating Data, Mason Belue

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the field of bedside cardiac diagnostic imaging, Doppler Ultrasound (DU) is the gold standard for diagnosing heart conditions. The largest benefit of DU is its ability to noninvasively image cardiac flow and allow the estimation of blood velocity and quantification of anatomical disease. However, to get correct velocity estimation, the position of the transducer in relation to the flow field needs to be known. This is the problem of angle/direction dependency and limits DUs accuracy when imaging in areas where perfect alignment or exact position of the transducer in relation to flow field is not possible or known, such …

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 …

Slit Lamp Ophthalmoscope Redesign, Michael Hostetler, Austin Mattmiller, Alexis Brewer

Biomedical Engineering

The slit lamp ophthalmoscope is used by ophthalmologists for diagnosis of pathologies in the eye. The device is used for identifying ocular diseases or indications of other possible systemic diseases to treat them before the diseases progress. Redesign of the ergonomics and adjustment mechanisms of the slit lamp ophthalmoscope will attempt to improve the compatibility of the device across a greater variety of patients. The wider headrest tower of 12.75 inches, the wider table cutout of 12 inches, and the 12 inches of extension of the headrest tower creates a better ergonomic fit for the patient and doctor. The wider …

Development Of A Myoelectric Detection Circuit Platform For Computer Interface Applications, Nickolas Andrew Butler

Master's Theses

Personal computers and portable electronics continue to rapidly advance and integrate into our lives as tools that facilitate efficient communication and interaction with the outside world. Now with a multitude of different devices available, personal computers are accessible to a wider audience than ever before. To continue to expand and reach new users, novel user interface technologies have been developed, such as touch input and gyroscopic motion, in which enhanced control fidelity can be achieved. For users with limited-to-no use of their hands, or for those who seek additional means to intuitively use and command a computer, novel sensory systems …

Development Of An Eye Movement Based Predictive Model For Discrimination Of Parkinson's Disease From Other Parkinsonisms And Controls, Mary Anisa Kannan

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Due to the neurological aspects of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and the sensitivity of eye movements to neurological issues, eye tracking has the potential to be an objective biomarker with higher accuracy in diagnosis than current clinical standards. Currently when PD is diagnosed clinically, there is an accuracy of 74% when diagnosed by a general practitioner and 82% when diagnosed by a movement disorder specialist. This study was designed to: 1. Assess eye movements as a potential biomarker for Parkinson’s Disease. 2. Determine if eye movements can distinguish between Parkinson’s Disease and commonly confounded movement disorders with parkinsonian symptoms. 3. …