Biomedical Commons^™

Capacity, Allocation And Update Dynamics Of Human Memory Systems, Shaoying Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information is encoded and stored in three types of memory: sensory memory (SM), short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM). SM has a large capacity but retains information for only a brief period. When information transfers to STM, only a limited amount can be stored. Information in STM can then be transferred to LTM, which has a much larger capacity and longer retention time. STM is often conceptualized as working memory (WM) to highlight its role in active information processing. Due to the limited capacity of STM, it is commonly believed that STM serves as the bottleneck for information processing. …

Toward The Application Of Natural Language Processing In Electronic Health Record Analysis For Taxonomy Development, Latoya Mcdonald

All Dissertations

Electronic health records (EHRs) are pivotal resources for nurse practice because they increase the timeliness and reliability of patient information at the point of care and support access by multiple healthcare providers and the individual patients themselves. However, it is widely recognized that data extraction from EHRs is challenging due to the variability in the language used in clinical care notes and the lack of standardized terminology across healthcare systems. The broad objective of this dissertation is to develop taxonomy-based classification models for nursing care by applying feature engineering approaches to EHRs that include nursing care of ostomy patients following …

A Method For Ultrasound Servo Tracking For Puncture Needle, Shitong Ye, Bo Yang, Hao Quan, Shan Liu, Minyu Tang, Jiawei Tian

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Computer-aided surgical navigation technology helps and guides doctors to complete the operation smoothly, which simulates the whole surgical environment with computer technology, and then visualizes the whole operation link in three dimensions. At present, common image-guided surgical techniques such as computed tomography (CT) and X-ray imaging (X-ray) will cause radiation damage to the human body during the imaging process. To address this, we propose a novel Extended Kalman filter-based model that tracks the puncture needle-point using an ultrasound probe. To address the limitations of Kalman filtering methods based on position and velocity, our method of Kalman filtering uses the position …

Novel Micro-And Nanoformulations Of Paclitaxel For Targeting Metastatic Breast, Non-Small Cell Lung, And Pancreatic Cancers, Lobat Tayebi, Mehran Alavi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Nonlinear pharmacokinetics resulting from high lipophilic and low oral bioavailability, and hypersensitivity reactions and hyperlipidemia caused by formulation by Cremophor EL have limited clinical effectiveness of paclitaxel (Taxol). In this way, there is the critical necessity of innovative drug delivery systems (DDSs) to mitigate severe side effects and overcome clinical limitations of paclitaxel. In recent years, various micro- and nanoformulations, specifically polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) and lipid NPs, have been presented and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, other nanoformulations, such as polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), micelles, liposomes, and mesoporous silica nanoparticles, have shown promising results in vitro …

Personalized Prediction Of Tumor Recurrence With Image-Guided Physics-Informed Computational Model In High-Grade Gliomas, Walia Farzana, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

High grade gliomas are infiltrating tumors characterized by their diffusive invasion and proliferative growth. Across and within patients heterogeneity of tumors makes it challenging to determine tumor spatial extent after surgical resection. Traditionally, tumor growth predictions after surgical resections rely on generalized models and population-based observations, which do not account for individual patient differences. To address this gap, we propose a personalized approach with image-guided computational model (digital twin) that incorporates physics-based modeling to predict tumor recurrence. Our digital twin involves an inverse modeling step, followed by a recurrence model that accounts for varying surgical effects. The physics-guided inverse model …

Identification Of Fiducial Points In Seismocardiographic Cycles Using Manual And Automated Annotation Methods, Jasmine-Vy T. Truong

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There is currently a need for complementary methods for non-invasive cardiac monitoring. Seismocardiography (SCG), the measurement of cardiac-induced vibrations at the chest surface, has shown potential clinical utility. Improving the reliability of detecting fiducial points of electrocardiography (ECG) and SCG, which collectively capture the electro-mechanical cardiac activities, could expand ECG/SCG utility as a low-cost, accessible tool for clinical assessment. This study identifies commonly accepted criteria for fiducial point detection in SCG and ECG through an extensive literature review and signal processing techniques. The previous criteria were evaluated to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Based on the findings, an improved set …

Use Of Electrical Bone Growth Stimulators In High-Risk Patients Following Spinal Fusion, Soumya Malhotra, Khavir Sharieff

HCA-NSU MD Research Day

Title: Use of Electrical Bone Growth Stimulators in High-Risk Patients Following Spinal Fusion Authors: Soumya Malhotra, BA., MS1 & Khavir Sharieff, DO, MBA2 1Class of 2027, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, FL 2Assistant Professor of Surgery, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tampa Bay, FLNova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the advantages of EBGSs following high-risk spinal fusions. Background: Pseudarthrosis is a condition where bones fail to fuse after an injury or surgery. It causes significant …

Assessing The Impact Of Femur Morphological Variations On Pediatric Hip Joint Biomechanics Using Statistical Shape Modeling, Tamara Chambers

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This dissertation aimed to (1) quantify morphological variations in the pediatric hip joint and (2) evaluate the sensitivity of an infant musculoskeletal model (MSM) to these variations, considering hip joint center estimation errors. A shape statistical model (SSM) of decedent infant femurs from the Ortolani collection was created using ShapeWorks, capturing key morphological features, such as variations in the femoral neck-shaft and anteversion angles. Seven synthetic femurs were generated from the SSM to create SSM-informed MSMs, which were systematically evaluated through kinematics and kinetics analyses in OpenSim. Incorporating the SSM led to slight changes in the pediatric MSMs’ kinematics but …

Selective Transfection Of A Transferrin Receptor-Expressing Cell Line With Dna-Lipid Nanoparticles And Synthesis Of Parasite-Derived Glycans As Biomarkers For Leishmaniasis, Irodiel Vinales Lozano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite notable progress in lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-mediated gene delivery, achieving selective transfection of specific cell types, such as cancer cells, remains a significant hurdle, hindering the advancement of innovative gene therapies. In this study, we engineered an LNP formulation encapsulating plasmid DNA (pDNA) encoding the monomeric Green Lantern (mGL) fluorescent reporter protein. The DT7 peptide ligand targeting human transferrin receptor 1 (hTfR1) was also conjugated to the LNP surface for targeted delivery to hTfR1-expressing cells. Optimization of LNP composition yielded favorable particle diameter, ζ-potential, yield, and pDNA encapsulation efficiency. Evaluation of transfection selectivity using a panel of two engineered cell …

Toward Electrical Impedance Sensing Surgical Drill For Tissue Boundary Detection, Harshavardhan Devaraj

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Dental implantation is an increasingly common procedure used to treat missing teeth. However, surgical drilling to place the implant poses a high risk of injury to critical anatomy, such as inferior alveolar nerve injury or maxillary sinus perforation. A real-time surgical feedback system sensing proximity of these critical anatomy could reduce injury risks. This dissertation investigates the development of such a system that incorporates an electrical impedance sensor into the tip of a surgical drill.

A simulation framework based on finite element method (FEM) was developed to optimize the sensor as it approached a high impedance boundary. The accuracy of …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Auto-Segmentation In Pancreatic And Liver Radiation Therapy, Cenji Yu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background

Gastrointestinal cancers exhibit a high mortality rate compared to other cancer types. Among these, pancreatic cancer ranks as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The five-year survival rate remains alarmingly low at a mere 9%. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), another aggressive form of cancer, is rapidly becoming the primary cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The treatment of both liver cancer and pancreatic cancer heavily relies on a multidisciplinary approach. Innovative treatment strategies involving dose-escalated regimens, such as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), are emerging as an important pillar of the management of liver and pancreatic …

Ultrasensitive Tapered Optical Fiber Refractive Index, Erem Ujah, Meimei Lai, Gymama Slaughter

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Refractive index (RI) sensors are of great interest for label-free optical biosensing. A tapered optical fiber (TOF) RI sensor with micron-sized waist diameters can dramatically enhance sensor sensitivity by reducing the mode volume over a long distance. Here, a simple and fast method is used to fabricate highly sensitive refractive index sensors based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Two TOFs (l = 5 mm) with waist diameters of 5 µm and 12 µm demonstrated sensitivity enhancement at λ = 1559 nm for glucose sensing (5-45 wt%) at room temperature. The optical power transmission decreased with increasing glucose concentration due …

Atlas-Based Shared-Boundary Deformable Multi-Surface Models Through Multi-Material And Two-Manifold Dual Contouring, Tanweer Rashid, Sharmin Sultana, Mallar Chakravarty, Michel Albert Audette

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a multi-material dual “contouring” method used to convert a digital 3D voxel-based atlas of basal ganglia to a deformable discrete multi-surface model that supports surgical navigation for an intraoperative MRI-compatible surgical robot, featuring fast intraoperative deformation computation. It is vital that the final surface model maintain shared boundaries where appropriate so that even as the deep-brain model deforms to reflect intraoperative changes encoded in ioMRI, the subthalamic nucleus stays in contact with the substantia nigra, for example, while still providing a significantly sparser representation than the original volumetric atlas consisting of hundreds of millions of voxels. The …

Virtual Surgical Planning In Craniomaxillofacial Surgery: A Structured Review, Kaye Verlarde, Rentor Cafino, Armando Isla Jr., Karen Mae Ty, Xavier-Lewis Palmer, Lucas Potter, Larry Nadorra, Luchin Valrian Pueblos, Lemuel Clark Velasco

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Craniomaxillofacial (CMF) surgery is a challenging and very demanding field that involves the treatment of congenital and acquired conditions of the face and head. Due to the complexity of the head and facial region, various tools and techniques were developed and utilized to aid surgical procedures and optimize results. Virtual Surgical Planning (VSP) has revolutionized the way craniomaxillofacial surgeries are planned and executed. It uses 3D imaging computer software to visualize and simulate a surgical procedure. Numerous studies were published on the usage of VSP in craniomaxillofacial surgery. However, the researchers found inconsistency in the previous literature which prompted the …

Hsp90 Inhibitors Modulate Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein Subunit 1-Induced Human Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Activation And Barrier Dysfunction, Ruben Manuel Luciano Colunga Biancatelli, Pavel Solopov, Betsy W. Gregory, Yara Khodour, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused more than 5 million deaths worldwide. Multiple reports indicate that the endothelium is involved during SARS-Cov-2-related disease (COVID-19). Indeed, COVID-19 patients display increased thrombophilia with arterial and venous embolism and lung microcapillary thrombotic disease as major determinants of deaths. The pathophysiology of endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19 is not completely understood. We have investigated the role of subunit 1 of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S1SP) in eliciting endothelial barrier dysfunction, characterized dose and time relationships, and tested the hypothesis that heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitors would prevent and repair such injury. S1SP …

Radiomic Texture Feature Descriptor To Distinguish Recurrent Brain Tumor From Radiation Necrosis Using Multimodal Mri, M. S. Sadique, A. Temtam, E. Lappinen, K. M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Despite multimodal aggressive treatment with chemo-radiation-therapy, and surgical resection, Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) may recur which is known as recurrent brain tumor (rBT), There are several instances where benign and malignant pathologies might appear very similar on radiographic imaging. One such illustration is radiation necrosis (RN) (a moderately benign impact of radiation treatment) which are visually almost indistinguishable from rBT on structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There is hence a need for identification of reliable non-invasive quantitative measurements on routinely acquired brain MRI scans: pre-contrast T1-weighted (T1), post-contrast T1-weighted (T1Gd), T2-weighted (T2), and T2 Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) that can …

Uncertainty Estimation In Classification Of Mgnt Using Radiogenomics For Glioblastoma Patients, W. Farzana, Z. A. Shboul, A. Temtam, K. M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is one of the most malignant brain tumors among all high-grade brain cancers. Temozolomide (TMZ) is the first-line chemotherapeutic regimen for glioblastoma patients. The methylation status of the O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) gene is a prognostic biomarker for tumor sensitivity to TMZ chemotherapy. However, the standardized procedure for assessing the methylation status of MGMT is an invasive surgical biopsy, and accuracy is susceptible to resection sample and heterogeneity of the tumor. Recently, radio-genomics which associates radiological image phenotype with genetic or molecular mutations has shown promise in the non-invasive assessment of radiotherapeutic treatment. This study proposes a machine-learning framework …

Qu-Brats: Miccai Brats 2020 Challenge On Quantifying Uncertainty In Brain Tumor Segmentation - Analysis Of Ranking Scores And Benchmarking Results, Raghav Mehta, Angelos Filos, Ujjwal Baid, Chiharu Sako, Richard Mckinley, Michael Rebsamen, Katrin Dätwyler, Raphael Meier, Piotr Radojewski, Gowtham Krishnan Murugesan, Sahil Nalawade, Chandan Ganesh, Ben Wagner, Fang F. Yu, Baowei Fei, Ananth J. Madhuranthakam, Joseph A. Maldjian, Laura Daza, Catalina Gómez, Pablo Arbeláez, Chengliang Dai, Shuo Wang, Hadrien Reynaud, Yuan-Han Mo, Elsa Angelini, Yike Guo, Wenjia Bai, Subhashis Banerjee, Lin-Min Pei, Murat Ak, Sarahi Rosas-González, Ilyess Zemmoura, Clovis Tauber, Minh H. Vu, Tufve Nyholm, Tommy Löfstedt, Laura Mora Ballestar, Veronica Vilaplana, Hugh Mchugh, Gonzalo Maso Talou, Alan Wang, Jay Patel, Ken Chang, Katharina Hoebel, Mishka Gidwani, Nishanth Arun, Sharut Gupta, Mehak Aggarwal, Praveer Singh, Elizabeth R. Gerstner, Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer, Nicholas Boutry, Alexis Huard, Lasitha Vidyaratne, Md. Monibor Rahman, Khan M. Iftekharuddin, Joseph Chazalon, Elodie Puybareau, Guillaume Tochon, Jun Ma, Mariano Cabezas, Xavier Llado, Arnau Oliver, Liliana Valencia, Sergi Valverde, Mehdi Amian, Mohammadreza Soltaninejad, Andriy Myronenko, Ali Hatamizadeh, Xue Feng, Quan Dou, Nicholas Tustison, Craig Meyer, Nisarg A. Shah, Sanjay Talbar, Marc-André Weber, Abhishek Mahajan, Andras Jakab, Roland Wiest, Hassan M. Fathallah-Shaykh, Arash Nazeri, Mikhail Milchenko1, Daniel Marcus, Aikaterini Kotrotsou, Rivka Colen, John Freymann, Justin Kirby, Christos Davatzikos, Bjoern Menze, Spyridon Bakas, Yarin Gal, Tal Arbel

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Deep learning (DL) models have provided the state-of-the-art performance in a wide variety of medical imaging benchmarking challenges, including the Brain Tumor Segmentation (BraTS) challenges. However, the task of focal pathology multi-compartment segmentation (e.g., tumor and lesion sub-regions) is particularly challenging, and potential errors hinder the translation of DL models into clinical workflows. Quantifying the reliability of DL model predictions in the form of uncertainties, could enable clinical review of the most uncertain regions, thereby building trust and paving the way towards clinical translation. Recently, a number of uncertainty estimation methods have been introduced for DL medical image segmentation tasks. …

Oral Minimal Model For Gestational Diabetes, Sarah Peters

Symposium of Student Scholars

Gestational diabetes is one of the most common issues that a pregnant woman encounters that could result in harm to both the woman and child. Due to this issue, the woman’s glucose and insulin levels should be carefully monitored throughout her pregnancy to assess the need for prescribed diabetic medication to help regulate those levels. In this research, the objectives is to develop a MATLAB computer program of the Oral Minimal Model, which is a model that can be used to estimate a person’s insulin sensitivity from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) where plasma glucose and insulin levels are …

Mechanisms Of Sensory Adaptation In The Primate Visual System, Boris Isaac Peñaloza Rojas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Under ecological conditions, the luminance impinging on the retina varies within a dynamic range of 220 dB. Stimulus contrast can also vary drastically within a scene, and eye movements leave little time for sampling luminance. In addition, the amount of information reaching our visual system far exceeds the brain’s information processing capacity. Given the limited dynamic range of its neurons and its limited capacity in processing visual information in real-time, the brain deploys both structural and functional solutions that work in tandem to adapt to the surroundings. In this work, employing visual psychophysics and computational neuroscience, we study the mechanisms …

The Hsp90 Inhibitor, Auy-922, Protects And Repairs Human Lung Microvascular Endothelial Cells From Hydrochloric Acid-Induced Endothelial Barrier Dysfunction, Ruben M.L. Colunga Biancatelli, Pavel Solopov, Betsy Gregory, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Exposure to hydrochloric acid (HCl) leads acutely to asthma-like symptoms, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), including compromised alveolo-capillary barrier, and respiratory failure. To better understand the direct effects of HCl on pulmonary endothelial function, we studied the characteristics of HCl-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction in primary cultures of human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMVEC), defined the involved molecular pathways, and tested the potentially beneficial effects of Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitors. HCl impaired barrier function in a time- and concentration-dependent manner and was associated with activation of Protein Kinase B (AKT), Ras homolog family member A (RhoA) and myosin light …

Cardioporation Enhances Myocardial Gene Expression In Rat Heart, Carly Boye, Sezgi Arpag, Nina Burcus, Cathryn Lundberg, Scott Declemente, Richard Heller, Michael Francis, Anna Bulysheva

Bioelectrics Publications

Damage from myocardial infarction (MI) and subsequent heart failure are serious public health concerns. Current clinical treatments and therapies to treat MI damage largely do not address the regeneration of cardiomyocytes. In a previous study, we established that it is possible to promote regeneration of cardiac muscle with vascular endothelial growth factor B gene delivery directly to the ischemic myocardium. In the current study we aim to optimize cardioporation parameters to increase expression efficiency by varying electrode configuration, applied voltage, pulse length, and plasmid vector size. By using a surface monopolar electrode, optimized pulsing conditions and reducing vector size, we …

Joint Modeling Of Rnaseq And Radiomics Data For Glioma Molecular Characterization And Prediction, Zeina A. Shboul, Norou Diawara, Arastoo Vossough, James Y. Chen, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

RNA sequencing (RNAseq) is a recent technology that profiles gene expression by measuring the relative frequency of the RNAseq reads. RNAseq read counts data is increasingly used in oncologic care and while radiology features (radiomics) have also been gaining utility in radiology practice such as disease diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment planning. However, contemporary literature lacks appropriate RNA-radiomics (henceforth, radiogenomics) joint modeling where RNAseq distribution is adaptive and also preserves the nature of RNAseq read counts data for glioma grading and prediction. The Negative Binomial (NB) distribution may be useful to model RNAseq read counts data that addresses potential shortcomings. …

Low-Temperature Gas Plasma Combined With Antibiotics For The Reduction Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Both In Vitro And In Vivo, Li Guo, Lu Yang, Yu Qi, Gulimire Niyazi, Jianbao Zheng, Ruobing Xu, Xusong Chen, Jingye Zhang, Wang Xi, Dingxin Liu, Xiaohua Wang, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Biofilm infections in wounds seriously delay the healing process, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of wound infections. In addition to inactivating micro-organisms, low-temperature gas plasma can restore the sensitivity of pathogenic microbes to antibiotics. However, the combined treatment has not been applied to infectious diseases. In this study, low-temperature gas plasma treatment promoted the effects of different antibiotics on the reduction of S. aureus biofilms in vitro. Low-temperature gas plasma combined with rifampicin also effectively reduced the S. aureus cells in biofilms in the murine wound infection model. The blood and histochemical analysis demonstrated the biosafety of …

Supporting Coordination Of Children With Asd Using Neurological Music Therapy: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial Comparing An Elastic Touch-Display With Tambourines, Franceli L. Cibrian, Melisa Madrigal, Marina Avelais, Monica Tentori

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Aim

To evaluate the efficacy of Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) using a traditional and a technological intervention (elastic touch-display) in improving the coordination of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as a primary outcome, and the timing and strength control of their movements as secondary outcomes.

Methods

Twenty-two children with ASD completed 8 NMT sessions, as a part of a 2-month intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to either use an elastic touch-display (experimental group) or tambourines (control group). We conducted pre- and post- assessment evaluations, including the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) and motor assessments related to the control of …

Deep Learning With Context Encoding For Semantic Brain Tumor Segmentation And Patient Survival Prediction, Linmin Pei, Lasitha Vidyaratne, Md Monibor Rahman, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

One of the most challenging problems encountered in deep learning-based brain tumor segmentation models is the misclassification of tumor tissue classes due to the inherent imbalance in the class representation. Consequently, strong regularization methods are typically considered when training large-scale deep learning models for brain tumor segmentation to overcome undue bias towards representative tissue types. However, these regularization methods tend to be computationally exhaustive, and may not guarantee the learning of features representing all tumor tissue types that exist in the input MRI examples. Recent work in context encoding with deep CNN models have shown promise for semantic segmentation of …

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

Honors Scholar Theses

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 …

Left Atrial Model, Borna Sobati, Sarah Porello, Tess Pate

Biomedical Engineering

The objective is to produce an electrophysiological model of an adult human left atrium. This model will be used to test mapping probe catheters used for locating cardiac arrhythmias against current technology used in practice. Dr. Chris Porterfield requested this model and other physicians or probe catheter manufacturers may also use this product in the future. Dr. Porterfield also discussed the possibility of future senior project groups using the model as a bench test for designing new catheter tips. The model will precisely simulate electrical behaviors of the heart in normal as well as arrhythmic conditions. Ideally, the model will …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Induce Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Accompanied By Immunogenic Cell Death In Murine Models Of Lymphoma And Colorectal Cancer, Alessandra Rossi, Olga N. Pakhomova, Peter A. Mollica, Maura Casciola, Uma Mangalanathan, Andrei G. Pakhomov, Claudia Muratori

Bioelectrics Publications

Depending on the initiating stimulus, cancer cell death can be immunogenic or non-immunogenic. Inducers of immunogenic cell death (ICD) rely on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress for the trafficking of danger signals such as calreticulin (CRT) and ATP. We found that nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF), an emerging new modality for tumor ablation, cause the activation of the ER-resident stress sensor PERK in both CT-26 colon carcinoma and EL-4 lymphoma cells. PERK activation correlates with sustained CRT exposure on the cell plasma membrane and apoptosis induction in both nsPEF-treated cell lines. Our results show that, in CT-26 cells, the activity of …