Biomechanical Engineering Commons^™

Design And Fabrication Of 3d Bioprinted Scaffold: Experimental And Machine Learning Methods, Mohan K. Dey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The development of reliable hydrogel-based scaffolds for extrusion bioprinting remains limited by the poor structural fidelity of low-viscosity bioinks and the lack of robust, high-throughput quality evaluation methods. This dissertation can resolve such challenges by developing the combination of optimized hydrogel formulations, cryogenic-assisted bioprinting, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based scaffold evaluation to the use of tissue engineering and preclinical cancer modelling applications. To assess the rheological behavior, printability, mechanical properties, and biocompatibility of the alginate – gelatin (Alg–Gel) system, a novel system of hydrogel was developed and characterized using Alg–Gel hydrogel system. The 7% alginate, 8% gelatin mixture was found to …

Fatigue Monitoring Through Wearable Sensors For Construction Workers, Srikanth Sagar Bangaru

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

About 40% of the US construction workforce experiences high-level fatigue, which leads to poor judgment, increased risk of injuries, a decrease in productivity, and a lower quality of work. Excessive fatigue from working in unpleasant working conditions, long working hours, or heavy workloads can aggravate fatigue's adverse effects, leading to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and productivity loss. Therefore, it is essential to monitor fatigue to reduce the adverse effects and preventing long-term health problems. However, since fatigue demonstrates itself in several complex processes, there is no single standard measurement method for fatigue detection. This research aims to develop a system …

Development Of Polymer-Based In-Plane Nanopore For Dna Sequencing, Zheng Jia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mechanically robust solid-state nanopores have the potential to be the next generation DNA sensing platforms. However, mass production and limited base-calling accuracy are the hurdles for solid-state nanopore based DNA sensing. In order to solve these problems, a polymer dual-nanopore device fabricated via high throughput nanoimprint lithography (NIL) was proposed to sequence DNA by time-of-flight (ToF) measurement. As a proof of concept, this study presents mononucleotides discrimination via ToF measurement using polymer in-plane dual-nanopore device.

First, fabrication of polymer in-plane nanopore with controllable dimensions was studied in consideration of experimental conditions and materials selection. Then, surface charge density effect on …

Experimental, Analytical, And Numerical Evaluation Of The Mechanical Properties Of The Brain Tissue, Aref Samadidooki

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A true understanding of the mechanisms behind most of the brain diseases is still out of reach. For several years, the interest of scientists has been focused on the genetic and biological causes, however, recent studies unraveled the importance of the biomechanics of the brain growth, folding, impact resistance, and deformation on its pathological conditions. While, a wide range of different methods have been used for characterization of the mechanical properties of the brain at the tissue level, the obtained results from different studies are extremely scattered and sometimes in contrast to one another. Since the brain tissue is extremely …

Microfluidic Technology And Application In Urinal Analysis, Jiwen Xiang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Microfluidic technology offers numerous advantages in minimizing and integrating the traditional assays. However, the lack of efficient control components of the microfluidic systems has been hindering the widely commercialization of the technology. The research work in this dissertation focused on the development of effective control components for microfluidic applications.

A linear peristaltic pump was firstly designed, fabricated, and tested for conventional microfluidics by synchronously compressing the microfluidic channel with a miniature cam-follower system in Chapter 2. The miniature cam-follower system and microfluidic chip was prototyped using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology and soft lithography technology. Results from experimental test showed that …

Nonlinear Model-Based Control For Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation, Ruzhou Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is a technology where skeletal muscles are externally stimulated by electrodes to help restore functionality to human limbs with motor neuron disorder. This dissertation is concerned with the model-based feedback control of the NMES quadriceps muscle group-knee joint dynamics. A class of nonlinear controllers is presented based on various levels of model structures and uncertainties. The two main control techniques used throughout this work are backstepping control and Lyapunov stability theory.

In the first control strategy, we design a model-based nonlinear control law for the system with the exactly known passive mechanical that ensures asymptotical tracking. …