Investigative Techniques Commons^™

Development And Application Of A Biorobotic Simulation Of Stance Phase Gait To Study Foot And Ankle Kinematics, Kelly N. Salb

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Ankle instantaneous axis of rotation (IAR) measurements represent a more complete parameter for characterizing joint motion. However, few studies have implemented this measurement to study normal, injured, or pathological foot-ankle biomechanics. Additionally, while load is suggested to play a major role in ankle biomechanics, including influences on articular surfaces, bony motion, and formation of the arches, studies concerning the effects of joint loading are limited.

A novel testing protocol was developed to simulate in vivo mechanics of the foot-ankle complex during early stance phase gait in a human cadaveric model. Two studies were conducted. The first study was to assess …

Sex Determination Using Discriminant Function Analysis In Hispanic Children And Adolescents: A Lateral Cephalometric Study, Alyssa E. Sprowl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lateral cephalometric radiographs have been used for years to help diagnose skeletal and dental patterns in Orthodontics. Within the last decade, these radiographs have caught the interest of the department of Anthropology for the identification of gender within the adult and adolescent population. Numerous publications have been made but failed to identify sexual dimorphism in the pre-adolescent population. 303 lateral cephalograms of pre and post Latino adolescence age ranging from 6.5 to 17.9 years old were obtained from University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) digital database. 25 variables were identified and plotted with all linear and angular measurements transferred into …

Measurement And Description Of Dynamics Required For In Vivo Surgical Robotics Via Kinematic Methods, Jacob G. Greenburg

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

With the goal of improved recovery times and reduced trauma to the patient there has been a substantial shift in the medical community’s demand for minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques. With the standardization of MIS becoming more commonplace in the medical field there are still many improvements that are desired. Traditional, manual methods of these surgeries require multiple incisions on the abdomen for the tools and instruments to be inserted. The more recent demand has been to localize the incisions into what is being referred to as a Laparoendoscopic Single-Site (LESS) surgery. Furthermore, the manual instruments that are commonly used …

Grip And Pinch Strength Norms For Michigan Workers, Joel M. Phillips, Debra K. Lindstrom-Hazel, Samantha Harrow Swantek, Erin Courtnay Catalano

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The purpose of this study was to create a norm reference of current grip and pinch strength norms for working-age Michigan adults. This normative study included a convenience sample of 179 volunteers who were employees at car plants in South East Michigan or hospital sites in West Michigan. Participants’ ages ranged from between 20 and 62 years of age with a mean age of 49.15 years. There were 78 females (44%) and 101 males (56%). Subjects were classified by gender and in the age categories of ages 20 to 49 years and ages 50-62 years. Grip and pinch strength norms …

The Development And Application Of A Custom Robotic Biomechanical Testing Platform Employing Real-Time Load-Control To Compare Spinal Biomechanical Testing Protocols: Pure Moment, Ideal Follower Load, And A Novel Trunk Weight Protocol, Charles Ramsey Bennett

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The human lumbar spine has been the subject of biomechanical study for many decades owing to the numerous medical cases resulting in the development of various corrective surgical procedures and medical devices intended to relieve patient discomfort. Spinal biomechanics is a broad field containing but not limited to the in vitro study of cadaveric tissue utilizing testing platforms used to apply motion- or load-profiles to tissue in the investigation of the various kinetic or kinematic responses, respectively. The particular arena field of this research concerns the field of robotics as it applies to testing platforms and how they are applied …

Bone Properties Of Recombinant Inbred Line - Bxd Mouse, Yueying Angela Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Osteoporosis is identified by reduced bone mass, decreased bone quality and altered bone micro-architecture. These traits are quantitative and also highly regulated by genetic and environmental factors. As a powerful tool for collaborative analysis of quantitative traits and gene function, BXD recombinant inbred (RI) lines mice have been used to identify genetic effects for bone density.

For the first time, we investigated the bone properties of BXD RI mice by analyzing femur and tibia and compared their phenotypes of different compartments. In this study, microcomputed tomography (µCT) provided an accurate measurement on characterizing bone quality and bone architecture ex-vivo; three-point …

Novel Imaging-Based Techniques Reveal A Role For Pd-1/Pd-L1 In Tumor Immune Surveillance In The Lung, Todd Bartkowiak

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The binding of immune inhibitory receptor Programmed Death 1 (PD-1) on T cells to its ligand PD-L1 has been implicated as a major contributor to tumor induced immune suppression. Clinical trials of PD-L1 blockade have proven effective in unleashing therapeutic anti-tumor immune responses in a subset of patients with advanced melanoma, yet current response rates are low for reasons that remain unclear. Hypothesizing that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway regulates T cell surveillance within the tumor microenvironment, we employed intravital microscopy to investigate the in vivo impact of PD-L1 blocking antibody upon tumor-associated immune cell migration. However, current analytical methods of intravital …

Kinematic And Spatiotemporal Analysis Between Sprint Drills And Maximal Sprinting, Julianne Cappadona

PTHMS Undergraduate Publications

Purpose: To determine if any kinematic differences exist between two common sprint drills (A- and B-drills) and maximal sprinting. Methods: 12 collegiate sprinters (19.17±1.11 y/o) granted informed consent were filmed performing two 40-meter sprints, A-skips, and B-skips. Three-dimensional motion analysis tracked the coordinates of 24 reflective markers and resulting joint kinematics were computed. Results: Statistical analysis revealed that sprinting yielded a significantly lower maximum hip flexion (p=0.015) but a significantly higher minimum ankle angular velocity (p=0.012) and step rate (p=0.000) value than A-drills. When compared to B-drills, sprinting values were significantly lower in maximum hip flexion (p=0.047), minimum knee flexion …

An Edge-Directed Interpolation Method For Fetal Spine Mr Images, Shaode Yu, Rui Zhang, Shibin Wu, Jiani Hu, Yaoqin Xie

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Fetal spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a prenatal routine for proper assessment of fetus development, especially when suspected spinal malformations occur while ultrasound fails to provide details. Limited by hardware, fetal spine MR images suffer from its low resolution.

High-resolution MR images can directly enhance readability and improve diagnosis accuracy. Image interpolation for higher resolution is required in clinical situations, while many methods fail to preserve edge structures. Edge carries heavy structural messages of objects in visual scenes for doctors to detect suspicions, classify malformations and make correct diagnosis. Effective interpolation with well-preserved edge structures is still …

Noninvasive Near-Infrared Diffuse Optical Monitoring Of Cerebral Hemodynamics And Autoregulation, Ran Cheng

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Many cerebral diseases are associated with abnormal cerebral hemodynamics and impaired cerebral autoregulation (CA). CA is a mechanism to maintain cerebral blood flow (CBF) stable when mean arterial pressure (MAP) fluctuates. Evaluating these abnormalities requires direct measurements of cerebral hemodynamics and MAP. Several near-infrared diffuse optical instruments have been developed in our laboratory for hemodynamic measurements including near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS), hybrid NIRS/DCS, and dual-wavelength DCS flow-oximeter. We utilized these noninvasive technologies to quantify CBF and cerebral oxygenation in different populations under different physiological conditions/manipulations. A commercial finger plethysmograph was used to continuously monitor MAP. For investigating …

Bioelectrics In Basic Science And Medicine: Impact Of Electric Fields On Cellular Structures And Functions, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

Bioelectrics is a new interdisciplinary field that investigates electric field effects on cell membranes and other cellular components. It incorporates four main technologies, including electroporation, nanosecond pulsed electric fields, picosecond pulsed electric fields and cold plasmas. The parent technology in Bioelectrics is electroporation, which uses milli- and/or micro-second electric pulses to permeabilize cells and tissues, for delivery of membrane impermeable molecules. It is now being used for electro-gene delivery, with vascular endothelial growth factor, for revascularization in wound healing and cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease. Plasmids expressing IL-12 are being delivered for immune system activation in melanoma treatment, now in …

Facilitation Of Electroporative Drug Uptake And Cell Killing By Electrosensitization, Olga N. Pakhomova, Betsy W. Gregory, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

Cell permeabilization by electric pulses (EP), or electroporation, is widely used for intracellular delivery of drugs and plasmids, as well as for tumour and tissue ablation. We found that cells pre-treated with 100-mus EP develop delayed hypersensitivity to subsequent EP applications. Sensitizing B16 and CHO cells by splitting a single train of eight 100-mus EP into two trains of four EP each (with 5-min. interval) decreased the LD(50) 1.5-2 times. Sensitization profoundly enhanced the electroporation-assisted uptake of bleomycin, a cell-impermeable cytotoxic agent accepted for killing tumours by electrochemotherapy. EP exposures that were not lethal per se caused cell death in …

Tpm: Cloud-Based Tele Ptsd Monitor Using Multi-Dimensional Information, Roger Xu, Gang Mei, Guangfan Zhang, Pan Gao, Aaron Pepe, Jiang Li, James D. Westwood (Ed.), Susan W. Westwood (Ed.), Li Felländer-Tsai (Ed.), Randy S. Haluck (Ed.), Richard A. Robb (Ed.), Steven Senger (Ed.), Kirby G. Vosburgh (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

An automated system that can remotely and non-intrusively screen individuals at high risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and monitor their progress during treatment would be desired by many Veterans Affairs (VAs) as well as other PTSD treatment and research organizations. In this paper, we present an automated, cloud-based Tele-PTSD Monitor (TPM) system based on the fusion of multiple sources of information. The TPM system can be hosted in a cloud environment and accessed through landline or cell phones, or on the Internet through a web portal or mobile application (app).

Mechanical Ankle Instability: Relationship With Active Joint Position Sense, Kristin K. Barnett

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Current research defines chronic ankle instability (CAl) as the combination of mechanical ankle instability (MAl) and functional ankle instability (FAI). Previous research has found individuals with CAl and FAI to have deficits in proprioception, more specifically joint position sense (JPS). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between MAl and active JPS. Twelve participants (5 male, 7 female) were selected for this study based upon their subjective ankle instability as assessed by a score on the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) and objective ankle instability as assessed by measurements taken using a portable ankle arthrometer. Eligible participant's …