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- Creators: Harrington Bioengineering Program
Description
The global population over the age of 60 is estimated to rise to 23% by 2050 only increase the prevalence of functional neurological disorders and stroke. Increase in cases of functional neurological disorders and strokes will place a greater burden on the healthcare industry, specifically physical therapy. Physical therapy is vital for a patient’s recovery of motor function which is time demanding and taxing on the physical therapist. Wearable robotics have been proven to improve functional outcomes in gait rehabilitation by providing controlled high dosage and high-intensity training. Accurate control strategies for assistive robotic exoskeletons are vital for repetitive high precisions assistance for cerebral plasticity to occur.
This thesis presents a preliminary determination and design of a control algorithm for an assistive ankle device developed by the ASU RISE Laboratory. The assistive ankle device functions by compressing a spring upon heel strike during gait, remaining compressed during mid-stance and then releasing upon initiation of heel-off. The relationship between surface electromyography and ground reactions forces were used for identification of user-initiated heel-off. The muscle activation of the tibialis anterior combined with the ground reaction forces of the heel pressure sensor generated potential features that will be utilized in the revised control algorithm for the assistive ankle device. Work on this project must proceed in order to test and validate the revised control algorithm to determine its accuracy and precision.
This thesis presents a preliminary determination and design of a control algorithm for an assistive ankle device developed by the ASU RISE Laboratory. The assistive ankle device functions by compressing a spring upon heel strike during gait, remaining compressed during mid-stance and then releasing upon initiation of heel-off. The relationship between surface electromyography and ground reactions forces were used for identification of user-initiated heel-off. The muscle activation of the tibialis anterior combined with the ground reaction forces of the heel pressure sensor generated potential features that will be utilized in the revised control algorithm for the assistive ankle device. Work on this project must proceed in order to test and validate the revised control algorithm to determine its accuracy and precision.
ContributorsGaytan-Jenkins, Daniel Rinaldo (Author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis director) / Tyler, Jamie (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency course of action developed to sustain oxygenated blood flow in persons suffering from cardiac arrest by manually compressing the heart in the chest and providing rescue ventilations. The best-selling CPR manikins, an integral part of training, lack biofidelic characteristics in appearance, feel, and response, and as a result, the rescuer's learning experience suffers. The objective of this thesis was to test the compressibility properties of different foams and thermoplastics in order to determine which material would most accurately imitate a human chest response. The results suggested that styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) was the best choice, because its increasing stiffness under increasing compression was characteristic of a human chest cavity. Further testing must be done to determine the best composition of SEBS, analyze its response under cyclic compressions, and improve its durability.
ContributorsWalsh, Alex Bradley (Author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Pizziconi, Vincent (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper begins by exploring the prior research that has shown how eating a plant-based diet can affect the human body. Some of these effects include: improved mood, energy levels, gut health, alkalized urine pH, as well as, lowering the risk of hormonal imbalance, kidney stones, diabetes, cancer, and coronary artery disease. The worries that generally accompany eating a fully vegan diet, which include, malnutrition and protein deficiency, are also addressed in the background research. In attempt to build upon previous research, a weeklong experiment was conducted testing 3 different factors, which include: gut health, improved mood, and urine pH. Mood states were measured quantifiably using a POMS (profile of mood states) test. Gut health was measured using several factors, including consistency and frequency of bowel movements, as well as, GI discomfort. Two 24-hour urine samples were collected from each of the subjects to compare the pH of their urine before and after the study. The sample size of this study included 15 healthy, non-smoking, subjects, between 18-30 years of age. The subjects were split up into 3 stratified random samples, including, an omnivore control group, vegan control group, and experimental vegan group. The experimental vegans had eaten meat/eggs/dairy regularly for their whole lives before the start of the study, and had consented to eating a vegan diet for the entirety of one week. While the data from the control groups remained mostly constant as predicted, the results from the experimental group were shown to have a significantly better mood (P<0.05) after one week, as well as, a significantly higher urine pH (P < 0.025) than they did before the study. However, the experimental group did not show a significant change in stool frequency, consistency, or GI discomfort within one week. The vegan control group, which included subjects who had eaten a plant-based diet for 1-3 years, had much better gut health scores. This leads us to believe that the vegan gut microbiome takes much longer to transform into than just one week unlike urine pH and mood, which can take as little as one week. These findings warrant further investigation.
ContributorsMacias, Lindsey Kaori (Author) / Johnston, Carol (Thesis director) / Katsanos, Christos (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The millennial generation is quickly solidifying its place as the dominate generation within the workforce. As millennials transition through workplace hierarchy it is essential organizations understand how to properly develop incoming talent. This is especially important within sales as the opportunity cost for hiring and developing new sales professionals is much higher compared to other professions. Downward trends in millennial retention rates is also a strong contributing factor to the importance of understanding the millennial generation. This paper aims to identify key concepts and elements employers should incorporate into their sales training programs in order to better develop millennials entering sales roles. Through an analysis of each generation and sales training a clear framework will be identified to achieve this goal. Analyzing millennials unique strengths and weaknesses will provide the basis for the key areas employers need to focus on when designing their sales development programs. The framework identified is easily adaptable within any organizations as the concepts discussed can be universally applied.
ContributorsStensland, Zachary William (Author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
A Personal Journey Through Physical Fitness chronicles one individual's academic and physical journey through fitness. An ex college gymnast after exiting formal sports looks to academics for the answers to accomplish the goal of working out one hour a day and feeling as well as being physically fit as a result. This research resulted in finding the five pillars of physical fitness; which are Endurance, Flexibility, Strength, Balance, and Agility. After determining that these were the five primary pillars of physical fitness a workout plan was made based on and focused on improving them. This work out plan included running and hiking for endurance, high intensity interval training for agility, endurance and strength, stretching at the end of every work out, and a weightlifting program that utilized push, pull, and lower body days. It also utilized yoga for flexibility, recovery, and balance. Additionally, gymnastic ring strength was included to help develop balance and strength. Then a four-week trial period was executed taking measurements at the beginning and end of the plan. The results of the five-pillar plan were quantified using physical metrics. There was improvement in all of the pillars: Endurance, Flexibility, Strength, Balance, and Agility. However it should be noted there was not a direct measure for balance making its improvement much more subjective and qualitative than quantitative. In addition to having physical metrics of health and increased fitness there were mental side effects such as of feeling good and more relaxed throughout the process. At the end of each week of the four-week workout trial mental and physical feelings were recorded and included in the study. The method and plan were successful and created in a way that others could follow this four-week plan to improve their own physical health.
ContributorsVlastos, Joseph Nicholas (Author) / Kaplan, Robert (Thesis director) / Roses-Thema, Cynthia (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Injury Prevention of Young Adult Competitive Athletes Abstract: This literature review covers many aspects of health and injury prevention that affects the young adult population. This review will begin to formulate a general guideline for sustaining performance while minimizing the incidence for injury. This population is specifically narrowed down to competitive athletes between the ages of 16-22. Some of the topics covered in this paper are the effects of macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin C, on the body. Along with relating nutrition to lowering the risk of injury, there are also other topics covered such as sleep, stress relief in the form of binaural sounds, training and over-training. Nutrition topics include carbohydrates, proteins and fats, which are then split into their respective roles inside the body. These macro-nutrients are also associated with recovery and the timing and quantity consumed can be at optimal levels for competitive athletes based on gender, age and size. The vitamins and minerals discussed are also important factors in injury prevention related to bone, ligament and muscle strength. These micro-nutrients are also related to hormone regulation and immune system response which are necessary in mitigating the risk of injury in the population being analyzed. Finally, there is a training section of this literary review which covers monitoring external and internal loads experienced by the athletes, movement patterns as well as flexibility, and how to respond to over-training syndrome and overreaching in young adult athletes. Creating a balance between all aspects covered will result in a high likelihood of reducing the risk for injury in the young adult population.
ContributorsMark, Colby Jordan (Author) / Levinson, Simin (Thesis director) / Feser, Erin (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Concussions and traumatic brain injuries are mechanical events which can derive from no specific activity or event. However, these injuries occur often during athletic and sporting events but many athletes experiencing these symptoms go undiagnosed and continue playing without proper medical attention. The current gold standard for diagnosing athletes with concussions is to have medical professionals on the sidelines of events to perform qualitative standardized assessments which may not be performed frequently enough and are not specialized for each athlete. The purpose of this report is to discuss a study sanctioned by Arizona State University's Project HoneyBee and additional affiliations to validate a third-party mouth guard device product to recognize and detect force impacts blown to an athlete's head during athletic activity. Current technology in health monitoring medical devices can allow users to apply this device as an additional safety mechanism for early concussion awareness and diagnosis. This report includes the materials and methods used for experimentation, the discussion of its results, and the complications which occurred and areas for improvement during the preliminary efforts of this project. Participants in the study were five non-varsity ASU Wrestling athletes who volunteered to wear a third-party mouth guard device during sparring contact at practice. Following a needed calibration period for the devices, results were recorded both through visual observation and with the mouth guard devices using an accelerometer and gyroscope. This study provided a sound understanding for the operation and functionality of the mouth guard devices. The mouth guard devices have the capability to provide fundamental avenues of research for future investigations.
ContributorsTielke, Austin Wyatt (Author) / Ross, Heather (Thesis director) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The dilemma of the lack of prenatal and neonatal healthcare has been prevalent among third world countries for many years. The lack of prenatal healthcare has been shown to have direct links to spontaneous preterm births from which low-birth weight in babies can be a result. The World Health Organization has identified preterm birth as one of the biggest overseen burdens in developing countries.
This study seeks to answer the research questions: What are the major risk factors associated with the lack of prenatal and neonatal healthcare in developing countries? What are potential routes of intervention (ROI) to help these countries? The goal is to analyze the risk factors and determine if there are any ROIs available to minimize potential incidents or accidents associated with complications of preterm birth.
A few potential risk factors include: poverty, a mother’s lack of education, a lack of professional visitation during pregnancy, having a short cervix, and routine use of Ultrasound. This research paper has identified that keeping ultrasound diagnostics to a minimum, seeking professional help during pregnancy, incorporating corticosteroids for preterm births, implementing Kangaroo Mother Care, and Cervical Cerclage are interventions that can reduce preterm births and the associated complications that come with it. We believe that further research, regarding compliance of each of these interventions, would show reduction of preterm births and low birth weight in developing countries.
This study seeks to answer the research questions: What are the major risk factors associated with the lack of prenatal and neonatal healthcare in developing countries? What are potential routes of intervention (ROI) to help these countries? The goal is to analyze the risk factors and determine if there are any ROIs available to minimize potential incidents or accidents associated with complications of preterm birth.
A few potential risk factors include: poverty, a mother’s lack of education, a lack of professional visitation during pregnancy, having a short cervix, and routine use of Ultrasound. This research paper has identified that keeping ultrasound diagnostics to a minimum, seeking professional help during pregnancy, incorporating corticosteroids for preterm births, implementing Kangaroo Mother Care, and Cervical Cerclage are interventions that can reduce preterm births and the associated complications that come with it. We believe that further research, regarding compliance of each of these interventions, would show reduction of preterm births and low birth weight in developing countries.
ContributorsHuapaya, Eduardo Luciano (Author) / Muthuswamy, Jitendran (Thesis director) / Comar, William (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The primary goal of this paper is to analyze a tool used for measuring human
development on a global scale. Originally, development within a country was solely judged by the degree of economic growth by way of Gross National Product (GNP) and per capita income. Holistically, GNP measures the total extent of economic activity of a country’s people within a given time period. (Rutherford, 2012). Critics found several issues with this one-dimensional approach of measuring human development. What failed to be recognized was the distribution of income among the country’s citizens. Higher incomes often favor men within the majority when compared to women and people of minority groups (Feiner & Roberts, 1990). GNP also failed to recognize the social limitations under a government. In other words, are there limitations as to what goods can be bought and who can buy them?
development on a global scale. Originally, development within a country was solely judged by the degree of economic growth by way of Gross National Product (GNP) and per capita income. Holistically, GNP measures the total extent of economic activity of a country’s people within a given time period. (Rutherford, 2012). Critics found several issues with this one-dimensional approach of measuring human development. What failed to be recognized was the distribution of income among the country’s citizens. Higher incomes often favor men within the majority when compared to women and people of minority groups (Feiner & Roberts, 1990). GNP also failed to recognize the social limitations under a government. In other words, are there limitations as to what goods can be bought and who can buy them?
ContributorsSteeley, Emily Anne (Author) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Thesis director) / Grgich, Traci (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05