Filtering by
- All Subjects: Biomedical Engineering
- Creators: Harrington Bioengineering Program
The aim of the research performed was to increase research potential in the field of cell stimulation by developing a method to adhere human neural progenitor cells (hNPC’s) to a sterilized stretchable microelectrode array (SMEA). The two primary objectives of our research were to develop methods of sterilizing the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate being used for the SMEA, and to derive a functional procedure for adhering hNPC’s to the PDMS. The proven method of sterilization was to plasma treat the sample and then soak it in 70% ethanol for one hour. The most successful method for cell adhesion was plasma treating the PDMS, followed by treating the surface of the PDMS with 0.01 mg/mL poly-l-lysine (PLL) and 3 µg/cm2 laminin. The development of these methods was an iterative process; as the methods were tested, any problems found with the method were corrected for the next round of testing until a final method was confirmed. Moving forward, the findings will allow for cell behavior to be researched in a unique fashion to better understand the response of adherent cells to physical stimulation by measuring changes in their electrical activity.
The purpose of this study, which was done in conjunction with the Arizona Heart Foundation, was to evaluate whether pyridoxine accelerates ulcer wound healing in diabetic patients with ulcers in the lower extremities. In this study, 100 mg of pyridoxine per day was given to patients in the experimental group (while they receive normal wound treatment) while patients in the control group received normal treatment of wounds without the pyridoxine. Over time, wound healing was evaluated by photographing and then measuring the size of patients' ulcer wounds on the photographs. Results from the experimental group were compared with those of the control group to evaluate the efficacy of the pyridoxine treatment. In addition, comparisons of the healing rates were made with respect to whether the patients smoked, had hypertension or hypotension, and the patients' body mass indexes. It has been found that there was no statistically significant difference in the mean healing rates between the control groups and experimental groups. In addition, it has been found that smoking, BMI and blood pressure did not have a statistically appreciable effect on the difference in mean healing rates between the control and experimental groups. This is evidence that pyridoxine did not have a statistically significant effect on wound healing rates.