Matching Items (42)
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- All Subjects: Biomedical Engineering
- All Subjects: Neuroscience
- Creators: Harrington Bioengineering Program
Description
The importance of efficient design and development teams in in 21st century is evident after the compressive literate review was performed to digest various aspects of benefits and foundation of teamwork. Although teamwork may have variety of applications in many different industries, the new emerging biomedical engineering is growing significantly using principles of teamwork. Studying attributes and mechanism of creating successful biomedical engineering teams may even contribute more to the fast paste growth of this industry. In comprehensive literate review performed, general importance of teamwork was studied. Also specific hard and soft attributes which may contribute to teamwork was studied. Currently, there are number of general assessment tools which assists managements in industry and academia to systematically bring qualified people together to flourish their talents and skills as members of a biomedical engineering teams. These assessment tools, although are useful, but are not comprehensive, incorporating literature review attributes, and also doesn't not contain student perspective who have experience as being part of a design and development team. Although there are many scientific researches and papers designated to this matter, but there is no study which purposefully studies development of an assessment tool which is designated to biomedical engineering workforce and is constructed of both literature, current assessment tools, and also student perspective. It is hypothesized that a more comprehensive composite assessment tool that incorporate both soft and hard team attributes from a combined professional and student perspective could be implemented in the development of successful Biomedical Engineering Design and Development teams and subsequently used in 21st century workforce.
ContributorsAfzalian Naini, Nima (Author) / Pizziconi, Vincent (Thesis director) / Ankeny, Casey (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
It is unknown which regions of the brain are most or least active for golfers during a peak performance state (Flow State or "The Zone") on the putting green. To address this issue, electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were taken on 10 elite golfers while they performed a putting drill consisting of hitting nine putts spaced uniformly around a hole each five feet away. Data was collected at three time periods, before, during and after the putt. Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) measurements were also recorded on each subject. Three of the subjects performed a visualization of the same putting drill and their brain waves and GSR were recorded and then compared with their actual performance of the drill. EEG data in the Theta (4 \u2014 7 Hz) bandwidth and Alpha (7 \u2014 13 Hz) bandwidth in 11 different locations across the head were analyzed. Relative power spectrum was used to quantify the data. From the results, it was found that there is a higher magnitude of power in both the theta and alpha bandwidths for a missed putt in comparison to a made putt (p<0.05). It was also found that there is a higher average power in the right hemisphere for made putts. There was not a higher power in the occipital region of the brain nor was there a lower power level in the frontal cortical region during made putts. The hypothesis that there would be a difference between the means of the power level in performance compared to visualization techniques was also supported.
ContributorsCarpenter, Andrea (Co-author) / Hool, Nicholas (Co-author) / Muthuswamy, Jitendran (Thesis director) / Crews, Debbie (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Abstract
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 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.
ContributorsBridgers, Carson (Co-author) / Peterson, Mara (Co-author) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis director) / Graudejus, Oliver (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose of this project was to examine the viability of protein biomarkers in pre-symptomatic detection of lung cancer. Regular screening has been shown to vastly improve patient survival outcome. Lung cancer currently has the highest occurrence and mortality of all cancers and so a means of screening would be highly beneficial. In this research, the biomarker neuron-specific enolase (Enolase-2, eno2), a marker of small-cell lung cancer, was detected at varying concentrations using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in order to develop a mathematical model of predicting protein expression based on a measured impedance value at a determined optimum frequency. The extent of protein expression would indicate the possibility of the patient having small-cell lung cancer. The optimum frequency was found to be 459 Hz, and the mathematical model to determine eno2 concentration based on impedance was found to be y = 40.246x + 719.5 with an R2 value of 0.82237. These results suggest that this approach could provide an option for the development of small-cell lung cancer screening utilizing electrochemical technology.
ContributorsEvans, William Ian (Author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Spano, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Determining the characteristics of an object during a grasping task requires a combination of mechanoreceptors in the muscles and fingertips. The width of a person's finger aperture during the grasp may affect the accuracy of how that person determines hardness, as well. These experiments aim to investigate how an individual perceives hardness amongst a gradient of varying hardness levels. The trend in the responses is assumed to follow a general psychometric function. This will provide information about subjects' abilities to differentiate between two largely different objects, and their tendencies towards guess-chances upon the presentation of two similar objects. After obtaining this data, it is then important to additionally test varying finger apertures in an object-grasping task. This will allow an insight into the effect of aperture on the obtained psychometric function, thus ultimately providing information about tactile and haptic feedback for further application in neuroprosthetic devices. Three separate experiments were performed in order to test the effect of finger aperture on object hardness differentiation. The first experiment tested a one-finger pressing motion among a hardness gradient of ballistic gelatin cubes. Subjects were asked to compare the hardness of one cube to another, which produced the S-curve that accurately portrayed the psychometric function. The second experiment utilized the Phantom haptic device in a similar setup, using the precision grip grasping motion, instead. This showed a more linear curve; the percentage reported harder increased as the hardness of the second presented cube increased, which was attributed to both the experimental setup limitations and the scale of the general hardness gradient. The third experiment then progressed to test the effect of three finger apertures in the same experimental setup. By providing three separate testing scenarios in the precision grip task, the experiment demonstrated that the level of finger aperture has no significant effect on an individual's ability to perceive hardness.
ContributorsMaestas, Gabrielle Elise (Author) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Thesis director) / Tanner, Justin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Prior expectations can bias evaluative judgments of sensory information. We show that information about a performer's status can bias the evaluation of musical stimuli, reflected by differential activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Moreover, we demonstrate that decreased susceptibility to this confirmation bias is (a) accompanied by the recruitment of and (b) correlated with the white-matter structure of the executive control network, particularly related to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). By using long-duration musical stimuli, we were able to track the initial biasing, subsequent perception, and ultimate evaluation of the stimuli, examining the full evolution of these biases over time. Our findings confirm the persistence of confirmation bias effects even when ample opportunity exists to gather information about true stimulus quality, and underline the importance of executive control in reducing bias.
ContributorsAydogan, Goekhan (Co-author, Committee member) / Flaig, Nicole (Co-author) / Larg, Edward W. (Co-author) / Margulis, Elizabeth Hellmuth (Co-author) / McClure, Samuel (Co-author, Thesis director) / Nagishetty Ravi, Srekar Krishna (Co-author) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
With an increased demand for more enzyme-sensitive, bioresorbable and more biodegradable polymers, various studies of copolymers have been developed. Polymers are widely used in various applications of biomedical engineering such as in tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound healing. Depending on the conditions in which polymers are used, they are modified to accommodate a specific need. For instance, polymers used in drug delivery are more efficient if they are biodegradable. This ensures that the delivery system does not remain in the body after releasing the drug. It is therefore crucial that the polymer used in the drug system possess biodegradable properties. Such modification can be done in different ways including the use of peptides to make copolymers that will degrade in the presence of enzymes. In this work, we studied the effect of a polypeptide GAPGLL on the polymer NIPAAm and compare with the previously studied Poly(NIPAAm-co-GAPGLF). Both copolymers Poly(NIPAAm-co-GAPGLL) were first synthesized from Poly(NIPAAm-co-NASI) through nucleophilic substitution by the two peptides. The synthesis of these copolymers was confirmed by 1H NMR spectra and through cloud point measurement, the corresponding LCST was determined. Both copolymers were degraded by collagenase enzyme at 25 ° C and their 1H NMR spectra confirmed this process. Both copolymers were cleaved by collagenase, leading to an increase in solubility which yielded a higher LCST compared to before enzyme degradation. Future studies will focus on evaluating other peptides and also using other techniques such as Differential Scanning Microcalorimetry (DSC) to better observe the LCST behavior. Moreover, enzyme kinetics studies is also crucial to evaluate how fast the enzyme degrades each of the copolymers.
ContributorsUwiringiyimana, Mahoro Marie Chantal (Author) / Vernon, Brent (Thesis director) / Nikkhah, Mehdi (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Cocaine is a highly addictive psychostimulant that is widely used around the world. It is far more cost effective to curb this problem through treatment than by any other method as medicinal drug treatment is 15 times more effective than law enforcement at reducing the societal costs of cocaine use as determine by RAND corp. In a previous paper from our lab, it was found that via virally mediated introduction of additional 5-HT1B receptors into the nucleus accumbens there was a leftward shift in the cocaine intake dose-response curve in animals that were self-administering cocaine by pressing a lever. These findings suggest that 5-HT1B receptor action enhances the reinforcing effects of cocaine. However, when animals were given a 21-day period of prolonged abstinence and then tested for cocaine intake, it was determined that 5-HT1B receptor action had the opposite effect of decreasing cocaine intake presumably due to a decrease in the reinforcing effects of cocaine: [16]. The experiment in the current paper was devised to further test this finding via pharmacological means using the 5-HT1B agonist CP 94253 to increase stimulation of 5-HT1B receptors. Animals were trained to self-administer by pressing a lever on fixed ratio schedules of cocaine reinforcement given at 0.75 mg/kg and 0.075 mg/kg doses of cocaine. These doses allowed us to examine changes in self-administration on both the ascending and descending limbs of the inverted u-shaped cocaine dose-effect curve. Our results indicated that in animals given CP 94253 exhibited a decrease in responding on both the ascending and descending limbs of the dose response curve demonstrating a downward shift after prolonged abstinence. These exciting results suggest that the agonist decreases cocaine intake, and therefore, the agonist may be a useful treatment for cocaine dependence.
ContributorsYanamandra, Krishna Teja (Author) / Neisewander, Janet (Thesis director) / Goldstein, Elliott (Committee member) / Pentkowski, Nathan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
A great deal of research has been done on communication barriers between patient and doctor, but due to the complexity of the relationship, little successful solutions have been suggested to bridge interdisciplinary communication between the two persons. This project explores a solution to aid both patient and doctor as they seek to communicate with each other regarding the patient's prognosis and treatment with a medical device. By creating a website, the information found therein can be accessed in the doctor's office by using a smartphone or tablet so that both patient and doctor can use it as a resource before, during, and after a doctor's visit. The website, Medical Devices 4 U (MD4U), gives background information on a large selection of medical devices, allows primary sources to share their information with potential consumers of the medical device, permits users to ask questions and comment on other user's comments, and gives a list of questions that a patient can ask a healthcare professional during a doctor's visit. In this report, the nature of doctor and patient communication is exposed and the steps taken to alleviate the communication barriers by way of creating a website are explained.
ContributorsHalls, Sarah Koy (Author) / Spano, Mark (Thesis director) / Garcia, Antonio (Committee member) / Brandon, Tedd (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Oxygen delivery is crucial for the development of healthy, functional tissue. Low tissue oxygenation, or hypoxia, is a characteristic that is common in many tumors. Hypoxia contributes to tumor malignancy and can reduce the success of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. There is a current need to noninvasively measure tumor oxygenation or pO2 in patients to determine a personalized treatment method. This project focuses on creating and characterizing nanoemulsions using a pO2 reporter molecule hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and its longer chain variants as well as assessing their cytotoxicity. We also explored creating multi-modal (MRI/Fluorescence) nanoemulsions.
ContributorsGrucky, Marian Louise (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Rege, Kaushal (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05