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Each year, 30,000 patients obtain transplants. To prevent graft rejection, immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus are prescribed. Due to tacrolimus's narrow therapeutic range, a dose that is too low places patients at risk for transplant rejection, but too high of a dose leads to kidney failure. The de facto method for

Each year, 30,000 patients obtain transplants. To prevent graft rejection, immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus are prescribed. Due to tacrolimus's narrow therapeutic range, a dose that is too low places patients at risk for transplant rejection, but too high of a dose leads to kidney failure. The de facto method for monitoring of transplant patient health is bimonthly blood draws, which are cumbersome, painful, and difficult to translate into urgently needed dosage changes in a timely manner. To improve long-term transplant survival rates, we propose a finger-prick sensor that will provide patients and healthcare providers with a measurement of tacrolimus, immune health (through IL-12), and kidney damage (through cystatin C) levels 100 times more frequently than the status quo. Additionally, patient quality of life will be improved due to reduction in time and pain associated with blood draws. Optimal binding frequencies for each marker were found. However, due to limitations with EIS, the integration of the detection of the three markers into one multimarker sensing platform has not yet been realized. To this end, impedance-time tests were run on each marker along with different antibodies, and optimal times of each marker were determined to be 17s, 6s, and 2s, for tacrolimus, cystatin c, and IL-12, respectively (n=6). The integration of impedance-time analysis with traditional EIS methodologies has the potential to enable multi-marker analysis by analyzing binding kinetics on a single electrode with respect to time. Thus, our results provide unique insight into possibilities to improve and facilitate detection of multiple markers not only for the sensor for solid organ transplant patients, but for the monitoring of patients with disease that also entail the observation of multiple markers. Furthermore, the use of impedance-time testing also provides the ability for another way to optimize accuracy/precision of marker detection because it specifies a particular time, in addition to a particular optimal binding frequency, at which to measure concentration.
ContributorsDoshi, Meera Kshitij (Author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Steidley, Eric (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The action/adventure game Grad School: HGH is the final, extended version of a BME Prototyping class project in which the goal was to produce a zombie-themed game that teaches biomedical engineering concepts. The gameplay provides fast paced, exciting, and mildly addicting rooms that the player must battle and survive through,

The action/adventure game Grad School: HGH is the final, extended version of a BME Prototyping class project in which the goal was to produce a zombie-themed game that teaches biomedical engineering concepts. The gameplay provides fast paced, exciting, and mildly addicting rooms that the player must battle and survive through, followed by an engineering puzzle that must be solved in order to advance to the next room. The objective of this project was to introduce the core concepts of BME to prospective students, rather than attempt to teach an entire BME curriculum. Based on user testing at various phases in the project, we concluded that the gameplay was engaging enough to keep most users' interest through the educational puzzles, and the potential for expanding this project to reach an even greater audience is vast.
ContributorsNitescu, George (Co-author) / Medawar, Alexandre (Co-author) / Spano, Mark (Thesis director) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Guiang, Kristoffer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description
Improved pancreatic cancer diagnostic technology has the potential to improve patient prognosis by increasing cancer screening rates and encouraging early detection of the cancer. To increase the sensitivity and specificity while decreasing the cost and time investment, the emerging detection method of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was tested to detect

Improved pancreatic cancer diagnostic technology has the potential to improve patient prognosis by increasing cancer screening rates and encouraging early detection of the cancer. To increase the sensitivity and specificity while decreasing the cost and time investment, the emerging detection method of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was tested to detect two pancreatic cancer specific biomarkers. The antibodies of carcinoembryonic antigen and quiescin sulfhydryl oxidase 1 were immobilized individually to gold disk electrodes and tested for binding to their respective antigens. An AC signal of varying potential and a wide frequency sweep was applied to the electrode system and the resulting imaginary impedance values were analyzed. Based off of the highest slope and R-squared values of the collected impedance values, the optimal binding frequencies of QSOX1 and CEA with their antibodies was determined to be 97.66 Hz and 17.44 Hz, respectively. EIS was also used to test for potential multimarker detection by coimmobilizing anti-CEA and anti-QSOX1 to the surface of gold disk electrodes. Each system's impedance response was correlated to the physiological concentration range of CEA and QSOX1 individually. The resulting impedance and concentration calibration curves had R-squared values of 0.78 and 0.79 for the calculated QSOX1 and CEA, respectively. Both markers showed similar trends between the calculated and actual calibration curves for each marker. The imaginary impedance output lacks two independent peaks for the distinct optimal binding frequencies of both biomarkers after signal subtraction and show a large shift in optimal frequencies. From analyzing the co-immobilization data for the calculated and experimentally determined calibration curves of CEA and QSOX1, both curves had different correlation values between imaginary impedance values and concentration. Add and subtracting the experimental and calculated co-immobilization, QSOX1, and CEA signals suggest an oversaturation of QSOX1 used during the experiments.
ContributorsMalla, Akshara (Co-author) / Murali, Keerthana (Co-author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Lin, Chi-En (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
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Description
A point of care glucose sensor using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with a glutaraldehyde-linked enzyme shows promise as an effective biosensor platform. This report details the characterization of various factors on optimal binding frequency (OBF) and sensor performance to better prepare the sensor for future experimentation. Utilizing a screen printed

A point of care glucose sensor using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with a glutaraldehyde-linked enzyme shows promise as an effective biosensor platform. This report details the characterization of various factors on optimal binding frequency (OBF) and sensor performance to better prepare the sensor for future experimentation. Utilizing a screen printed carbon electrode, the necessary amount of glucose oxidase was determined to be 10 mg/mL. Binding time trials ranging from 1-3 minutes demonstrated that 1.5 minutes was the optimal binding time. This timeframe produced the strongest impedance response at each glucose concentration. Using this enzyme concentration and binding time, the native OBF of the biosensor was found to be 1.18 Hz using vector analysis. Temperature testing showed little change in OBF in sensors exposed to 4 \u00B0C through 43.3 \u00B0C. Only exposure to 60 \u00B0C resulted in rapid OBF change which was likely due to glucose oxidase becoming denatured. Humidity tests showed little change in OBF and sensor performance between sensors prepared at the humidities of 7.5%, 10.625% and 16.5% humidity. Alternatively, solutions containing common interference molecules such as uric acid, acetaminophen, and ascorbic acid resulted in a highly shifted OBF and drastically reduced signal.
ContributorsMatloff, Daniel (Co-author) / Khanwalker, Mukund (Co-author) / Johns, Jared (Co-author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Pizziconi, Vincent (Committee member) / Lin, Chi (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
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Description
As of today, there does not exist a cheap diagnostic for lactate for use in trauma centers. $671 billion are spent on trauma accidents and emergency rooms, with money focused on treatments such as YSI and ELISA, costing $1500 and $200, respectively. Gold disk electrodes were used to immobilize lactate

As of today, there does not exist a cheap diagnostic for lactate for use in trauma centers. $671 billion are spent on trauma accidents and emergency rooms, with money focused on treatments such as YSI and ELISA, costing $1500 and $200, respectively. Gold disk electrodes were used to immobilize lactate dehydrogenase and glucose oxidase, with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) used as the method for detection. Two lactate experimental runs were completed with data detailing a linear model and positive correlation for imaginary impedance and concentration, and one glucose experimental run was completed proving that a continuous system can be completed accounting for reaction and consumption using EIS, a process previously not done before.
ContributorsEltohamy, Omar Khaled (Author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Lin, Chi-En (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05