Department of Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Research Option Theses
The Research Option offers students majoring in biomedical engineering the opportunity for a substantial, in-depth research experience. Students are strongly encouraged at the end of their experience to work with their faculty mentor to develop a journal publication or conference presentation on the research in addition to the actual thesis.
All materials in SMARTech are protected under U.S. Copyright Law and all rights are reserved. Such materials may be used, quoted or reproduced for educational purposes only with prior permission, provided proper attribution is given. Any redistribution, reproduction or use of the materials, in whole or in part, is prohibited without prior permission of the author.
Recent Submissions
-
MRI-Based Investigation into the Effects of Simulated Microgravity on Cerebrospinal Fluid and Vascular Flow
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts have reported decrease in visual acuity due to Microgravity Ocular Syndrome (MOS) after returning from long duration space missions. It is hypothesized that ... -
Towards Passive Unlabeled Cell Sorting in a Microfluidic Flow Chamber
Cell separation is utilized for a variety of purposes in biomedicine, including clinical diagnosis, or batch purification or rare cell isolation within a research laboratory setting. The currently used methods for cell ... -
Mechanically Activated Currents in Mechanosensitive Cells
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of ultrasonic pressure on the mechanosensitive channel activity in the N2A cell line. Prior research has indicated that certain ion channels in the cellular membrane of ... -
Inflammatory CD8+ T Cells Are Reduced by Applying FTY-720 to Activate Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor Signaling
Biomaterials generally induce a natural inflammatory response which can be altered by adding molecules to influence immune cell recruitment. Sphingosine-1-phosphatase (S1P) is a biological signaling lipid which performs ... -
Development of an EPIC-μCT imaging method for analyzing proteoglycan content in neocartilage constructs for the use in osteoarthritis therapeutics
Osteoarthritis (OA), characterized by debilitating joint pain, is a degenerative disease caused by the breakdown of cartilage in joints and adjacent bone. It is the most common type of arthritis, affecting 10-12% of the ... -
Elucidating the Effects of Prolonged Leukocytic and Metastatic Cell Exposure to P-selectin and ICAM-1 on Cell Activation and Survival
The immune system has been well studied for its importance in protection against pathogens and healing of inflamed human tissues. It is known to intervene in chronic inflammation of diseases including cancer. Although much ... -
Viability of encapsulated adherent and non-adherent dendritic cells through the manipulation of PEG-4MAL hydrogel weight percent
In the United States alone, 400,000 people suffer from Multiple Sclerosis(MS), a disease in which the immune system attacks neurons in the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS, PNS). Currently, no cure exists, and ... -
Effects of Surface Modification on the Osseointegration Properties of Polyetheretherketone
Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a thermoplastic polymer with many clinical orthopedic applications. With an elastic modulus similar to bone, PEEK is a preferred implant model due to specific mechanical properties. The ... -
Quantification of Microvessel Fragments from Primary Isolation Using 3-D Confocal Microscopy
Angiogenesis, or the migration, growth, and differentiation of endothelial cells to form new blood vessels, is an essential component in any tissue engineering project. A variety of studies with transgenic and gene-targeted ... -
The Effect of Shear Stress and Stretch on Lymphatic Endothelial Cell Calcium Dynamics using a Microfluidic platform
The lymphatic system serves several purposes in the body: transports back the excess nutrients in the tissue space outside the blood vessel, helps the immune system against various infection and diseases, and fat adsorption. ... -
Chemoreception of Marine Chemical Defenses
Many marine organisms protect themselves from predators by concentrating triterpene glycosides in their tissue. It has been proposed that predatory fish response to triterpene glycoside formoside is mediated by chemoreceptors. ... -
Thoracic Aorta Displacement and Strain Analysis Using Spiral Cine DENSE MRI
Aneurysms are the 18th most common cause of death in the United States, and patients with connective tissue disorders are at particularly high risk of developing these lesions. Understanding more about the structural and ... -
Improving Electroencephalograph Probe Placement with Digital Signal ProcessingImproving Electroencephalograph Probe Placement with Digital Signal Processing
Theta waves (theta), sharp wave ripples (SWRs), and spikes are common waveforms that appear in local field potentials (LFPs) within the rodent brain. LFPs are collected using an electroencephalogram (EEG) probe in vivo, ... -
Characterization of Rat Optic Nerve Head (ONH) Biomechanics through Finite Element (FE) and Sensitivity Analysis of Tissues
ONH pathophysiology in glaucoma is poorly understood. However, the rat model of glaucoma is especially useful for learning how complex optic ONH biomechanics affect glaucomatous cell death. Because of human and rat ONH ... -
Using Guanine Rich Aptamer Strands to Increase Cellular Internalization of DNA Nanostructures
DNA, while best known for its coding abilities, can also be used as a structural material to form nanostructures. DNA nanostructures can be designed with very specific chemistry and structure size and shape, and have the ... -
Cellular Characterization of Microvascular Fragments and Stromal Vascular Fraction for the Treatment of Composite Bone-Muscle Defects
The current treatment for critical-sized boned defects, bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) loaded collagen sponge grafting, is often inadequate for composite bone-muscle defects, which heal more slowly with higher rates ... -
Localized Characterization of an In Vivo Experimental Model of Post- Traumatic Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic joint condition, affecting around 27 million people worldwide with an annual cost of over $100 billion in the United States alone. It is a degenerative disease classified by the ... -
Decellularized cartilage microcarriers as a novel platform for chondrogenic expansion
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease associated with the degradation of cartilage. One of the few therapies aimed at regenerating cartilage, autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), involves ex vivo expansion and ... -
Expression of Heat-Shock Proteins in the Presence of Oxidative Stress in the Sod1-G93a Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Mouse Model
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes death of motoneurons, resulting in paralysis, dysphagia, respiratory distress and ultimately death. The precise causes of this fatal disease ... -
Improving Separation of Differentiated Embryonic Stem Cells with a Microfluidic Device
Differences in cell cytoskeletal stiffness can be utilized to sort differentiated embryonic stem cells into distinct populations through the use of a microfluidic device. An initial microfluidic system was developed and ...
RSS 1.0