Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology

Microfluidic droplets formed in emulsions are used in a variety of analytical techniques and hold great potential for future scientific and commercial applications. Our experiments present a microdroplet generation and consistency monitoring system with laser optics excitation and detection. We also demonstrate the detection of cancer cells encapsulated within aqueous microdroplets in continuous oil phase flow. The custom setup analyzes each droplet with sub-millisecond signal resolution and single photon accuracy, and is compatible with process-monitoring methods. To demonstrate the consistency of microdroplet generation over time, we measure and examine the mean frequency of aqueous plug-shaped droplet (microplug) formation in oil phase, as well as the mean length and interval between consecutive droplets. Two-channel optical monitoring allows for the simultaneous and independent inspection of both microdroplet generation and identification of green fluorescent protein-labeled cancer cells within the droplets. A precise, quantitative approach as utilized in these experiments may be helpful in the development of microfluidic concepts that require exacting reproducibility and would benefit from automated consistency monitoring techniques.

An accurate measurement of the different electrocardiogram (ECG) intervals is dependent on the accurate identification of the beginning and the end of the P, QRS, and T waves. Available commercial systems provide a good QRS detection accuracy. However, the detection of the P and T waves remains a serious challenge due to their widely differing morphologies in normal and abnormal beats. In this paper, a new algorithm for the detection of the QRS complex as well as for P and T waves identification is provided. The proposed algorithm is based on different approaches and methods such as derivations, thresholding, and surface indicator. The proposed algorithm is tested and evaluated on ECG signals from the universal MIT-BIH database. It shows a good ability to detect P, QRS, and T waves for different cases of ECG signal even in very noisy conditions. The obtained QRS, sensitivity and positive predictivity are respectively 95.39% and 98.19%. The developed algorithm is also able to separate the overlapping P and T waves.

An intrinsic aspect of the standard neurological examination is the deep tendon reflex. A clinician is tasked with qualitatively evaluating reflex parameters, such as reflex response and latency. The tendon reflex is capable of providing preliminary insight with respect to dysfunction of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The qualitative assessment of the tendon reflex can be classified through the implementation of an ordinal scale, such as the NINDS scale which spans five ordinal components from 0 to 4. The reliability and accuracy of the ordinal-scale method for classifying reflex characteristics have been demonstrated to be an issue of controversy. Ordinal scales lack the capacity to properly classify the temporal features of the tendon reflex. Electrodiagnostic testing traditionally provides higher fidelity evaluation of peripheral neuropathy; however, a study by Cocito et al., has discovered 28% of the prescriptions were inappropriate. The fourth-generation wireless reflex quantification system provides a less resource intensive, highly accurate, reliable, and reproducible alternative. The patellar tendon reflex is evoked through a predetermined potential energy derived swing arm attached to a standard reflex hammer. Tandem wireless 3D MEMS accelerometers quantify reflex response and latency. The reflex response maximum and minimum are acquired from the wireless 3D MEMS accelerometer positioned above the ankle joint. The latencies derived from the maximum and minimum of the reflex responses are derived from the temporal disparity relative to the acceleration waveforms of the reflex response and swing arm evoking the tendon reflex. The fourth-generation wireless reflex quantification system has been evolved with a more user-convenient wirelessly activated datalogger mode, which is subsequently downloaded to a local PC wirelessly. The wireless datalogger mode enables sampling at a greater rate relative to the real-time streaming data mode. An automated MATLAB software program is implemented for acquiring reflex parameters. Enclosed is the longitudinal study of the fourth-generation wireless reflex quantification system that demonstrates considerable precision for accuracy, reliability, and reproducibility. As a supplement to the research, a brief reflex modulation study is amended to the longitudinal study.

Aseptic loosening caused by mechanical factors is a recognized failure mode for tibial components of knee prostheses. This parametric study investigated the effects of prosthesis fixation design changes, which included the presence, length and diameter of a central stem, the use of fixation pegs beneath the tray, all-polyethylene versus metal-backed tray, prosthesis material stiffness, and cement mantle thickness. The cancellous bone compressive stresses and bone–cement interfacial shear stresses, plus the reduction of strain energy density in the epiphyseal cancellous bone, an indication of the likelihood of component loosening, and bone resorption secondary to stress shielding, were examined. Design features such as longer stems reduced bone and bone–cement interfacial stresses thus the risk of loosening is potentially minimized, but at the expense of an increased tendency for bone resorption. The conflicting trend suggested that bone quality and fixation stability have to be considered mutually for the optimization of prosthesis designs. By comparing the bone stresses and bone–cement shear stresses to reported fatigue strength, it was noted that fatigue of both the cancellous bone and bone–cement interface could be the driving factor for long-term aseptic loosening for metal-backed tibial trays.

An implicit mixed finite element formulation of hydrated soft biological tissues, based on the Simon model, is presented that incorporates the coupling of solid, fluid, and ion phases as well as the viscoelasticity of soft tissue in the dynamical process. The tissues are modeled as a multi-field viscoelastic body subject to finite deformation. In addition to a three-field (u-w-p) modeling of the porous matrix, the study also includes an ion phase for the ionic solution. After presenting the formulation, an efficient staggered solution scheme is presented: within each time step, the ion charge equation is solved first to give the distribution of the charge concentration, the charge induced osmotic water pressure is then employed in solving the u-w-p equations. The resulting u field becomes a forcing term to the solution of the ion charge concentration equations for iteration. This methodology and codes developed for the study have been verified with one-dimensional (1D) analytical solutions. A 2D chemical electric swelling model illustrates the important role of viscoelasticity. A brain tissue impact example demonstrates the potential application of the model.

Bone maintains its structure through a constant process of resorption and formation, in a process called bone remodeling. An imbalance in this process caused by disease, abnormal mechanical demands, or fatigue may predispose bone to fracture injuries. Increase in bone resorption can increase the number of surface cracks and structural porosity of the bone and thus change its stiffness properties. In this study, a computational technique is proposed to investigate the stiffness properties in long bones based on dynamic responses. As the first attempt, defects such as porosity and cracks are detected based on changes in stiffness properties of the sample. The least square algorithm and the finite element method are used as tools in this study. The Wilson-θ numerical method is employed to generate artificially experimental results for acceleration vectors. The data obtained from the artificial experiment is later employed to the proposed computational investigation model as raw data.

Children born are susceptible to various diseases such as mumps and chicken pox. These diseases are the most common form of infectious diseases. In recent years, scientists have been trying to devise strategies to fight against these diseases. Since vaccination is considered the most effective strategy against childhood diseases, the development of the framework that would predict the optimal vaccine coverage level needed to prevent the spread of diseases is crucial. The SIR model is a standard compartmental model that has been used to describe many epidemiological diseases. In this article, two methods namely homotopy perturbation method (HPM) and variational iteration method (VIM) are employed to compute an approximation to the solution of nonlinear system of differential equations governing the problem. The obtained results are compared with those obtained by Adomian decomposition method (ADM). This research reveals that although the obtained results are the same, HPM and VIM are much more robust, more convenient and efficient in comparison to ADM.

This paper validates a constitutive model for human intervertebral disc annulus fibrosus via numerical simulations on a lumber spine motion segment. This anisotropic hyperelastic fiber-reinforced constitutive model was previously developed by the authors. Based on three-dimensional (3D) lumbar spine segments that are constructed from CT scanning images, a detailed and anatomically accurate human lumbar spine finite element (FE) model for L3–L4 motion segment is developed. The FE model includes vertebral bodies, intervertebral disc, and various ligaments. Numerical simulations are carried out by using commercial CAE software package ABAQUS/Standard. The loading cases considered in the numerical analysis are set to be consistent with sets-up of cadaveric specimen testing available in the literature. Numerical results such as load–displacement curves and nucleus pressure are compared with experimental data. Simulation results show good consistency with cadaveric experimental data, and have good biomechanical fidelity. The constitutive model can be used for human intervertebral disc modeling and biomechanical analysis of human spine column.

At present, manual needle-positioning techniques known as "triangulation" and "keyhole surgery" are implemented during percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) to gain initial kidney access. These techniques do not ensure correct needle placement inside the kidney, resulting in multiple needle punctures, unnecessary hemorrhage, excessive radiation exposure to all involved and increased surgery time. A cost-effective fluoroscopy-guided needle-positioning system is proposed for aiding urologists in gaining accurate and repeatable kidney calyx access. Guidance is realized by modeling a C-arm fluoroscopic system as an adapted pinhole camera model and utilizing stereovision principles on an image pair. Targeting is realized with the aid of a graphical user interface operated by the surgeon. An average target registration error of 2.5 mm (SD = 0.8 mm) was achieved in a simulated environment. Similar results were achieved in the operating room environment with successful needle access in two in-vitro porcine kidneys.

Noxious thermal and/or mechanical stimuli applied to dentine can cause fluid flow in dentinal microtubules (DMTs). The fluid flow induces shear stress (SS) on intradental nerve endings and may excite pulpal mechanoreceptors to generate dental pain sensation. There exist numerous studies on dental thermal pain, but few are mathematical. For this, we developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of dentinal fluid flow (DFF) in innervated DMTs. Based on this model, we systematically investigated the effects of various parameters (e.g., biological structure, DFF velocity, and fluid properties) on the SS experienced by intradental nerve endings and thus provide a quantitative interpretation to the hydrodynamic theory. The dimensions of biological structures, odontoblastic process (OP) movement, dentinal fluid velocity, and viscosity were found to have significant influences on the SS while dentinal fluid density showed negligible influence under conditions studied. The results indicate that: (i) dental pain study of animal models may not be directly applied to human being and the results may even vary from one person to another and (ii) OP movement caused by DFF changes the dimension of the space for the fluid flow, affecting thus the SS on nerve endings. The present work enables better understanding of the mechanisms underlying dental pain sensation and quantification of dental pain intensity resulted from clinical procedures such as dentine sensitivity testing and dental restorative processes.

Young's modulus and structural stiffness were determined for chordae tendineae of the mitral valve from young (18–26 weeks) and old (over 2 years) porcine hearts. For chordae from the posterior leaflet of the valve, the Young's modulus values were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the thinner marginal chordae (59 ± 31 MPa young; 88 ± 21 MPa old) than for the thicker basal chordae (31 ± 4 MPa young; 28 ± 9 MPa old). Marginal chordae (both anterior and posterior) had significantly higher (p < 0.05) value for their Young's modulus in old (88 ± 21 MPa anterior and posterior) than in young (62 ± 17 MPa anterior, 59 ± 18 MPa posterior) pig hearts. There was no significant difference in structural stiffness between marginal and basal (anterior and posterior leaflets) or between strut chordae (that are associated with anterior the leaflet only) and marginal and basal chordae. However, the value of structural stiffness of chordae was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for old (2.2 ± 0.2 kN/m) than for young (2.0 ± 0.4 kN/m) chordae. These results show that aging affects the properties of chordae and that all chordae need to be included in finite element models of valve function.

One area of tissue engineering concerns research into alternatives for new bone formation and replacing its function. Scaffolds have been developed to meet this requirement, allowing cell migration, bone tissue growth, transport of growth factors and nutrients, and the improvement of the mechanical properties of bone. Scaffolds are made from different biomaterials and manufactured using several techniques that, in some cases, do not allow full control over the size and orientation of the pores characterizing the scaffold. A novel hypothesis that a reaction–diffusion (RD) system can be used for designing the geometrical specifications of the bone matrix is thus presented here. The hypothesis was evaluated by making simulations in two- and three-dimensional RD systems in conjunction with the biomaterial scaffold. The results showed the methodology's effectiveness in controlling features such as the percentage of porosity, size, orientation, and interconnectivity of pores in an injectable bone matrix produced by the proposed hypothesis.