Principal Investigator

Amy L. Lerner, Ph.D. University of Rochester work Box 270168 Rochester NY 14627-0168 office: Goergen Hall 307 p 585-275-7847 f 585-276-1999 amy.lerner@rochester.edu

Education

BME 295/296 - Senior Design

Spring Semester, 4 Cr.

Course Instructor

Course Description: The Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Program (BME 295/296) at the University of Rochester introduces students to a systematic, customer-driven design and problem solving approach resulting in development of prototype medical devices or research instruments.

Supervised Projects:

DonDoff Solutions

Our goal is to provide new systems of donning and doffing back braces to make the process simpler, easier and safer for post surgical patients. (2011).

Customer:

Joanne Wu, M.D.,, Unity Health and Shawn Biehler, Rochester Orthopedic Labs

Student Team:

Frances Bell, Jacy Krystal Bulaon, Swapna Kumar
CDHSilo

Device to repair Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernias (2009).

Customer:

Dr. Patti Chess, Walter Pegoli, Department of Pediatrics

Student Team:

Jonathan Pecor, Michael Hoffman, Rachelle Vosburg
Bioelectric Solution Technologies

Bronchoscope guided electroporation for non-viral intrapleural gene transfer (2008).

Customer:

David Dean, Ph.D., Department of Pediatrics, URMC

Student Team:

Arvind Bhasker, Liping Yang, Chantal McMahon, Drew Scoles

The Problem:

Electroporation is the process of applying an electric field across tissue cells in order to induce a permeable membrane for use in specified drug delivery. According to a 2003 study on electroporation for the amelioration of pulmonary injury, an applied voltage of 200 V/cm across the chest of a pig showed no trauma or damage after histological analysis. No inflammation, pathological change or immune rejection was observed revealing that electroporation holds a promising future in efforts in the field of pulmonary injury. With these positive results, though, the problem of eliciting an electric field across the chest raises the question of passing a current through the heart.

The Solution:

Using a sponge to simulate the lung tissue, non-nutrient agar to simulate the thoracic cavity and skin, and phosphate buffer solution to simulate fluid in the lung, experimentation was conducted testing the validity of a 30AWG wire as an internal electrode. After the wire was proven to pass the maximum power that the voltage source would provide, an input voltage of 500V was provided to test the electric field distribution throughout the phantom.
These results were compared to computational modeling based off a model done by Corovic, et al. After validating the results, the model was used to estimate the distribution of the electric field upon the heart. Future implementation of the device could be assisted through the estimations by changing parameters of the modeling. The bronchoscope facilitated electrode could assist in the amelioration of many lung diseases that plague humans.
Recovery on a Roll

Gait training with partial weight support (2008).

Customer:

Diana Rizzo, PT and Cynthia Theileman, Sr. PT, Strong Memorial Rehabilitation

Student Team:

Bethany Vaughn, Joffre Alvarez, Derek Muller-DeCaire, Tom Carlson

BME 283/483 - BioSolid Mechanics

Fall Semester, 4 Cr.

Course Instructor

Course Description: Application of engineering mechanics to biological tissues including bone, soft tissue, cell membranes, and muscle. Realistic modeling of biological structures, including the heart, cells, and musculoskeletal joints. Experimental methods and material models.