No description available.

In vitro and in vivo models were proposed to evaluate the effects of ischemic mitral regurgitation and surgical repair on the function and mechanics of the heart’s mitral valve. In specific aim 1, a novel transducer was developed to measure the radially directed forces that may act on devices implanted to the mitral annulus. In an ovine model, radial forces were found to statistically increase with left ventricular pressure and were reduced in the setting of ischemic mitral regurgitation. In specific aim 2, the suture forces required to constrain true-sized and undersized annuloplasty rings to the mitral annulus of ovine animals was evaluated. Suture forces were observed to be larger on the anterior aspect of the rings and were elevated with annular undersizing. In specific aim 3, an in vitro simulator’s ability to mimic healthy and ischemic mitral regurgitation ovine mitral valve function was evaluated. After understanding the accuracy of the model, the in vitro ischemic mitral regurgitation model was used to evaluate the progressive effects of annuloplasty on strut and intermediary chordal tethering. The generated data and knowledge will contribute to the development of more durable devices and techniques to assess the significant clinical burden known as ischemic mitral regurgitation.

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Yes / Cell migration is a key contributor to wound repair. This study presents findings indicating that the liquid crystal based cell traction force transducer (LCTFT) system can be used in conjunction with a bespoke cell traction force mapping (CTFM) software to monitor cell/surface traction forces from quiescent state in real time. In this study, time-lapse photo microscopy allowed cell induced deformations in liquid crystal coated substrates to be monitored and analyzed. The results indicated that the system could be used to monitor the generation of cell/surface forces in an initially quiescent cell, as it migrated over the culture substrate, via multiple points of contact between the cell and the surface. Future application of this system is the real-time assaying of the pharmacological effects of cytokines on the mechanics of cell migration.

Background: Registering a true maximum bite force on the most commonly-used force transducers is problematic. It is often believed that this is related mainly to discomfort and the fear of breaking teeth. Objectives: The aim of the project was to compare the suitability of different bite force measuring transducers including ones which were designed to improve subject comfort. The transducers used were a traditional strain-gauge transducer with and without covering with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets, and a newly-developed pressure transducer. Methods: Five separate studies were performed in this project. The experiments were carried out on human volunteer subjects (aged 24 to 41 years). They were all dentate with no missing anterior teeth and with no crowns on these teeth. The following procedures were used in some or all of the studies: measurement of MVBF, electrical stimulation of the masseter muscle, and EMG recording from two pairs of jaw closing muscles. Results: The highest MVBF values were recorded on the pressure transducer, mean (± S.D.) 464 N ± 224 N; followed by the strain-gauge transducer with EVA sheets, 243 ± 80 N; and last of all the strain-gauge transducer with silicone indices, 165 ± 35 N; or acrylic indices, 163 ± 82 N. Significantly higher maximum potential bite forces were predicted by twitch interpolation for the pressure transducer (730 ± 199 N) than for the strain-gauge transducer with EVA sheets, 354 ± 67 N (Paired t test, P < 0.05). Significantly higher EMGs of the masseter and anterior temporalis muscles were found to be associated with MVBFs on the pressure transducer than with MVBFs on the strain-gauge transducer with EVA sheets (Paired t test, P < 0.05). Conclusions: It is concluded that: a) the pressure transducer system and to a lesser extent the strain-gauge transducer covered with EVA sheets seemed to overcome the fear associated with biting on the hard surfaces of the strain-gauge transducer alone; b) the pressure transducer may have some multi-directional capabilities which allow for total bite forces, or at least larger parts of them, to be recorded than on a uni-directional strain-gauge transducer.

In biomechano-transducing, cellular generated tension can be measured by soft substrates based on polymers but these techniques are limited either by spatial resolution or ability to detect localised cell traction forces (CTF) due to their non-linear viscous behaviour under shear rates. A newly developed cell traction force transducer system based on cholesteryl ester lyotropic liquid crystals (LCTFT) was developed to sense localised traction forces of human keratinocyte cell lines (HaCaTs), in which the length of the deformation line induced represents the intensity of the CTF exerted. The physical properties of the cholesteryl ester based lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) were characterised by using polarising microscopy, rheology, atomic force microscopy (AFM) based nano-indentation, spherical indentation, and micro-tensile tests. The interactions of LLC with cells were studied by using cell viability studies, cytochemical treatments, widefield surface plasmon resonance (WSPR) microscopy and various immuno-staining techniques. The results show that LLC is thermally stable (0 - 50 oC) and linearly viscoelastic below 10 % shear strain at shear rates of < 1 s-1. AFM nano and spherical indentations show a good agreement on the Young¿s modulus of both determined at ~110 kPa which is close to the elastic modulus of the epidermis. The Poisson¿s ratio of LLC was determined at ~0.58 by using micro tensile tests. The biophysical interaction studies indicated that LLC is biocompatible and allowed cell attachment. Cell relaxation technique by cytochalasin-B treatment suggested that the attachment and contraction of cells on LLC was due to the contractile activity of actin cytoskeletons that are mediated by focal adhesions. The staining experiments showed that cells consistently expressed the same suites of integrins (¿2, ¿3, ¿5 and ¿1) and ECM proteins (collagen type IV, laminin and fibronectin) on both glass and LLC coated substrates. Interfacial interaction of cells with LLC observed via the staining of actin and vinculin, and WSPR imaging suggest the association of marginal actin filaments and focal adhesions in attaching HaCaT cells to the LLC. Linear static analysis applied in the Finite Element model of focal adhesion-LC confirmed the compressive force patterns induced by cells. By applying cell relaxation techniques and Hooke¿s theorem, the force-deformation relationships of the LLC were derived and used for direct quantification of CTF in culture. The sensitivity of the LCTFT was implied by a wide range of CTF (10 - 140 nN) measured at high resolutions (~2 ¿m). Nonetheless, a custom-built cell traction force measurement and mapping software (CTFM) was developed to map CTF of single cells. Reliability of the LCTFT was evaluated by using a known pharmacological active cytokine, TGF-¿1, in inducing contraction of human keratinocytes. This study inferred internal consistency and repeatability of the LCTFT in sensing contraction responses of HaCaT cells in a concentration dependent manner of TGF-¿1. The overall LCTFT and CTFM software had shown good potential for use in the study of contraction and migration of keratinocytes. / Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education

In biomechano-transducing, cellular generated tension can be measured by soft substrates based on polymers but these techniques are limited either by spatial resolution or ability to detect localised cell traction forces (CTF) due to their non-linear viscous behaviour under shear rates. A newly developed cell traction force transducer system based on cholesteryl ester lyotropic liquid crystals (LCTFT) was developed to sense localised traction forces of human keratinocyte cell lines (HaCaTs), in which the length of the deformation line induced represents the intensity of the CTF exerted. The physical properties of the cholesteryl ester based lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) were characterised by using polarising microscopy, rheology, atomic force microscopy (AFM) based nano-indentation, spherical indentation, and micro-tensile tests. The interactions of LLC with cells were studied by using cell viability studies, cytochemical treatments, widefield surface plasmon resonance (WSPR) microscopy and various immuno-staining techniques. The results show that LLC is thermally stable (0-50 °C) and linearly viscoelastic below 10% shear strain at shear rates of < 1 s⁻¹. AFM nano and spherical indentations show a good agreement on the Young's modulus of both determined at ~110 kPa which is close to the elastic modulus of the epidermis. The Poisson's ratio of LLC was determined at ~0.58 by using micro tensile tests. The biophysical interaction studies indicated that LLC is biocompatible and allowed cell attachment. Cell relaxation technique by cytochalasin-B treatment suggested that the attachment and contraction of cells on LLC was due to the contractile activity of actin cytoskeletons that are mediated by focal adhesions. The staining experiments showed that cells consistently expressed the same suites of integrins (α2, α3, α5 and β1) and ECM proteins (collagen type IV, laminin and fibronectin) on both glass and LLC coated substrates. Interfacial interaction of cells with LLC observed via the staining of actin and vinculin, and WSPR imaging suggest the association of marginal actin filaments and focal adhesions in attaching HaCaT cells to the LLC. Linear static analysis applied in the Finite Element model of focal adhesion-LC confirmed the compressive force patterns induced by cells. By applying cell relaxation techniques and Hooke's theorem, the force-deformation relationships of the LLC were derived and used for direct quantification of CTF in culture. The sensitivity of the LCTFT was implied by a wide range of CTF (10 - 140 nN) measured at high resolutions (~2 μm). Nonetheless, a custom-built cell traction force measurement and mapping software (CTFM) was developed to map CTF of single cells. Reliability of the LCTFT was evaluated by using a known pharmacological active cytokine, TGF-β1, in inducing contraction of human keratinocytes. This study inferred internal consistency and repeatability of the LCTFT in sensing contraction responses of HaCaT cells in a concentration dependent manner of TGF-β1. The overall LCTFT and CTFM software had shown good potential for use in the study of contraction and migration of keratinocytes.

No description available.

No description available.