Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Stephen Mark. / M.S.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Thesis. 1972. M.S. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN BARKER ENGINEERING LIBRARY. / Bibliography: leaves 93-94. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-108). / by Dena Hendriana. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80). / by Sunghwan Jung. / M.S.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66). / The objective of this research is to create an inexpensive mechanism which gives wheelchair users the ability to adjust the vertical height of their chair while seated. There are currently 1.5 million manual wheelchair users in the United States. However, no manual height adjust mechanisms are available in the current marketplace. Increased vertical range of sight and reach will result in unprecedented levels of independence for wheelchair users. We applied the theory of axiomatic design as a methodology for designing a mechanism to fill this compelling unmet need. Careful consideration of the functional and physical domains guided us to an effective solution to this design problem. A proof of concept prototype was created to demonstrate the potential of this design solution. This prototype is capable of lifting a person of 2501bs weight 15 inches off of the ground while seated in the wheelchair. This design solution is viable, and with continued work we hope that it may someday come to fruition as an effective and useful product. / by Kevin DiGenova and Chris Coleman. / S.B.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / MIT Institute Archives copy: with CD-ROM; divisional library copy with no CD-ROM. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-104). / Knowledge of in-vivo glenohumeral joint biomechanics after total shoulder arthroplasty are important for the improvement of patient function, implant longevity and surgical technique. No data has been published on the in-vivo glenohumeral joint contact locations in patients after total shoulder arthroplasty. Therefore, the objectives of this thesis were to determine the in-vivo glenohumeral joint contact locations and humeral head translations in patients after total shoulder arthroplasty. First, a non-invasive three dimensional fluoroscopic image matching method was developed and validated for use in the shoulder joint complex. Next, a group of patients that have undergone clinically successful total shoulder arthroplasty surgeries were recruited for study and imaged by the fluoroscopic imaging technique.The fluoroscopic imaging system was recreated in a virtual environment and the in vivo kinematics that were recorded by the fluoroscopes were recreated with three dimensional models. The contact centroids of the glenohumeral joint and humeral head translations were measured using solid modeling software. In summary, this thesis quantified the in-vivo glenohumeral joint contact locations and humeral head translations after total shoulder arthroplasty. These data provides surgeons and engineers valuable information for developing surgical treatments that may better help recreate 'normal' motion of the shoulder after total shoulder arthroplasty. / by Daniel Frank Massimini. / S.M.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009. / "June 2009." Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 20). / Traditional schlieren photography has several important disadvantages when designing a system to image refractive index gradients including the relatively high cost of parabolic mirrors and the fact that the technique does not easily yield quantitative data. Both these issues are resolved by using synthetic Schileren photography, but this technique produces images with a lower resolution than traditional schlieren imaging. Synthetic schlieren imaging measures a refractive index gradient by comparing the distortion of two or more images with high frequency backgrounds. This method can either yield low-resolution quantitative data in two dimensions or high-resolution quantitative data in one dimension, but cannot give high-resolution data in two dimensions simultaneously. In order to yield high resolution imaging in two dimensions, a technique is described that based upon previously measured fields, adaptively modifies the high resolution background in order to maximize the resolution for a given flow field. / by Roderick R. La Foy. / S.B.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-104). / Several pathologies associated with the bladder have wide impacts on society. Overactive bladder (OAB) and interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) are chronic urological conditions characterized by pain, urinary frequency, and urgency with or without urinary incontinence. The estimated prevalence of OAB and IC/PBS is more than 34 million people in the U.S. alone. The American Cancer Society estimated a total of 68,810 new bladder cancer cases and 14,100 deaths from bladder cancer in the U.S. in 2008. Treatment options include oral medications, transdermal patches and intravesical instillations of therapeutic solutions. Direct intravesical instillation is considered an effective option, especially for those who remain refractory to oral and transdermal formulations due to intolerable side effects and skin irritations, respectively. Intravesical treatment, however, requires repeated instillations due to rapid drug voiding by urination, and the frequent urinary catheterizations involve risk of urinary infection and patient discomfort. An alternative, site-specific local delivery approach was created using a reservoir-based drug delivery device. This novel passive device was designed to release drug in a predetermined manner once inside the bladder. The device also possesses a retention feature to prevent accidental voiding. The device can be implanted into and retrieved from the bladder by a non-surgical cystoscopic procedure. / (cont.) In vivo tests using lidocaine, a local anesthetic used for IC/PBS treatment, showed that a sustained and local treatment to the bladder can be achieved with the device. The lidocaine bladder tissue concentration was found to be a thousand-fold higher than the lidocaine plasma concentration at three and six days in a rabbit model. The device approach has the potential to achieve localized therapy to the bladder while minimizing side effects. Future studies may use the device for other therapeutic agents in the treatment of OAB, IC/PBS, and bladder cancer. / by Heejin Lee. / Ph.D.

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1924. / by Van J. Weaver. / B.S.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2016. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-65). / The purpose of this research is to extend the design tools for robust underactuated hand design. Disaster response robots operate in highly unstructured environments where they need to dynamically move and interface to successfully fulfill their task. Historically robotic hands have been optimized for grasp strength, robustness, lightness, but not a combination of all of these factors. This thesis proposes key design requirements for disaster response robot hands and explains the design of the HERMES humanoid robotic system hand that balances these factors for versatility. Not only is it used for grasping, but a unique metal backbone allows it to be used as a foot also. Additionally, base modeling is presented for predicting the finger contact forces based on geometry of the grasp object and input tension to the hand. Trends in the number of fingers for practical disaster tasks are explored. The major purpose in the design of this hand is to be able to perform dynamic tasks such as swinging an ax which induces a moment reaction within the hand. For this loading condition, the maximum allowable reaction force scales quadratically with number of fingers, whereas tasks that only apply normal or shear forces to the hand scale linearly. The model shows that the HERMES hand can handle a 0.75 kg ax and door with 512 N of dynamic pull force. These models and design can be used for optimizing characteristics of future robotic hands, especially in the disaster response realm. / by John Patrick Mayo. / S.M.