No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Current gold standard practices for the diagnosis of tissue disease involve invasive tissue biopsies subjected to a time consuming histopathological examination process. An optical biopsy can offer a non-invasive diagnostic alternative by exploiting the properties of naturally occurring light-tissue interactions. A time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy instrument (355 nm excitation) has previously been developed by our lab to capture the fluorescence response of gastrointestinal tissue (370-550 nm in 5 nm increments, 25 ns at 1000 ps/pt). Measurements were conducted ex-vivo during routine upper gastrointestinal tract biopsies on duodenum, antrum, stomach body, and esophageal tissue. The work currently presented is focused on protocol development for tissue handling, measurement collection, clinical data management, fluorescent decay modeling using Laguerre based deconvolution, instrument performance evaluation, and k-means based classification.</p> <p>Descriptive parameters derived from spectral (total signal intensity) and temporal (lifetime and Laguerre polynomial coefficients) analysis were used to evaluate the data. It was found that data were only compromised when the total signal intensity for the peak wavelength 455 nm fell blow 19.5 V·ns. The data did not exhibit any signs of photobleaching or pulse width broadening that would have otherwise distorted the lifetime from its true fluorescence response. Data for diseased tissue were limited so the clinical diagnosis was used to classify normal duodenum tissue from normal esophageal tissue. Over 400 pairs of parameters demonstrated k-means can identify duodenum tissue with 87.5 % sensitivity and 87.5 % specificity or better. With some dimensional axis transformations these results could be improved. The lifetimes are not factors here but the relative intensity and decay shape were. Protocols can be applied to diseased or other tissue types with little adaptation. Just a single set of parameters may hold the key to help surgeons choose optimum locations for traditional biopsies or perhaps one day replace them altogether.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

<p>The annual incidence rate of tumours in the brain and central nervous system (CNS) was 19.89 per 100,000 persons between 2004 and 2008 in the United States. Surgery is a common treatment option for brain and CNS tumours. Typically, biopsy followed by histological analysis is used to confirm tumour types and margin during neurosurgery as an intraoperative diagnostic tool. However, this biopsy method is invasive, sampling number limited and not in real-time. To overcome these problems, many minimally invasive optical techniques, called optical biopsies, have been developed towards intraoperative diagnosis.</p> <p>The research work carried out in this dissertation focuses on combining the time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) and diffuse reflectance (DR) spectroscopy towards intraoperative tumour margin detection in neurosurgery. Combining these two modalities allows us to obtain additional contrast features, thus potentially improving the diagnostic accuracy. To achieve this goal, first, a clinically compatible integrated TRF-DR spectroscopy instrument was developed for <em>in vivo</em> brain tumour study. An acousto-optical-tunable-filter-based spectrometer was designed to acquire the time-resolved fluorescence signal. A dual-modality fibre optic probe was used to collect the TRF and DR signals in a small volume. The system’s capabilities of resolving fluorescence spectrum and lifetime, and optical properties were characterized and validated using tissue phantoms. Second, in order to retrieve the fluorescence impulse response function accurately from measured fluorescence signals, a robust Laguerre-based deconvolution method was optimized by using the constrained linear least squares fitting and high order Laguerre function basis. This optimized Laguerre-based deconvolution method overcomes the over-fitting problem introduced by low signal-to-noise ratio and complex fitting model. Third, an <em>ex vivo</em> clinical study of brain tumours was carried out using the TRF and DR spectroscopy. Fluorescence spectra and lifetime features were selected to classify various tumour types. The sensitivity and specificity of meningioma grade I differentiated from meningioma grade II are both 100%. Finally, in order to increase the measurement tissue volume and obtain imaging contrast features, a scanning-based hyperspectral fluorescence lifetime imaging system was developed. This setup can provide time-, space-, spectrum- resolved multi-dimensional images for tumour margin detection.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p> Under 248 nm laser flash photolysis, the photodecomposition of 1,3,4-trimethyl-1-phenyl-1-germacyclopent-3-ene (28) in dry, deoxygenated hexane solution at 23 °C leads to the prompt formation of two transient species: phenylmethylgermylene (29) and its Ge=Ge doubly bonded dimer, 1,2-dimethyl-1 ,2-diphenyldigemene (30). The formation of 29 proceeds in high chemical yield as shown by the results of steady state trapping experiments with methanol and isoprene. The transient assigned to 29 exhibits λmax = 490 nm and decays with second-order kinetics (τ ~ 2 μs). The second transient, which is formed from the latter, is assigned to digermene 30 and exhibits λmax = 420 nm and a lifetime, τ ~ 8 μs. The assignments are based on comparisons to the spectra of other simple germylenes, such as dimethyl-, diphenyl and dimesitylgermylene as well as on the pattern of reactivity with trapping reagents in solution at room temperature.</p> <p> Reactions studied include N-H, O-H and Sn-H insertion reactions, the [1+2] addition to isoprene and t-butylacetylene, and halogen atom abstraction from carbon tetrachloride.</p> <p> Absolute rate constants for quenching of 29 with the above mentioned scavengers were obtained by direct measurement of the germylene decay kinetics, over the concentration range where the formation of the digermene was more than 70% quenched. This ensures that the decay of 29 was dominated by the reaction with the trapping reagent.</p> <p> Absolute rate constants for reaction of the same reagents with 30 have also been determined for most of the scavengers studied. However, the digermene was found to be considerably less reactive than phenylmethylgermylene in all cases.</p> <p> The trends in spectroscopic properties and reactivity of simple germylenes in solution are discussed.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The mechanism by which convective heat transfer is augmented by freestream turbulence in the stagnation region was studied experimentally. Previous work has suggested that the primary mechanism for the observed augmentation is the amplification of vorticity into strong vortices which dominate the flow field near the surface. Therefore, two separate experimental investigations were performed to further study this phenomenon. In the first, the spatiotemporal convection from a heated surface was measured during the normal collision of a vortex ring. The convection was observed to increase dramatically in areas where vortices forced outer fluid through the natural convection boundary layer to the surface. Regions where fluid was swept along the surface experienced much smaller increases in convection. These observations led to the development of a mechanistic model which predicted the heat transfer based on the amount of time that fluid remained within the thermal boundary layer prior to reaching the surface. In subsequent testing, the model was able to accurately predict the time-resolved convection based solely on the transient properties of the vortex present. In the second investigation, the model was applied to the vortices which form in a stagnating turbulent flow. Three turbulence conditions were tested which changed the properties of the vortices produced. Again, the model was successful in predicting the time-resolved convection over much of the experimental measurement time. The work of designing and calibrating the heat flux sensor used is also reported. A new sensor was developed specifically for the convection research performed herein as no existing sensor possessed the required spatiotemporal resolution and underwater capabilities. Utilizing spot-welded foils of thermoelectric alloys resulted in a very robust and sensitive sensing array which was thoroughly analyzed and calibrated. In the final section, the hybrid heat flux (HHF) method is presented which significantly increases the performance of existing heat flux sensors. It is shown (both numerically and experimentally) that by combining the spatial and temporal temperature measurements from a standard sensor, the time response increases by up to a factor of 28. Also, this method causes the sensor to be insensitive to the material to which it is mounted. / Ph. D.

The mechanism of heat transfer augmentation due to freestream turbulence in classic Hiemenz stagnation flow was studied experimentally for the first time using time-resolved digital particle image velocimetry (TRDPIV) and a new thin film heat flux sensor called the Heat Flux Array (HFA). Unique measurements of simultaneous, time-resolved velocity and surface heat flux data were obtained along the stagnation line on a simple, rectangular flat plate model mounted in a water tunnel facility. Identification and tracking of coherent structures in the stagnation region lends support to the theory that coherent structures experience stretching and amplification of vorticity by the mean flow strain rate upon approaching the stagnation surface. The resulting flow field in the near-wall region is comprised primarily of high strength, counter-rotating vortex pairs with decreased integral length scale relative to the imposed freestream turbulence. It is hypothesized that the primary mechanism of heat transfer augmentation is the movement of cooler freestream fluid into the heated near-wall region by these coherent structures. Furthermore, the level of heat transfer augmentation is dictated by the integral length scale, circulation strength, and core-to-surface distance of the coherent structures. To test this hypothesis, these properties were incorporated into a mechanistic model for predicting the transient, turbulent heat transfer coefficient. The model was successful in predicting the shape and magnitude of the measured heat transfer coefficient over much of the experimental measurement time. In a separate yet related set of studies, heat flux sensors and calibration methods were examined. The High Temperature Heat Flux Sensor (HTHFS) was designed and developed to become one of the most durable heat flux sensors ever devised for long duration use in high temperature, extreme environments. Extensive calibrations in both conduction and convection were performed to validate the performance of the sensor near room temperature. The measured sensitivities in conduction and convection were both very close to the predicted sensitivity using a thermal resistance model of the HTHFS. The sensor performance was unaffected by repeated thermal cycling using kiln and torch firing. Finally, the performance of Schmidt-Boelter heat flux sensors were examined in both shear and stagnation flow using two custom designed convection calibration facilities. Calibration results were evaluated using an analytical sensitivity model based on an overall sensor thermal resistance from the sensor to the heat sink or mounting surface. In the case of convection the model included a term for surface temperature differences along the boundary layer. In stagnation flow the apparent sensitivity of the Schmidt-Boelter sensors decreased non-linearly with increasing heat transfer coefficient. Estimations of the sensor's internal thermal resistance were obtained by fitting the model to the stagnation calibration data. This resistance was then used with the model to evaluate the effects of non-uniform surface temperature on the shear flow sensitivity. A more pronounced non-linear sensitivity dependence on heat transfer coefficient was observed. In both cases the main result is that convection sensitivity varies a great deal from standard radiation calibrations. / Ph. D.