Thesis--Auburn University, 2004. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-109).

Currently available upper-limb prostheses do not meet the needs or aspirations of the amputee. Many technical challenges have been given as the limiting factors on the further development of these prostheses. Generally developments have occurred as incremental developments on three existing moderately successful archetypes; the cosmetic, body-powered and myoelectric prostheses. Continued development on these archetypes appears to be further separating prostheses into those primarily considered cosmetic and those primarily considered functional. However, amputees have a need both for function and cosmesis from their prostheses. Technology currently being developed for actuation and control in other laboratories indicates that the previous limitations placed on prosthesis design may be challenged. Therefore, it is appropriate to look for new design archetypes. This thesis describes the development, implementation and evaluation of mechanical analogies of the skeletal components of the human hand and arm which have the potential to inform the design of a new generation of upper-limb prostheses integrating cosmesis and function in a single device. The research has been undertaken using a form of practice led design research methodology. This iterative methodology uses physical models for both evaluation and also as a means of encouraging end-user involvement in the design process. These evaluations are then used in subsequent cycles of research activity. The research has concentrated on developing mechanical analogies of the joints of the hand, wrist, forearm and elbow. The joints of the hand are shown to have a simple and similar structure. Therefore, a modular mechanical archetype has been elucidated that results in a hand configuration made from multiple similar modules positioned at different points throughout the hand. However, the wrist and forearm contain more complex joints which have been found to be unique to their anatomical position. The selection of appropriate prototyping techniques has been an integral part of the research. Problems have arisen in assessing the degree of analogy achieved because the intact joints of the human skeleton are covered by soft tissue that has not been part of the skeletal analogy implemented. Additionally, it is postulated that there are subtleties to human movement which are not reflected in standard anthropometric measures. Therefore, a two stage evaluation has been undertaken that assesses the quality of the analogy realised in the models. This consists of goniometric measures to quantify basic angular rotations whilst qualitative evaluations by professionals with a good anatomical knowledge have been used to assess the more subtle movements within the joints. The skeletal mechanical analogy developed through this research has been shown through evaluation to simulate the articulations of the human upper-limb. The model embodies design principles that appear to have short and long term significance to the field of prosthetics. The production of a tangible model has not only aided evaluation but has also stimulated research in other centres into ways of actuating and controlling a future upper-limb prosthesis. Additionally, the mechanical analogy may have applications in the field of telepresence robotics, aerospace and the entertainment industry.

No description available.

Several studies have been devoted to the metabolic costs of amputees walking on prostheses with different masses added to their components. However, limited study has been directed at quantifying the mass differences of the actual materials available to amputees and the metabolic and mechanical work required to walk on these materials. The energetics of two materials currently used in the design of lower extremity prosthetics were examined in an attempt to determine if mass differences had an effect on amputee walking. A total of fifteen, unilateral amputees (8 transfemoral and 7 transtibial) performed treadmill walking on prostheses assembled from titanium and stainless steel components. Standardized components (knees, pylons, adapters, feet) made from each material were added below the level of the socket. Submaximal oxygen consumption {W/kg} and mechanical power allowing transfers within and between segments {W/kg} were calculated as subjects walked at self-selected velocities until steady state was achieved. Results show that despite significant mechanical differences [F(1,12)= 4.85, p<.048], the decreased mass associated with the use of titanium materials does not have an effect on the metabolic costs [F(1,14)=1.45, p<.249] of the subjects in this study. In addition, stride rate and stride length showed little differences when walking with both materials. Further division of subjects by age and experience walking on a prosthesis do suggest that older amputees and established walkers do benefit most from the use of titanium, both metabolically and mechanically. The choice of materials for use in every day walking will display differences in the mechanical work of amputees however, these differences are not great enough to realize metabolic consequences. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

by Pang Sai Yau. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [87-90]). / Chapter chapter one： --- introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- General Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- biology of cancellous bone grafts --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Biology of bone graft incorporation --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.1.1 --- Osteogenesis --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.1.2 --- Vascularization --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.1.3 --- Osteoinduction --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.1.4 --- Osteoconduction --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Histological changes of bone grafts after bone transplantation --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2.1 --- Histologic pictures of cancellous autograft --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2.2 --- Histologic pictures of cancellous bone allograft --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.2.3 --- Summary of the histologic changes of bone grafts --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- application of cancellous bone grafts --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Principles of graft incorporation --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.1.1 --- Operative site --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.1.2 --- Graft material --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1.2.1 --- Autogenic cancellous bone --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.1.2.2 --- Autogenic cortical bone --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3.2.2.3 --- Vascularized autogenic bone grafts --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3.2.2.4 --- Bone allografts --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.2.2.5 --- Graft adjuncts and substitutes --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.2.3 --- Systemic factors influencing gaft incorporation --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.2.4 --- Local factors influencing graft incorporation --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Bone graft complications --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Placement of a graft --- p.14 / Chapter 1.3.5 --- Bone graft harvesting --- p.15 / Chapter 1.3.5.1 --- Iliac bone graft --- p.15 / Chapter 1.3.5.2 --- Femoral head bone allograft --- p.16 / Chapter 1.4 --- Application of flow conductance concept in a cancellous bone graft --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Physical structure of cancellous bone --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Porosity of cancellous bone --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Flow conductance concept --- p.18 / Chapter chapter two： --- material and method / Chapter 2.1 --- Transplantation of cancellous bone graft - Rabbit model --- p.19 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Preparation of porcine cancellous bone graft --- p.19 / Chapter 2.1.1.1 --- Bone drilling --- p.19 / Chapter 2.1.1.2 --- Defat and freeze-dry --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Flow conductance measurement --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.2.1 --- Porosity measurement --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.2.2 --- Conductance measurement --- p.24 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Rabbit model --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Methods of assessment --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1.4.1 --- Intraosseous pressure measurement --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1.4.2 --- Histologic study --- p.30 / Chapter 2.1.4.3 --- Blood flow study - use of tracer microspheres --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2 --- Flow conductance measurement of human cancellous bone --- p.34 / Chapter chapter three： --- results / Chapter 3.1 --- Results of the effects of various conductance of the grafts on bone healing in animal model --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Intraosseous pressure measurement --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Histological study --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Blood flow study of cancellous bone grafts --- p.52 / Chapter 3.2 --- Human specimens study --- p.62 / Chapter chapter four： --- discussion / Chapter 4.1 --- Discussion of the results in vivo study --- p.66 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Intraosseous pressure measurement - a baseline study --- p.66 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Effects of flow conductance of porcine cancellous grafts on bone regeneration --- p.67 / Chapter 4.1.2.1. --- Threshold conductance --- p.67 / Chapter 4.1.2.2. --- Histological score --- p.68 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Discussion of graft healing from the blood flow study --- p.70 / Chapter 4.1.3.1 --- Tibia blood supply in relation to bone healing --- p.70 / Chapter 4.1.3.2 --- Effect of different flow conductance on blood flow changes in the tibia-graft structure --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- "Comparison of length, porosity and conductance as the parameter on graft healing" --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2 --- Discussion on human bone specimens study --- p.76 / Chapter 4.3 --- General discussion --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- The limitation of the animal model --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Some problems related to the clinical aspects --- p.79 / Chapter chapter five： --- conclusion --- p.81

In this thesis, the synthesis of a grasping and manipulation controller of the Barrett hand, which is an archetypal example of a multi-fingered robotic hand, is investigated in some detail. This synthesis involves not only the dynamic modelling of the robotic hand but also the control of the joint and workspace dynamics as well as the interaction of the hand with object it is grasping and the environment it is operating in. Grasping and manipulation of an object by a robotic hand is always challenging due to the uncertainties, associated with non-linearities of the robot dynamics, unknown location and stiffness parameters of the objects which are not structured in any sense and unknown contact mechanics during the interaction of the hand’s fingers and the object. To address these challenges, the fundamental task is to establish the mathematical model of the robot hand, model the body dynamics of the object and establish the contact mechanics between the hand and the object. A Lagrangian based mathematical model of the Barrett hand is developed for controller implementation. A physical SimMechanics based model of the Barrett hand is also developed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. A computed torque controller and an adaptive sliding model controller are designed for the hand and their performance is assessed both in the joint space and in the workspace. Stability analysis of the controllers are carried out before developing the control laws. The higher order sliding model controllers are developed for the position control assuming that the uncertainties are in place. Also, this controllers enhance the performance by reducing chattering of the control torques applied to the robot hand. A contact model is developed for the Barrett hand as its fingers grasp the object in the operating environment. The contact forces during the simulation of the interaction of the fingers with the object were monitored, for objects with different stiffness values. Position and force based impedance controllers are developed to optimise the contact force. To deal with the unknown stiffness of the environment, adaptation is implemented by identifying the impedance. An evolutionary algorithm is also used to estimate the desired impedance parameters of the dynamics of the coupled robot and compliant object. A Newton-Euler based model is developed for the rigid object body. A grasp map and a hand Jacobian are defined for the Barrett hand grasping an object. A fixed contact model with friction is considered for the grasping and the manipulation control. The compliant dynamics of Barrett hand and object is developed and the control problem is defined in terms of the contact force. An adaptive control framework is developed and implemented for different grasps and manipulation trajectories of the Barrett hand. The adaptive controller is developed in two stages: first, the unknown robot and object dynamics are estimated and second, the contact force is computed from the estimated dynamics. The stability of the controllers is ensured by applying Lyapunov’s direct method.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2004. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-182).

Introduction: Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is suggested to begin from the nucleus pulposus (NP). Evidence from various studies highlights mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), in most cases using bone marrow derived MSC, as a potential stem cell source for NP regeneration. However MSC can be isolated from many sources with various characteristics. There are indications that fetal or close to fetal tissue sources contain MSC with relatively undifferentiated phenotype with respect to MSC from adult sources. Moreover, umbilical cord (C)-MSC may have better chondrogenic differentiation potential than bone marrow (B)-MSC. We hypothesize CMSC are different from BMSC, and more efficient than BMSC in stimulating NP regeneration. Methods: MSC were isolated from human bone marrow and umbilical cord with corresponding ethical approval. BMSC and CMSC were characterized for cell surface marker expression profile and differentiation potential.. RT-PCR of interest genes in NP cells isolated from scoliosis and degenerate discs was performed to search for NP degeneration indicators. Conditioned media (CM) was collected from confluent MSC monolayer, and used for stimulation of four batches of degenerated NP cells isolated from human degenerative intervertebral discs. Cell proliferation and cytotoxicity were assessed by MTT assay. Proteoglycan content were measured by DMMB assay. Gene expression of a series of degeneration related molecules including ACAN, SOX9, CDH2, CD55, KRT19, KRT18, FBLN1 and MGP, and fibrosis related molecules, including MMP12, HSP47, COL1A1, COL3A1 and FN1, of NP cells in MSC-CM were determined by real- time RT-PCR. All results were normalized to the control cells in basal medium. The expression of discogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic markers on BMSC and CMSC were compared by RT-PCR. Results and Conclusion: CMSC were similar to BMSC and fulfilled the minimum criteria of MSC, however the expression of CD146, CD106 and Stro-1 was different, and BMSC had a spontaneous osteogenesis tendency while CMSC expressed chondrogenic marker even without TGF-beta stimulation. BMSC demonstrated a paracrine effect on modulating human degenerated NP cells towards a non-degenerative phenotype in stimulating cell proliferation, slightly enhancing proteoglycan production, upregulating KRT19 while downregulating MMP12. Compared with BMSC, a higher paracrine effect of CMSC was disclosed in modulating the phenotype of NP cells in all aspects tested, and an intrinsic higher expression on CMSC of ‘potential NP markers’, including KRT19, KRT18 and CD55, but lower expression of osteogenic markers, including RUNX2 and ALPL, was revealed, which indicate a higher potential of CMSC for future clinical application to treat IVD degeneration diseases. KRT19 and MMP12 were also confirmed to be the highest differentially expressed candidate genes between cultured scoliosis and degenerated human NP cells, indicating a high indicator potential of NP degeneration. Furthermore, a subpopulation was detected in the degenerated NP cells that possessed macrophage-like phenotype and activities, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration. In conclusion, studies in this thesis highlighted CMSC as a superior source than BMSC for IVD repair. Further investigations into the active agents in the conditioned media and the signalling pathway may help to elucidate the mechanism of the effect. / published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Intervertebral disc tissue engineering is challenging because it involves the integration of multiple tissues with distinct structures and compositions such as lamellar annulus fibrosus, gel?like nucleus pulposus and cartilage endplate. Each of them has different compositions and different structures. It is hypothesized that integration of tissues can be enhanced with appropriate mechanical and biological stimuli. Meanwhile, effect of torsional stimulus on cell re?orientation in mesenchymal stem cell?collagen tubular constructs is investigated in this study. Furthermore, it is proposed that these findings can be used to fabricate a multicomponent unit for intervertebral disc tissue engineering. It has been demonstrated that mechanical and biological stimuli can stabilize the interface between osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiated constructs with enhanced ultimate tensile stress while the phenotype of osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiated constructs were maintained. Scanning electronic microscopic images have shown aligned collagen fibrils and presence of calcium at the interface, indicating the possibility of the formation of a calcified zone. In addition, it is proven that torsional stimulus triggered re?orientation of mesenchymal stem cells in collagen lamellae towards a preferred angle. Cell alignments were confirmed by using a MatLab?based program to analyze the actin filament and the cell alignment via Phalloidin and Hematoxylin staining, respectively. Cells and actin filaments were inclined around 30o from the vertical axis, while cells and filaments in the control group (static loading) aligned along the vertical axis. Furthermore, a double?layers bioengineered unit was fabricated, with intact osteogenic differentiated parts at both ends. Comparatively higher cell density was observed at the interface between layers, demonstrating the interactions between layers, while the phenotype of each part was maintained in 14 days culture. This study concludes that a multi?components bioengineered unit with preferred cell alignments can be fabricated. This provides new insights to future development of bioengineered spinal motion segment for treating late stage disc degeneration. / published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Alignment of the above-knee prostheses is one of the important factors affecting the success of patient/prosthesis matching. It has been found that the prosthetist and the patient can accept a number of alignments which produce different intersegmental loads and it has been suggested that it is possible to obtain an 'optimal' alignment satisfying certain criteria. In order to enhance the efficiency of the alignment procedure, it is necessary to understand how alignment affects the amputee's gait and the patient compensations for changes in the alignment. Biomechanical gait tests on above-knee amputees were conducted in which the alignment of the prosthesis was changed systematically. The Strathclyde television-computer system was used to record the kinematic data of the amputee, and the ground reactions were measured by two Kistler forceplates. An 8-segment biomechanical model of the above-knee amputee was developed and implemented by a suit of FORTRAN computer programs to analyze and present 3-D kinematic and kinetic data obtained. The effects of alignment changes on the above-knee amputees' gait were studied in terms of the temporal-distance parameters, angular displacements of the lower limbs and the trunk, ground reactions and intersegmental moments. It was found that the angular displacement at the hip joint on the prosthetic side showed compensatory actions of the amputee for the alignment changes. The ground reaction force was sensitive to alignment changes, and in particular, the changes in the characteristics of the fore-aft ground force could be related to the alignment changes. The antero-posterior intersegmental moments about the prosthetic ankle and knee joints were evidently influenced by alignment.