BE Design
Project Ideas (Version 2.1)
Dr. C. S.
Tritt
Last
updated: December 12, 2000
The following is a list of possible projects for the 00yyx
B.E. design groups. Please write your cover letter to apply for a specific
position (GM, PM, APM or Engineer) and to a specific project. Keep in mind,
however, that only about 5 of these projects will be assigned to this year’s
class and that assignments will be made based primarily on the needs of groups,
not the desires of individuals.
1.
Home Healthcare
Device
Sponsor: Drs. Gassert & Canino and possibly a specific
device company
Identify a specific opportunity and develop a medical device
for use in the home.
2.
Medical Products for Developing Markets (Poor Countries)
Sponsor: Dr. Tritt (I have a contact in Romania) and
possibly the U.N. or other agency
Identify a specific medical device opportunity in a specific
developing market. A major challenge will be to identify local needs and
economically viable options.
3.
Follow On Project – This Year’s Seniors
Sponsor: Drs. Lisa Milkowski and Mary Louise Brown
Follow up on one of this year’s senior design projects. Students
would get to choose the project they follow up (with faculty approval). One
possibility in this area is a clinical (biological signal) database to device
front panel system. This device would retrieve biological signals stored in a
PC database and output them (via an analog signal or signals) to commercial
medical equipment. This device would be used as a teaching aid in the nursing
program.
4.
Follow On Project – Last Year’s Seniors
Sponsor: Vince Canino
Follow up on one of last year’s senior design projects.
Students would get to choose project they follow up (with faculty approval).
One possibility includes a photometric pulse oximetry simulator. This device
would provide a light (visible and possibly near IR) input signal to a
commercial pulse oximetry system. It would be used as a teaching aid in the
nursing program.
5.
Coordination Performance Tester
Sponsor: C. S. Tritt
Design a device that tests human eye-brain-hand
coordination. The intent of this device would be to detect performance deficits
(due to alcohol, drugs, sleep deprivation or illness). The device would have to
be low cost and self-contained (not PC based). It would be based on the latest
literature, codes and laws regarding human performance and intoxication.
6.
MRI Phantom
Sponsor: Kevin Bennett, Medical College of Wisconsin
Mr. Bennett (an MSOE graduate) writes:
We are studying diffusion
processes in neural systems, that is , parynchema and vasculature. My main
interest is in bound-compartment contributions to MR signal decrease with
diffusion-weighted pulse sequences. The project would be to design a phantom
for MR which would contain capillaries on the order of microvasculature, the
permeability of which could be adjusted somehow (electrically?), and the
orientation of which could be precisely specified. This is sort of an NMR
rather than imaging project, but would probably lead to a patent if it worked.
We're working on one for our studies now, but it doesn't have all the features
of the one I just mentioned.
If you have any students who might
be interested in a project like this, please let me know. I would be happy to
talk to them. I think it would be ideal for students interested in getting a
few publications or research experience before they graduate (obviously they
would be included in any papers regarding the phantom).
7.
Thermal Therapy Device
Sponsor: Dr. Tritt & possibly Gorix.
Develop a thermal therapy or other heat generation and
transfer related medical product. Gorix is company that produces an electrically
conductive fabric. They are interested in finding applications for their
material. Students would identify a specific medial need related to thermal
therapy and design a product to meet this need.
8.
Depth of Anesthesia Monitor
Sponsor: Dr. Tritt
Develop a device to monitor the depth of anesthesia during
surgery. Device could be based on digital analysis (Digital Signal Processes or
DSP) of EEG data or some other method.
9.
Commercial Software Tools for Biomedical Engineering Fluid
Mechanics
Sponsor: Dr. Tritt
Evaluate commercial fluid flow modeling software for use in
biomedical engineering products. Determine if any current products are
applicable and, if not, what additional features would be needed. The flow
actually modeled would be up to students with faculty approval. Possible flows
include those at the carotid bifurcation or in an artificial heart valve. The
result of this project would be the flow analysis model and a software guide
geared specifically to biomedical problem solving.
10.
Use of Rapid Prototyping in Biomedicine
Sponsors: Drs. Tritt & Milkowski
Identify and explore opportunities for the application of
rapid prototyping technology in biomedical engineering, possibly following up
on an existing REU/RPC project.
11.
Biomedical Application of Microelectromechanical Systems
(MEMS)
Sponsors: Drs. Tritt & Milkowski and Douglas Kerns, Sierra Madre, CA
Possibilities suggested by Mr. Kerns include:
Identify and explore opportunities
for the application of microelectromechanical system in medical devices. Custom IC design to do transmissive optical plethysmography
(check out the MOSIS service for cheap IC fabrication). Integrate the
photodiode pickup, preamp, and filtering stages on one chip. An aggressive
design project could also integrate an ADC and an LED driver, so that the thing
could become nearly a complete digital-output instrument.
Any
of an assortment of possible catheter-tip sensor types e wedged into a slight
modification of an IC fabrication process.
12.
Biomedical Application of Microfluidic Systems
Sponsors: Drs. Tritt & Milkowski and Douglas Kerns, Sierra Madre, CA
Identify and explore opportunities for the application of
microfluidic systems in medical devices. Mr. Kerns suggests a custom IC, micro-machined hotwire anemometer for catheter-tip
measurements.
13.
Improved Wet Chemistry
Technique
Sponsors: Dr. Tritt & Leo Roemer, Denmark
Many medical tests still
involve wet chemistry (manual mixing of multiple reagent solutions). The sponsor
of this project writes:
One
of the items we offer is a test for Streptococcus A. Are you familiar
with that type of test device? It works in this way:
You
add two drops of two different reagents into a small well. Afterwards you take
a swab and rub the patients throat (to get the bacteria on to it) and then you
put the swab into the well and leave it for a couple of minutes to extract. You
then press the swab gently, and the bottom opens and the fluid flows along a
test strip towards a result window.
The
problem with this type of tests is, that the different reagents should not be
mixed until immediately before use - and it is a point of irritation for the
doctor/clinician to have to apply the drops. It takes time and there is a risk
of mistakes being done.
And
now my suggestion: How about designing a device where the different reagents
are already in the well, covered with a foil - each reagent "stored"
in membranes of some sort - thus you just have to take the swab and pierce the
covering foil and the membranes - this would make the test a real one step test
instead of the 4 or 5 step "one step tests" currently on the market.
The
device should also be capable of storing a tablet of some drying compound - I
don't think it is silica gel. And some devices have a small window turning to a
different color when the fluid hits it, indicating that time is up for reading
the result.
14.
Device Controller for
Quadaplegics
Sponsors: Dr. Tritt & Douglas Kerns, Sierra Madre, CA
Students would specify and design a device that could be
used by quadapledics to control laser pointers (or other items, like PC mice).
The basic function would involve determination of where the user was looking.
Such a device could be based on the electro-oculargram or some method
identified by the students.
15.
Short Range Medical Telemetry System
Sponsors: Dr. Tritt & Douglas Kerns, Sierra Madre, CA
Develop a short-range medical telemetry transmission system
(RF, IR or acoustic). Possibly, use one of the new short-range wireless digital
standards (like Bluetooth, etc.). This would allow students to use off the
shelf hardware and concentrate on biomedical specific software issues such as
reliability and security.
16.
A Biomedical Application for Virtual-Reality (VR) or
Tele-Presence (TP)
Sponsors: Dr. Tritt and Douglas
Kerns, Sierra Madre, CA
There have been a number of biomedical applications
suggested for VR and TP technology. This design project would involve selecting
a specific application and developing a VR or TP system for it. Mr. Kerns writes with the following suggestions:
Electro-myogram
(EMG) controls for virtual-reality or games.
EMG
pickup array (and probably other electromagnetic sensors) combined with
animation software to display subject body postures and motions.
Simple
force-feedback data glove for a remote actuator.
Tactile/haptic
actuators for virtual-reality or game controls feedback.