Author: u0074921

Russ Reid

Project information
My research involves engineering applications of biofuel cells. Biofuel cells convert chemical energy to electricity using enzyme catalysts instead of precious metals. They can be used to power portable electronics and implantable devices. My first project was to design and test a microfluidic biofuel cell that used a flow-through bioanode and an air-breathing cathode. The biofuel housing and seals were laser-cut from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and silicone sheets. The biofuel cell achieved a maximum current and power density of 705 µA/cm2 and 146 µW/cm2. My second project is to design and fabricate a contact lens biofuel cell that could be used to power ocular devices such as an itraocular pressure monitor, glaucoma drug pump, or a retinal prosthesis.

Personal information
I grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho and moved to Utah during high school. I graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineer and from the University of Virginia with a master’s in systems engineering. I worked for an aftermarket aircraft parts manufacturer before returning to school to work on a PhD. My wife and I have a two-year-old daughter. We spend most of our free time going on short road trips and hanging out with family.

Publications
“Enzymatic Biofuel Cell with a Flow-through Toray Paper Bioanodefor Improved Fuel Utilization”, R. Reid, F. Giroud, S. D. Minteer, B. K. Gale, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 160 (9) H612-H619 (2013).

Valentin Romanov

Valentin RomanovPersonal

What drew me to Mechanical Engineering is the broad depth of knowledge that students are empowered with. Looking back, my Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Australia instilled me with a sense that any problem can be solved with the application of simple engineering and collaboration. As such, for my undergraduate final year thesis I developed microfluidic devices in application to gold nanoparticles, my first real taste of micro/nanoengineering. This multidisciplinary project inspired me to pursue further work that would broaden my knowledge of fundamental engineering principles and chemical, biological processes. Hence I decided to pursue further education through a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah.

Research Interests

My current project utilizes microfluidics for the creation of nanoscale liposomes. Liposomes are synthetic lipid coated spheres, designed to loosely replicate the membrane structure of living cells. Using our device we can create liposomes of any size and of any lipid composition. We are currently investigating Inverse-BAR (I-BAR) domain proteins. These proteins bind to the negative curvature of a lipid bilayer accessible from within the lumen of a liposome. Using liposomes as model cells allows us to study a variety of factors that can effect the remodeling of the bilayer ultimately giving us a better glimpse of how the protein functions

Valentin RomanovInterests

One of the striking features about living in Salt Lake City is the proximity of the mountains to the university. The Wasatch Mountains offer a number of easy to access hikes while the Uintas offer amazing backpacking trips. I am excited to spend the next several years while in pursuit of my PhD to explore all of the national and state parks in Utah. Furthermore, Banff, Sundance and a number of other major festivals make their way to Utah once a year contributing to the vibrant outdoors scene.

 

Publications

V. Romanov, S. N. Davidoff, A. Miles, D. W. Grainger, B. K. Gale, and B. Brooks, “A Critical Comparison of Protein Microarray Fabrication Technologies,” Analyst, Jan. 2014.

Scott Ho

Scott Ho
M.S. Candidate

Master’s Thesis Research: Drug-Delivery Nerve Conduit
This drug-delivery nerve conduit is aimed at enhancing peripheral nerve regeneration. Peripheral nerve injuries affect 2-3% of trauma patients and vastly
more subsequent to tumor extirpation or iatrogenic injury. These injuries can result in chronic debilitating pain from crush or neuroma formation. Patients often suffer from life-long loss or functional disturbances mediated by the injured nerve, which can severely diminish their quality of life. Nerve injuries have a tremendous socioeconomic impact from loss of work and healthcare costs. Nerve lesions caused by trauma, tumor or inflammatory processes often require the removal of the injured segment of nerve and subsequent repair either by tension free end-to-end neurorrhaphy or by bridging the gap with autologous nerve grafts or nerve conduits.
My project will focus on creating manufacturing techniques for the PLGA (poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid) nerve conduit devices that are precise and produce repeatable results. The device will act as a conduit to directionally guide axon growth.  It will also function a reservoir for NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) and properly deliver the drug to the desired sites.
Previous Projects: 
The Mechanical Leech is a medical replacement for biological leeches, providing the necessary venous congestion relief that is needed for leech therapy.  Live leeches are currently used during post-surgical skin graft procedures to remove pooling blood at the surgical sites.
Leech therapy is the practice of introducing leeches onto reattached tissue post-surgery to relieve venous congestion in the region.  The primary function of the leech is to prevent the pooling of blood and reduce pressure in areas where arterial blood flow is adequate to supply blood but the venous blood flow is insufficient to remove it. This gives the body time to form new veins to handle the return blood flow. The leeching process accomplished naturally through the feeding process of leeches that create a small incision, secrete an anticoagulant, and remove the excess fluid.
In addition to eliminating a patient’s repulsion of biological leeches, the Mechanical Leech will provide more consistent, controllable performance over its parasitic counterpart, making it more desirable to doctors and surgeons to use during therapy.
Biofilm Reactor for Host-Pathogen Interaction

This project covers the design, manufacturing, and testing of a Biofilm Reactor to assist with host-pathogen interaction research.  This medical research device will facilitate an in-vitro environment for epithelial cells and bacteria to be grown separately but simultaneously.  The reactor consists of a base that creates a growth environment by providing growth nutrients and controlled air to the system.  A first insert will contain the epithelial cells, and a second insert will sit above it with the bacteria of interest to allow the cells and pathogens to interact. These semi-permeable inserts allow the bacteria and cells to be grown in a semi-isolated environment that prevents infection of the cells while still being able to sustain the host-pathogen interaction desired.  The cell cultures grown in this reactor will be used to study host-pathogen interactions and how diseases affect the human body.

 

Personal Bio:
I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT and am currently pursuing a combined B.S./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. #JazzNation

Keng-min Lin

Background

After obtaining my Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) in Taiwan, I joined Dr. Gale’s lab in 2009 to develop refilling tools in accordance with an intraocular capsule drug ring (CDR) for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment.  I received my Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah in May 2011 and continued to work on various kinds of medical devices and analyzed their efficacy.  I plan to obtain my PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2013.

In addition to research, I like to hit the slope and get on road trips.

Contact: farmer.lin@utah.edu

Research

My research interest is to define and solve clinical problems using engineering approaches, especially BioMEMS and MEMS.  I work closely with Medical Doctors in both Ophthalmology and Reconstructive Surgery.

<PhD’s research>

PLGA drug-delivery nerve conduits for nerve regeneration

Peripheral nerve injuries affect about 3% of trauma patients and require special bridging techniques if the gap is greater than 1-2 cm.  In this work, an approach for repairing peripheral nerve gaps using a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) drug-delivery nerve conduit filled with either bovine serum albumin (BSA) or nerve growth factor (NGF) is described.  Since these two diffusion experiments share the same design, this paper only reports the design, fabrication, testing and discussion of several PLGA nerve conduits filled with four different dosages of NGF (n=3/group) for a 20 day in vitro drug release study.  NGF is stored in the space between two concentric PLGA tubes and is released through a polyethersulfone filter attached to a 0.8mm by 0.2mm window on the inner PLGA tube.  The conduits were filled with one of four different combinations (n=3/group): 1) 0.1mg/mL NGF with 25mg/mL polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), 2) 0.1mg/mL NGF with 12.5mg/mL PVA, 3) 0.05mg/mL NGF with 25mg/mL PVA, and 4) 0.05mg/mL NGF with 12.5mg/mL PVA.  A sealing test (with 0.1mg/mL NGF and 25mg/mL PVA) was added to verify the sealing of the device, and a release test with no PVA was used to compare the NGF release rate in the absence of PVA.  In the BSA diffusion experiment, these PLGA nerve conduits could deliver 8.8 or 4.3mg BSA (~98% and 48%, respectively, of the total loaded dose) in a 171 hour period.  A later study showed that these PLGA nerve conduits could also deliver NGF, which can promote axon growth, at an average rate of 32ng/day over a 20 day period.  It shows that the sample without PVA has the highest release rate of 5.69%/day, and the sample has higher NGF concentration and lower PVA concentration has the optimal release rate of 2.38%/day over a 20 day period.  Bioactivity tests using chick dorsal root ganglion also confirm the sample collected after 20 days can still promote axon growth.

 

New approaches to bridge nerve gaps: Development of a novel drug-delivering nerve conduit

Contemporary bridging techniques for repairing nerve gaps caused by trauma require autologous nerve grafts, which are difficult to harvest and handle and result in significant donor site deficit. Several nerve conduits with axon growth-enhancing potential have been proposed, developed and tested over the past fifteen years. In this work, prototypes of a nerve conduit designed to bridge large nerve gaps (≥10mm) end-to-end were incorporated with concentric drug reservoirs for constant and controlled drug delivery to enhance axon growth. These devices were designed, fabricated and tested in vitro in amber glass vials with bovine serum albumin in order to determine the drug release kinetics for future application. Our devices have shown the capability to deliver the drug of interest over a 6-day period.

 

Intraocular pressure sensors: New approaches for real-time intraocular pressure measurement using a purely microfluidic chip

Periodic monitoring of intraocular pressure (IOP) values is crucial in glaucoma treatment. Since current measuring techniques lack accuracy, a microfluidic device is designed, tested and discussed in this work to explore unpowered IOP sensing capability. This device achieves a 0.061mm/mmHg sensitivity for lower pressures and a 0.667mm/mmHg for higher pressures.

 

<Master’s research>

Refilling mechanism to stabilize a free-floating intraocular capsule drug ring (CDR)

In 2009, 15.1 million cataracts were extracted and replaced with intraocular lenses (IOL). Because IOLs are smaller in diameter than natural lenses, there is real estate in the periphery of the IOL unused. The Capsule Drug Ring (CDR) is an implantable device that stores and releases drug inside the capsular bag in this unused periphery. The objective of the refilling mechanism is to stabilize a free-floating body to allow penetration through the refilling ports. Two ports at each ends of the CDR allow the reservoir to be refilled with bevacizumab (Avastin) every six months to one year. Avastin is an antivascular endothelial growth factor which inhibits blood vessel proliferation. The maximum width of the refilling mechanism is about 23 gauge. The 23 gauge refilling device will constitute an inner 30 gauge needle which will penetrate the ports, injecting Avastin into the CDR reservoir. Lasso loop is applied to grab and fix CDR while refilling. There are several structures on the CDR such as lasso guiding loop and protection wall to allow lasso grabbing mechanism. We developed several shapes of loop to ease the refilling process since it will be operated by normal ophthalmologist.

 

Publications

  1. Keng-Min Lin, Bruce Gale, Himanshu Sant, Jill Shea, William Sanders, Christi Terry and Jay Agarwal. BSA-Filled PLGA nerve conduits for potential applications in nerve regeneration. The BMES 2013 Annual Meeting. SEP 2013
  2. Keng-Min Lin, Himanshu J. Sant, Balamurali K. Ambati and Bruce K. Gale. Intraocular pressure sensors: New approaches for real-time intraocular pressure measurement using a purely microfluidic chip. The 16th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS). OCT 2012. Paper M.7.156
  3. Keng-Min Lin, Himanshu J. Sant, Jayant Agarwal and Bruce K. Gale. New approaches to bridge nerve gaps: Development of a novel drug-delivering nerve conduit. 34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (IEEE EMBS). AUG 2012. Paper WeB 15.7
  4. Keng-Min Lin, Corey J. Bishop, Himanshu J. Sant, Balamurali K. Ambati and Bruce K. Gale. Refilling mechanism to stabilize a free-floating intraocular capsule drug ring (CDR). 2010 AIChE Annual meeting poster section: Engineering Fundamentals in Life Science. NOV. 2010. Paper 568v.
  5. Keng-Min Lin, Ian Harvey and Brian Baker. Design and actuation of SEM-energized MEMS levitation trains. 2010 Nano Utah Conference: Poster section. OCT. 2010.

Unpublished work

  1. Keng-Min Lin, Himanshu Sant, Corey Bishop, Nathan Gooch, Balamurali Ambati and Bruce K. Gale. Design, manufacturing and testing of an intraocular refillable capsule drug ring and its refilling tools. Biomedical Microdevices (in preparation)
  2. Keng-Min Lin, Himanshu Sant, Balamurali Ambati and Bruce Gale. An unpowered microfluidic intraocular pressure sensor. Lab on a Chip (in preparation)
  3. Keng-Min Lin, Bruce Gale, Himanshu Sant, Srinivas Chennamaneni, Michael Burr, Balamurali Ambati and Jay Agarwal. PDMS drug delivery devices: potential application in nerve regeneration. Biomedical Microdevices (in preparation)
  4. Keng-Min Lin, Bruce Gale, Himanshu Sant, Jill Shea and Jay Agarwal. Drug-delivery PLGA conduits for nerve regeneration. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences in USA (PNAS) (in preparation)

Thesis

  1. Keng-Min Lin, Refilling mechanism to stabilize a free-floating intraocular capsule drug ring. Master’s Thesis, University of Utah, May 2011.

Patent pending

  1. Keng-Min Lin, Ian Harvey and Brian Baker. SEM actuated levitation devices. (US 20120091336A1)
  2. Jay Agarwal, Bruce Gale, Himanshu Sant and Keng-Min Lin. Methods and devices for connecting nerves

Ameya Kantak

Project: Microscale Cyclical Electrical Field Flow Fractionation

I am studying differential electrokinetic mobility based separations of nanoparticles & biomolecules using a new technique in Field Flow Fractination (FFF) called Cyclical Electrical FFF (CyElFFF). Unlike in Normal ElFFF, in CyElFFF Gouy-Chapmann double layer is disturbed using cyclical electrical field which results in improved electrical field (from 3% to 25% and more). This advantage is utilized in separating nanoparticles/biomolecules based on their electrophoretic mobilities. My research focusses on understanding and applying this method in miniaturization of CyElFFF. So far, apart from modeling, I am successful in improving fabrication and design of micro-CyElFFF and showing basic particle separation from a binary particle mixture. An optimized micro-CyElFFF system will be a good alternative technology for electrophoresis and general sample preparation methods based on separations.

Past Project: Microscale Platelet Analyzer

Publications:

Ameya S. Kantak, Bruce K. Gale , Yuri Lvov , Steven A. Jones , “Platelet Function Analyzer: Shear Activation of Platelets in Microchannels,” Biomedical Microdevices, Vol. 5, pp. 207-215, September, 2003.

Ameya S Kantak, Srinivas Merugu, Bruce K Gale, “Microfabricated Cyclical Electrical Field Flow Fractionation,” in Proc. of MicroTAS 2003, Squaw Valley, California, October 5-9, 2003.

Ameya Kantak and Bruce K. Gale, “Microscale Cyclical Electrical Field Flow Fractionation,” in Proc. Of the 11th International Symposium on Field Flow Fractionation, Cleveland, OH, October 7-10, 2003.

Ameya Kantak, Himanshu Sant, Bruce K. Gale, David K. Mills, Yuri Lvov, and Steve Jones, “A Microfabricated Platelet Analyzer,” in Proc. Smalltalk 2001, San Diego, CA, August 27-31, 2001.

Richard Eich

I earned my BS in Electronics Engineering Technology from BYU in 2002. I am currently pursuing my MS in Bioengineering. I am working on a project where we will be creating a micro-scale DNA extraction/amplification device. The goal is to perform PCR directly on a nanoporous filtering membrane in order to reduce the number of steps involved in DNA amplification and detection and thus reduce the time and cost involved. My main area of focus in this project is providing a heating method to perform rapid thermal cycling in the PCR process.

Email: R.Eich@utah.edu
Website: www.eng.utah.edu/~eich

Jungkyu Kim

Jungkyu Kim has a biomedical engineering background and is now pursuing Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at University of Utah . He is currently working on a project that involves the implementation of a microscale system for DNA extraction and amplification. This project use a nanoporous membrane that will be implemented in a microscale system, extract the DNA using the membrane, amplify the DNA using PCR or a similar technique, and monitor the reaction in real time using optics. All of these functions will be completed in one chamber and will be accomplished rapidly.

Email : jungkyu.kim@utah.edu
Web : http://www.mech.utah.edu/~jungkyuk

Sriram Natarajan

Sriram Natarajan has a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.), a MS degree from the University of Colorado and many years of industrial experience in MEMS. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. He is currently working on studying the flow patterns and optimizing a microfluidic device to deposit uniform spots of biomaterials on a substrate. This device, called a spotter array, has many advantages over current ink-jet methods that are used to produce spots for bioassays, proteomics etc. One of the goals of this research is to develop a commercially viable spotter array system. A number of companies have expressed interest in this technology.

If your organization has interests in biomaterial deposition and would like to learn more about the spotter or would like to send some samples to be tested here, please contact natarajanslc@yahoo.com or gale@eng.utah.edu.

Scott Sundberg

I recently graduated from the University of Utah in Mechanical Engineering and currently I am pursuing my Ph.D. in Bioengineering.  My Current project is to develop hardware to amplify and monitor 1 – 10 nl reactions on a micro-fabricated chip that can be used for highly parallel real-time PCR and high-resolution melting analysis.  The eventual goal is to be able to perform whole genome sequencing.  More information about me and my research can be found at www.eng.utah.edu/~sundberg.