Posts categorized 4. Keywords Archive

Helmets in the NFL are not effective enough to safeguard the health of the players. Players sustain concussions which can not only bench them, but leave life-long brain damage from the accelerations experienced during impact. As part of the project to improve the helmet, simulations were used to test material properties of different components of football helmets, such as hard foams, soft foams, and the shell. Data from the simulations were analyzed with performance metrics provided by the NFL.

After a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery, some patients experience infection at the surgical site. This infection is often associated with the formation of bacterial biofilm, and in order to treat this, the surgeon must remove and replace the implant with the risk of reduced mobility and bone fraction. Our project is to develop a medical device to eradicate the biofilm without the necessity to remove the orthopedic implant.

This product is intended to be used by music producers/recording engineers as a simple instrument within a digital audio workstation. It entails programming a virtual instrument (synthesizer) in the C++ based programming environment, JUCE by utilizing wavetable synthesis. The synthesizer is meant to provide the user a basic virtual instrument with the ability to upload custom wavetables, and which includes integrated effects which can be modulated & controlled dynamically in real time.

The Children’s section at the Pittsford Community Library has three main spaces for play. While the two-spaces, located on the main level, are well defined and engaging for children with interactive elements, the project was to create a new interactive display for the third space located on the upper level.

The project aims to design a steering system for robots used in various ECE courses. The robotic system has issues with lifetime, maneuverability, and mobility. The new model was designed with an aim to direct most of the off-axis load into the chassis while still maintaining the capability of the DC motor driving the wheel. These improvements helped in significantly increasing the lifetime of the motors. Additionally, the ability to steer each wheel independently increased the mobility of the robot.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we are developing a mask that offers superior function in a fraction of the manufacturing time when compared to many emerging 3D printed mask designs. The design offers an improved seal around the face that is more comfortable, a more robust/airtight filter housing, autoclavable materials, and a quicker manufacturing method. This will allow local and national entities looking to produce DIY masks a better, faster alternative to 3D printing.

To create a device that is minimally invasive that will be used to measure a patient’s blood composition (hematocrit and blood plasma) using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to track changes in blood volume.

The Rochester Museum & Science Center asked for help designing an interactive exhibit to honor Georgena Terry. The team designed a stationary bicycle where the saddle and the handlebars move in the vertical and horizontal direction with motors. A system was designed in order to determine and display the power output from the rider. When on the bicycle, the rider can fluidly adjust the bike geometry and be able to see how changing each dimension affects the power they produce.

Optimize creation of composites combining under-utilized hemp fabrics with epoxy.

Ten-μ solutions plans to introduce time and cost savings to the operating room (OR) through application-specific single-use instrumentation. Our instrument will allow surgeons to position and tension vessel loops at their discretion.

Using a rope of LEDs, connected to a Raspberry Pi with our software, we will read the audio signal from an HDMI cable and display colors on the LED strip that match the tone of the music. . The goal of our project is to be able to create a visualization to convey a similar feeling to people that are unable to hear the music.

The MRS is a specimen retrieval device that offers surgeons a way to remove malignant specimens during laparoscopic procedures without significantly widening minimally invasive incisions. The proposed device would use expandable braided sleeving to elongate and radially compress large tissue specimens for extraction through the initial incision. Use of this device would allow surgeons to remove large tissue samples through smaller incisions to reduce patient pain, recovery time, postoperative pain and length of hospital stay.

Identify Near Infrared transparent polymers to simulate human tissue for surgical training applications at UR Medical Center.

Creation of atmospherically-controlled chamber for UV degradation testing of novel OLED materials for Molecular Glasses, Inc.

Characterize LiDestri Food and Drink portfolio of spaghetti sauces to optimize manufacturing process.

The Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester is in need of a portable and educational display that showcases the mission and capabilities of the facility. The project is a representative and visually captivating model that demonstrates the laser amplification process of Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA). This technique was invented by the LLE and revolutionized the industry.

A major challenge presented by the COVID-19 crisis is the limited number of caregivers that can attend to the influx of patients requiring ventilators. Our alarm app and sensor system allows caregivers to monitor the real-time performance of conventional and novel ventilators for multiple patients at once. Such data could be used to compare trends in current patient outcomes with previously recorded ventilator data. This would allow clinicians to foresee complications and make more informed decisions in treating similar diseases.

Skin grafts are commonly used for wound closure and are cut with a mesh pattern to expand their coverage area. They are thin, delicate, painful to harvest, and easily damaged during traditional meshing. We observed need for a method to mesh skin grafts that is less prone to failure. Optigraft addresses this problem with technology that not only executes precise cuts without damage, but also measures the wound sites to allow for planning of optimal graft size and expansion ratio.

We created a digital audio effects pedal using a Raspberry Pi; the pedal can accept XLR and 1/4 inch input so it is ideal for horn players and guitarists alike. The effects can be controlled by the knobs and buttons on the pedal as well as by the knobs and buttons on a separate Bluetooth controller, which was coded on an Arduino.

Identify inexpensive process for in-house purification of motion picture film dye for Kodak.

Our project is a “Data Glove” worn by a user and composed of several types of sensors for mapping human hand motion. A virtual environment is used to show the glove’s capabilities in capturing natural motion, with its primary purpose being for virtual reality applications. We use the Unity game engine to create our simulation and feed data from our glove to a simulated robotic hand. Ideally, this is completed in real time and can capture movements live.

The project goal was to create methods to control the brakes, steering angle, and accelerator position of a Baja SAE off-road vehicle in a manner that allows the remote driving of the car. The team has created detailed models, simulations, and system documentation to ensure a strong foundation for the continuation of the project in the coming year. This project hopes to create new opportunities for future undergraduates to work on problems related to autonomous vehicles.

Brief Description: vasSecure aims to decrease carotid artery dissection rates during Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) procedures by improving access and stability. The device allows surgeons to properly tension the artery while distributing the applied force, allowing surgeons to perform the minimally-invasive procedure effectively and reduce the risk of trauma to the artery.

Automation of feedstock delivery for creation of biochar, a product of biomass pyrolysis, thermal decomposition in the absence of oxygen.

BrainFreeze is creating a brain temperature probe noninvasive to cerebral parenchymal tissue. The purpose of this probe is to monitor selective hypothermia during stroke intervention procedures in the operating room.

Lip damage can occur during the intubation procedure with a laryngoscope. One way to mitigate this would be to create a training tool that will improve the users’ awareness of the lips during intubation. Therefore, we will design a system to alert the user of impending and imminent upper lip damage that can be used with the Macintosh laryngoscope blade.

Our team is working to design and develop a functional bladder phantom that sits in a model of the human torso. This model is to be used in the validation and testing efforts of our customer, Curbell Medical’s, bladder bioimpedance sensor device. The model must be anatomically comparable to that of the average human in terms of both structure and function.

The Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) is a competition that is part of the annual American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s (ASME) E-fest. This competition requires that teams from various universities design a vehicle for safe, reliable, and efficient human powered transportation. The teams come together and race their vehicles in an endurance race and a drag race, as well as present their design to the HPVC judges.

For spinal surgeons who face difficulty visualizing the nerve root during spinal decompressions, the Meramec suction/elevator is a surgical instrument that combines multiple instrument functions to free surgeons’ hands and increase OR efficiency. It combines the functionality and familiarity of existing suction tips and manual elevators with end effector geometry specific to the lumbar nerve roots, reducing the need to switch instruments. This improves OR workflow and increases patient safety.

We are tasked by Rochester Rehab to create a device that increases the efficiency of packaging an underwater camera into a foil bag, primarily by reducing friction on the camera. By doing so, more cameras will be packaged per hour and the wage of the workers who are employed in the process will increase.