BACKGROUND Currently available vascular grafts have been limited by variable patency rates, material availability, and immunological rejection. The creation of a tissue-engineered vascular graft (TEVG) from autologous stem cells would potentially overcome these limitations. As a first step in creating a completely autologous TEVG, our objective was to develop a novel system for culturing undiff...

A pneumatic system that transmits power via the force of compressed air is an essential component air-driven soft robot. Pneumatic valves are one key parts this system. However, development or electronics-free for robotic applications in its infancy, with only a few 2/2 way developed. Previous research has shown demands complex can regulate airflow multiple channels switching pressure within ch...

Cells are surrounded by mechanical stimuli in their microenvironment. It is important to determine how cells respond to the mechanical information that surrounds them in order to understand both development and disease progression, as well as to be able to predict cell behavior in response to physical stimuli. Here we describe a protocol to determine the effects of interstitial fluid flow on th...

Due to recent improvements on combustion modeling, three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools have become essential in aiding in the engine development. They allow the understanding of basic combustion phenomena and help to optimize various parameters of a pre-existing combustion system or to design a combustion chamber from scratch. Combustion systems become more and more compl...

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been successfully used as an analysis tool for nano-scale materials in nuclear and special materials applications for many years. Recently, the large chamber (LC) SEM at Y12 has demonstrated its power in surface analysis and inspections of large specimens at the nano-scale without destruction of the specimen. This paper summarizes the research efforts ...

SUMMARY In neurophysiology, prior to intracranial recording, it is vital to identify the sites of interest inside the brain and to determine their stereotaxic coordinates in individual brains. This is necessary in order to match sites inside the brain with overlying sites on the skull surface (e.g. to implant devices on the skull) or to overlap functional data arising from neural recordings ont...

The left ventricle (LV) pumps oxygenated blood from the lungs to the rest of the body through systemic circulation. The efficiency of such a pumping function is dependent on blood flow within the LV chamber. It is therefore crucial to accurately characterize LV hemodynamics. Improved understanding of LV hemodynamics is expected to provide important clinical diagnostic and prognostic information...

Fast and low phototoxic imaging techniques are pre-requisite to study the development of organisms in toto. Light sheet based microscopy reduces photo-bleaching and phototoxic effects compared to confocal microscopy, while providing 3D images with subcellular resolution. Here we present the setup of a light sheet based microscope, which is composed of an upright microscope and a small set of op...

A 37 years old Thai pregnant woman with MCDA twins, para 1, was suspected of severe twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) at 21 weeks’ of gestation. Quintero staging was applied in this cases. Neither of the fetuses exhibited signs of hydrops. Abnormal four-chamber view was demonstrated in a recipient fetus. Two-dimensional and color Doppler showed complex cardiac malformations which include (1...

Bioreactors are systems that can be used to monitor the response of tissues and cells to candidate drugs. Building on the experience developed in the creation of an osteochondral bioreactor, we have designed a new 3D printed system, which allows optical access to the cells throughout testing for in line monitoring. Because of the use of 3D printing, the fluidics could be developed in the third ...