Health
The Fulton Schools’ efforts in health innovation range from understanding the causes behind Alzheimer’s disease and improving methods for predicting epileptic seizures to developing advanced biosensors, bioassays and lab-on-a-chip devices for clinical diagnostics. Additional areas of research exist in novel biological materials, neural engineering, biomedical informatics, drug-delivery systems, health care systems analysis and modeling, health monitoring devices and human rehabilitation technologies.
Digital Immunoassay for Point-of-Care Heart Failure Monitoring
A point-of-care device for use in monitoring heart failure was tested using a prototype portable microscope to analyze its performance and versatility. This project builds on the previous work of Dr. Chao Chen, Ph.D., who developed the microfluidic digital immunoassay for point-of-care detection of NT-proBNP from whole blood. NT-proBNP, a commonly used biomarker for heart…
Microfluidics Device for Microencapsulation of Islet Cells
The overall goal of this project is testing the toxicity of siloxane on INS-1E transfected cells. The concentrations that it was tested at are 40%, 20%, 10% and 8% with a control of no siloxane. It was found that even at 40% siloxane was not toxic to the INS-1E transfected cells. Video Research poster View…
Longitudinal Analysis of Stress Patterns Derived from Physiological Data During the Four Menstrual Phases
This project explores how physiological stress varies across the four phases of the menstrual cycle using wearable heart rate variability (HRV) data. By analyzing LF/HF ratios over 90 days from 18 participants, the study identiJies distinct circadian stress patterns unique to each hormonal phase. The results suggest that wearables can reveal real-time, hormone-driven shifts in…
Effects of Varying Difficulty Levels of a Secondary Cognitive Task on Motor Abilities in Parkinson’s Patients
This project explores how performing a cognitive task affects a person’s ability to regain balance after a physical perturbation. Using motion capture, force plates, and a joystick-controlled game, we measured key gait metrics such as step length, and margin of stability in healthy individuals. Our goal is to establish a pipeline that can be used…
Path Dependence of Stochastic Cell Fate Determination
This project aims to better understand the path dependence of stochastic cell fate determination. This is done through the creation of a stochastic model of cell differentiation governed by a trigene network to identify the frequencies of various path types taken by simulated cells. This model attempts to elucidate the mechanisms by which evolution biases…
Beam Alignment Tool for Fluorescence-Guided Electrophysiology System
The Barbara Smith Lab’s Fluorescence-Guided Electrophysiology (FGE) System was created to identify neuronal subtypes inside the brain, an ongoing goal due to the imaging constraints of current systems caused by light attenuation. One area of improvement for the FGE system is the common misalignment of the optics port during fiber replacements. To mitigate this issue,…
Characterizing Fatigue Dynamics Induced by Extended Use of Exoskeletal Systems in Military and Occupational Settings
This project investigates the physiological effects of wearing exoskeletal boots (exoboots) during extended walking in fit individuals. By measuring heart rate and oxygen consumption across different walking conditions—flat vs. incline terrain and with vs. without exoboots—the study aims to assess whether exoboot use contributes to increased fatigue. The findings are intended to inform the potential…
Drug Dispensing Biofilm
Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease in which the hormone secreting part of the thyroid is destroyed and therefore unable to regulate metabolism and growth. Levothyroxine is an oral treatment which helps decrease Thyroid Secreting Hormone (TSH), however it contains many obstacles, from simply remembering to take the medication to reactions caused by composition. Consequently, 35-60%…
Leptin Infusion for Type 1 Diabetes
Our mission is to ensure the proper leptin delivery system targets patients with type 1 diabetes, aiming to reduce systemic dosage delivery and benefit patients. Determined to lessen the long-term healthcare costs, this project promises improvements in patients’ overall health. The type 1 diabetes market has $15.95 billion in 2024 and in the U.S, a…
Novel Shunt System for Endovascular Management of Obstructive Hydrocephalous
Our capstone team has worked in order to develop a 3-dimensional steerable catheter system for the placement of an endovascular shunt to treat obstructive hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus occurs when a buildup of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) in the brain’s ventricles causes them to expand, restricting blood flow to surrounding brain tissue. Current solutions often involve intense surgical…