BME Day 2022

DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

BME DAY May 2, 2022

welc ome from the c ha ir

It is my pleasure to welcome you back for an in-person version of our WashU BME tradition - BME Day 2022! This is our time to celebrate our students’ contributions to design, research excellence and broader impacts in the community.

Today you’ll spend time with our graduating seniors viewing their capstone design work, hearing from our doctoral students pursuing original research and community engagement and also from a recent faculty hire, Prof.

Ismael (Mayo) Seáñez on his work in neuromodulation and spinal cord injury.

The day will culminate with a presentation from our Frank C. P. and Grace C. Yin Distinguished Lecturer, Kyle J. Myers, former

Director of the Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the FDA. Dr. Myer’s will share her experience with innovations in image science and computation that can help in the evaluation of medical imaging systems and device development.

The student award presentations round out another exciting year of learning and all things biomedical engineering at McKelvey School of Engineering. On behalf of all in BME, we welcome you back to Whitaker Hall and express our appreciation to all judges, design clients, research mentors, project supervisors, guest lecturers, organizing staff and curious audience for our success in BME education and research.

lo r i s etton, phd

Lucy and Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering

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ack n ow l edgment s

cli e n t s BME Design @ WashU would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of our many clients who worked directly with our engineering undergraduate students in BME. Suzanne Erb ADA Leadership Network Maryann Bozzette Goldfarb School of Nursing Robert Newman Rawlings Sporting Goods Becky O’Hara Rawlings Sporting Goods Marc Schmidt Rawlings Sporting Goods Michael Sabo UN&UP Chris Arett Washington University School of Medicine Adam Bauer Washington University School of Medicine Peter Brunner Washington University School of Medicine Yao Chen Washington University School of Medicine Nimrod Barashi-Gozal Washington University School of Medicine Chet Hammill Washington University School of Medicine Margaret Reyenolds Washington University School of Medicine Mohamed A. Zayed Washington University School of Medicine Song Hu Washington University in St. Louis Spencer Lake Washington University in St. Louis Matthew D. Lew Washington University in St. Louis Jin-Yu Shao Washington University in St. Louis

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ack n ow l edgment s

ju dge s The BME Department would like to share our appreciation for the following judges of our BME senior design projects.

Alex Stinson BioGenerator Jared Bullock bioMérieux SA James VanGordon bioMérieux SA Shelton Caruthers Canon Medical Systems Corporation Bob Whitman Cardinal Health Isabel Acevedo Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Mike Saigh Equine Smartbit LLC Charles Eggert iSelect Fund Kate Achtien Millipore Sigma Bob Mills Mills Medical, Inc. David Wellborn MO Better Foundation Corey Feit Objex Design Craig Weilbaecher Office of Technology Management Greg Markiewicz Office of Technology Management Kaushik Srinivasan Radiant Health Advisors Jim Howard Readout Health Carl Ledbetter SimpleRose Paul Carter Washington University in St. Louis George Bailey zPods

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ack n ow l edgment s

gu e s t le ct u r e r s The BME program and students would like to thank our guest lecturers in BME 401 Senior Design for sharing their vast knowledge and experiences with our students.

Lisa Steinhoff bioMérieux SA Melissa Walker Graematter, Inc. Karen Coulson Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Bryce Rutter Metaphase Adam Schworer Office of Technology Management Craig Weilbaecher Office of Technology Management Allison Krepel Polsinelli Sandra Matteucci Washington University in St. Louis

To all our participants and supporters of students, a special THANK YOU!

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sch edul e of ev ent s

8:30-10:30

Continental Breakfast

tr a ck 1

9-10:30

Senior Design Group Poster Presentations (odd numbered groups)

t r a ck 2

Whitaker Hall Atrium

9:15-10:05

10:0510:15

10:30-12

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Senior Design Group Poster Presentations (even numbered groups)

Whitaker Hall Atrium

Whitaker Hall Atrium

PhD Outstanding Dissertation Awards

Whitaker Hall, Room 100

Break

10:1511:15

PhD Outstanding Research & Service Awards

Whitaker Hall, Room 100

11:1511:50

New Faculty Presentation: Ismael Seáñez

Whitaker Hall, Room 100

12-1

Lunch

Whitaker Hall Atrium

1-1:15

Senior Design Award Presentation

Whitaker Hall, Room 100

1:15-2

Frank C. P. and Grace C. Yin Distinguished Lecture: Kyle J. Myers

Whitaker Hall, Room 100

fr a nk c. p. y in an d grac e c . y in

In 1997, Frank C. P. Yin, MD, PhD, came to Washington University in St. Louis to establish the Department of Biomedical Engineering. During his more than 15 years as department chair, Dr. Yin developed one of the most renowned and fastest-growing programs in the country. The department has established the Frank C. P. Yin and Grace C. Yin Distinguished Lectureship in Biomedical Engineering to celebrate the contributions of Yin and his wife, Grace, to the community. This lectureship is designed to highlight the contributions of truly accomplished researchers in biomedical engineering and biomedical sciences.

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f r a nk c. p. and g race c . y in distin g uished lec t ures h i p i n b iom ed ic al en g in eer i ng Kyle J. Myers, PhD Former Director of the Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the FDA. Fellow of AIMBE, Optica, SPIE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering

o bje ct i v e a s s e s s m e n t o f m e di ca l image qual ity – d oe s a i ch a n ge o u r p a r ad igm? a b s t r a ct Image Science provides a framework for the objective task-based assessment of image quality. This framework has been used to support the evaluation of medical imaging devices by the US FDA, with examples including the assessment of iterative reconstruction algorithms for computed tomography (CT) and their potential to reduce radiation dose to patients as well as display systems optimized for specific tasks. Deep learning (DL) methods are increasingly being investigated as possible tools for supporting more efficient imaging, that is, a way to preserve image quality while further reducing radiation dose, imaging contrast dose, imaging time, etc. FDA has already seen multiple DL product submissions for such applications as low-dose CT denoising and MR reconstruction in the presence of sparse data sets. My talk will describe the Image Science framework in general, give an overview of FDA’s regulatory pathways for medical imaging devices, discuss programs that support innovation and collaboration, and consider how computational modeling and database development efforts can address knowledge gaps that challenge the evaluation of newer AI-enabled medical imaging submissions.

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f r a nk c. p. and g race c . y in distin g uished lec t ures h i p i n b iom ed ic al en g in eer i ng Kyle J. Myers, PhD bio Kyle J. Myers received bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Physics from Occidental College in 1980 and a PhD in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1985. Following a short stint in industry she worked for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the FDA, where she took on positions of increasing responsibility and served as the Director of the Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health’s Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories for more than 10 years. In that role she led research programs in medical imaging systems and software tools including 3D breast imaging systems and CT devices, digital pathology systems, medical display devices, computer-aided diagnostics, biomarkers (measures of disease state, risk, prognosis, etc. from images as well as other assays and array technologies), and assessment strategies for imaging and other high-dimensional data sets from medical devices. Along with Harrison H. Barrett, she is the coauthor of Foundations of Image Science, published by John Wiley and Sons in 2004 and winner of the First Biennial J.W. Goodman Book Writing Award from OSA and SPIE. She is an associate editor for the Journal of Medical Imaging as well as Medical Physics. Dr. Myers is a Fellow of AIMBE, Optica, SPIE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She serves on SPIE’s Board of Directors.

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fa cul ty presentatio n

Ismael Seáñez, PhD Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurosurgery Washington University in St. Louis

spi n a l co r d n eu r o m o du la t i o n fo r rehabil itation a n d s t u di e s i n m o t o r control a b s t r a ct Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-altering event that leads to long-lasting motor impairment, and currently, there is no cure for paralysis. In this talk, I introduce body-machine interfaces that serve as assistive and rehabilitative devices that promote the use of motor and sensory functions that survived the injury. I then discuss spinal cord stimulation to re-enable voluntary control of paralyzed muscles and weight-bearing locomotion in participants with chronic SCI. Finally, I provide an overview of new research directions in the Seáñez Lab towards increasing our understanding of the neural mechanisms mediating SCS-enabled recovery and improving access to these neurorehabilitation technologies.

bio Ismael Seáñez, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurosurgery. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering (2010) from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and an M.S. (2013) and PhD (2016) in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University with a specialization in rehabilitation at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. His current work focuses on the development of neuro-rehabilitation tools and programs that promote the active use of residual mobility to maximize recovery and improve the quality of life of people with neurological disorders. He has expertise in spinal cord injury, rehabilitation, motor control and motor learning, spinal cord stimulation, and brain- and body-machine interfaces.

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sen ior design Faculty - Professor Joe Klaesner A hands-on design experience created to illustrate practical applications of engineering for students. Working in small teams, students met with clients to discern a biomedical problem, designed a verification and validation plan to test the prototype, and wrote a descriptive paper defining their solution documenting how the prototype satisfies the design specifications, with the validation and verification results.

GR OU P 1 * - MIN I M I Z E D C AR D I O P U L M O N ARY EXERCISE TESTING SYST E M Ali Bacon

Rishab Vadvadgi

Reducing the magnitude of hardware required for cardiopulmonary exercise testing on male and female pediatric cardiology patients aged from six to ten with no underlying health conditions would lessen the equipment’s impact on patient performance to give a better indication of their pathophysiology.

GR OU P 2* - AC E RA S UR G I C AL I M P LA NT Griffin Cross

Brandon Rios

We are aiming to develop a breast implant for breast cancer patients who undergo a lumpectomy surgery. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and leading cause of cancer death in females, with about 330,000 cases per year in the US alone. Breast Conserving Surgery, or lumpectomy, is the process in which a surgeon excises the tumor along with a ring of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor to ensure all the cancer cells are removed. Lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy is the preferred treatment by women compared to more aggressive treatments like mastectomy as it conserves the breast. Currently, there are no viable breast implants for lumpectomy patients, which results in a divot in the breast postlumpectomy.

GR OU P 3 * - N EO NATAL P P G M OT I O N ART I FACT CORRECTION Abby Matt

Siyuan Ma

There is a need for integrated motion artifact correction of the corrupted pulse oximeter readings, specifically those from Nellcor™ SpO₂ Adhesive Sensors, of neonates by neonatologists and clinical researchers to improve oxygen titration accuracy and observe long-term neonates health trajectory in the NICU. *Fall 2021 graduates

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G R O U P 4 - D R O CULA Heather Raphael

Victor Hernandez

Ben Davidorf

Retina eye exams for pediatric patients. A need for a method of taking images of patients where mobility may not be possible due to situations such as being intubated.

A periscope attachment for the Clarus 700 imaging device was built.

GR OU P 5 - IN C R EA S I N G F L E XI B I L I TY O F YO UTH FIEL D ING GLOVES Kirsten Drabek

Katie Gould

Alec Huang

The goal of our project is to help retain children’s (5-10 years old) interest and participation in baseball and softball. There is a need for a modification in equipment to flatten the learning curve for beginners, who are starting to maneuver the fielding glove. To increase glove flexibility, we designed and incorporated the following components: a front palm hinge, back flex slots, elastic lacing, V-shaped notches, and a velcro wrist strap.

GR OU P 6 - C LO S E D - LO O P B E H AV I O RAL M OVEMENT DATA ACQ U ISITION A N D R E W AR D SYST E M FO R ST R OKE-IND UCED MICE Jonathan Trilleras

Evan Morris

Anish Bedi

The goal of this project is to design a system of devices that can collect behavioral movement data of stroke-induced mice from a joystick during concurrent neuroimaging experiments. In conjunction with the joystick, a water delivery system will be included within the system that rewards the mice upon successful completion of the behavioral movement task.

GR O U P 7 - PAN C R E AT I C F I ST U LA P OST PANC R E AT I CO D UO D E N E CTOMY Irene Zhou

Meg Eisfelder

Qinge Ye

There is a need to increase procedure efficiency during pancreaticoduodenectomy for patients with tumors or other disorders involving the pancreas to reduce postoperative complications. Due to the physical characteristics of the pancreas and intestine, the sutured connection requires 60 minutes to complete and leaks majorly in 10-15% of patients following the procedure. The prototype should provide an alternative technique for reattachment of the pancreas to the small intestine that will reduce procedure length with a mechanism that is biocompatible and does not require additional procedures or postoperative care.

GR OU P 8 - PERSON AL I Z E D H E ALT H I NT E RV E NTION TRACKER TEST (PHIT-TEST) FO R B E NI G N P R O STAT I C H Y PERP LA SIA (B P H ) Crystal Shin

Evelyn Xu

Kaixin Pan

Phit-test is an adaptive website platform that helps patients and doctors track their medication efficacy for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (a urinary disease). Phit-test is superior to the traditional scoring sheet method in terms of accessibility, patient compliance, and data visualization. It is implemented with the Django framework and hosted on the AWS EC2 instance.

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GR OU P 9 - P R E M AT UR E I NFAN T M OV E M E NT A NA LYZ ER Carley DeGennaro

Julia Miller

Gillian Saperstein

We created an accelerometer-based wearable device that analyzes movements of premature infants. This device will be used in a study that attempts to reduce stress levels of premature infants in the NICU by playing recordings of their mother’s voice.

When an infant is stressed, they move their limbs more, so our goal is to quantify these movements for analysis in the study. Our prototype is a compact, lightweight device that can be used in both the control and experimental groups of our client’s experiment.

GR OU P 1 0 - DETECT I O N O F I AT R O G E N I C U R E T ERA L INJURY D URING O P E RAT I O N Kaitlyn Ho

Missy Pear

Amanda Winkler

Iatrogenic ureteral injury (IUI) is the occurrence of ureteral damage during surgical procedures, which may lead to further complications if untreated. Ureteral injury repairs are extremely complicated and increase patient morbidity and mortality (Hassinger et al., 2018). There is a need for immediate detection of IUIs due to limited prevention methods. Our device aims to minimize ureteral damage using a heat gradient to alert the surgeon whether they are nearing the ureter.

GR OU P 1 1 – A W IR E L E SS AN D B AT T E RY- F R E E M ULTIMODA L NEURON A L R ECORD I NG AN D O PT I C AL ST I M ULATION D EVICE Peter Chen

Kiki Bonetta-Misteli

Alex Harvey

We aim to create a wireless and battery-free device for use in mice that can perform three functions: EEG/EMG recording, photometry recording, and optogenetic stimulation. Using wireless RF charging and Bluetooth technology, we will integrate these systems into a small implant that provides minimal impact to behavior.

Compared to the current industry standard of tethered recording systems, our device will promote natural movements, allow for complex behavioral studies, and accommodate simultaneous recording from multiple socially interacting mice. By limiting impact to behavior, we hope to both open doors for new studies and help researchers acquire higher quality data.

GR OU P 1 2 - MAGN E T I C N ANO PART I C L E S US PENSION SA MP L ING Gabrielle VanderVinne

Cydne Ratliff

Dorothy Mims

Several of UN&UP’s projects will eventually involve delivery of magnetic nanoparticles intravascularly through an intraarterial or intravenous line. The infusion must deliver a consistent concentration of particles over time to reduce the possibility of adverse reactions. An automated sampling system would be valuable in characterizing the delivery profiles resulting from different infusion strategies. An automated device that directs the infusion line effluent individually into a bank of Eppendorf tubes is desired.

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G R O U P 13 - T I F E E Ryan Holmquist

Lindsey Hauck

Kaitlyn Hardesty

Ms. Suzanne Erb has requested a device that can represent 2-dimensional information as tactile information so that people who are blind or blind-and-deaf can access information on flat surfaces. Such a device would allow users to have greater access to letters, numbers, and simple imagery displayed on flat surfaces such as screens and paper. This device must be usable by someone who is blind without assistance. Our prototype demonstrates the image processing aspect which would be incorporated into a tactile pin array.

GR OU P 1 4 - VA SCU LAR P H AN TO M FO R T E ST I NG OF NA NOPA RTICL E I NFUS I O N Paul Jeon

Alyssa Noel

Gabriella Pflederer

The vascular phantom simulates blood flow through two vessel diameters, the carotid artery and the cephalic vein, with various flow rates. Multiple styles of intravenous and intra-arterial catheters are used to allow for the testing of magnetic nanoparticle infusion. The infusion delivery region is monitored and recorded by a webcam in two planes. The phantom is also temperature controlled to simulate body temperature, with temperature sensor output via a raspberry pi. Ultimately, this will aid our client to develop a novel method of thrombolysis.

G R OU P 1 5 - DESIG N I NG AN I P H O N E AP P L I C ATION SEIZURE D IA RY FOR USE W I T H P O LAR H 10 H E ART RATE SENSOR William Engelhardt

Mixame Jerome

Kenan Oestreich

Our project consists of creating an intuitive mobile application that serves as a digital seizure diary for people with epilepsy. The application will integrate with a Polar H10 electrocardiogram (ECG) band in order to collect heart rate, ECG and accelerometry data during the seizure period. Once the seizures are recorded in the app, the user will be able to share the ECG data with their epileptologist for review.

This direct form of information delivery would have considerable financial and logistical benefits to people with epilepsy, as well as to their doctors.

G R OU P 1 6 – W EA RAB L E B LAD D E R S C ANNE R FO R TOIL ET-TRA INING CHILDREN Kathleen Cheng

Kelly Ma

Phan Ly Vy Nguyen

A wearable bladder scanning device that regularly measures the bladder volume of a toilet-training child may reduce the rate of urination accidents and improve the efficiency of toilet-training. Bladder volume information is transmitted from the device to a mobile application which notifies the caregiver when the child may need to use the toilet.

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G R OU P 1 7 - MAGN E T I C N ANO PART I C L E SY R I N G E P UMP D EL IVERING I S C H E M I C ST R O KE T R E AT M ENT Quinlan McGrath

Zane Ahlfinger

Albert Chen

Approximately half a million ischemic stroke patients in the U.S do not receive treatment within the recommended door-to-needle times for optimal recovery.

To reduce the debilitating long-term effects caused by ischemic strokes, there is a need for treatment delivery that can begin upon diagnosis. The portable magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) syringe pump is our proposed solution to allow for on-site delivery of thrombolytic treatment to more efficiently combat blood clots in the brain. Using the novel method of delivering treatment via MNPs, our system is just the first step for the future of drug delivery.

GR OU P 1 8 - OPTI M I Z AT I O N O F AU TO NO M O US EXERCISE WH EEL DATA PR O C E SS I NG FO R S O FT T I SS UE RESEA RCH Cameron Bleem

Noah Bryson

Sam Fenske

Development of a device to track the exercise data of two rats in the same cage. This is collected using a camera and classifier to identify rats while a hall effect sensor counts rotations. This data will be saved in an excel file for processing.

GR O UP 19 - M O D I FI E D M PA SYSTEM Hanyu Wang

Xinyu Zhang

The current MPA (micropipette aspiration) setup will be modified to help Prof. Shao to apply tension on the cell membranes in a more precise and convenient way. The micropipette will be used to control the tension in order to visualize its effects on the membrane in the nanoscale for researchers. Combined with the current imaging system to form a new equipment to explore the organizational and functional dynamics interaction with nanoscale resolution of lipid-lipid, lipid-protein, and lipid-dye interactions with single-molecule. The plan is to improve the quality of micropipette tips and increase the range of motion.

GR OU P 2 0 - AU TO M AT E D M O US E C RA NIOTOMIES Michael Qiu

Naasik Syed

Shivaen Ahuja

We have built a prototype device that interfaces with a CNC machine to perform an automatic craniotomy on a mouse skull. This results in a repeatable and less labor intensive method for performing mouse craniotomies.

GR OU P 2 1 – DIA B E T E S N E T: O PT I M I Z I NG B E TA-ISL ET CEL L TRA NS P LAN TAT I O N W I T H AI Bhumika Gupta

Mohammad Hadji

Diabetes kills 1.5+ million patients annually worldwide. A promising therapy transplants Beta-Islet cells encapsulated with Alginate beads in the pancreas. However, obtaining microscopy-derived parameters (E.g., bead area) predictive of surgical transplantation success requires hours of manual labor and significant costs. Using AI, we developed a technique automatically extracting parameters several dozen images: a process normally taking five hours complete in under five minutes.

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G R OU P 2 2 - MAGN E T I T E NAN O PART I C L E CO NCENTRATION SENSOR Edward Morris

Spencer Williams

We use optical and electrical sensing techniques to determine the concentration of magnetite nanoparticles in a solution flowing through an intravenous line. This will assist in providing targeted stroke treatment as part of UN&UP's drug delivery platform.

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o utstanding docto r a l d issertation aw ar d s The Outstanding Dissertation Award is given to recognize a comprehensive body of independent scholarship that significantly advances a discipline.

Outstanding dissertation work is expected to reflect an original line of inquiry or interdisciplinary approach with follow-up comprehensive research activities that were needed to advance the discipline.

Christopher Pham Pacia - BME PhD Candidate Lab of Hong Chen Focused ultrasound-enabled blood-based liquid biopsy (sonobiopsy) for brain disease diagnosis The combination of focused ultrasound (FUS) with microbubbles is anestablished technique to disrupt the BBB noninvasively and transientlywith high precision (on the order of millimeter). Though this has conventionally been used to deliver drugs from the bloodstream to the brain tissue of interest, it is hypothesized that this FUS-induced BBB disruption enables molecules to be released from the tissue into the blood circulation. Under this “twoway trafficking” hypothesis, FUS-enabled blood-based liquid biopsy (sonobiopsy) can release brain tumor-derived biomarkers into the blood circulation to improve the sensitivity for noninvasive molecular characterization of GBM.In this work, we evaluated the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of sonobiopsy in small and large animal models to provide a minimally invasive, spatiotemporally-controlled, andsensitive molecular characterization of brain diseases.

Yifeng Zeng, PhD Lab of Quing Zhu Assessment and Diagnosis of Human Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer using Optical Imaging and Computer-aided Diagnosis Tissue optical scattering has recently emerged as an important diagnosis parameter associated with early tumor development and progression. To characterize the differences between benign and malignant colorectal tissues, we have created an automated optical scattering coefficient mapping algorithm using an optical coherence tomography (OCT)system. A novel feature called the angular spectrum index quantifiesthe scattering coefficient distribution. In addition to scattering, subsurface morphological changes are 17

also associated with the development of colorectal cancer. We have observed a specific mucosa structure indicating normal human colorectal tissue, and havedeveloped a real-time pattern recognition neural network to localize this specific structure in OCT images, enabling classification of the morphological changes associated with the progression of human colon cancer. Differentiating normal from malignant tissues is critically important, however, identifying different subtypes of abnormalities is also useful in clinical diagnosis. We have designed a feature extraction method using texture featuresand computer-vision related features to characterize different types of colorectal tissues.

Amanda Dicks, PhD Lab of Farshid Guilak Human iPSC Tissue-Engineered Cartilage forDisease Modeling of Skeletal Dysplasia-Causing TRPV4 Mutations Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are an improved cell source option forcartilage tissue engineering given their minimal donor site morbidity, absence of ethicalconcerns, and extensive proliferation, differentiation, and gene editing capacities. Unfortunately,previously published hiPSC chondrogenesis protocols were time consuming, difficult toreproduce, and resulted in off-target differentiation. Here, we used two methods to enhancehiPSC chondrogenesis using our previously published stepwise chondrogenic differentiationprotocol. Next, we used the improved protocol to perform in vitro disease modeling ofbrachyolmia and metatropicdysplasia resulting from mutations in mechanosensor TRPV4.To enhance chondrogenesis, we used a CRISPR-Cas9edited hiPSC cell line with a GFPreporter to determine surface markers co-expressed with early chondrogenic marker and cartilagematrix protein COL2A1. We found that chondroprogenitors that were positive for PDGFRβ,CD146, and CD166 and negative for CD45 had enhanced chondrogenic potential. In fact, sortedchondroprogenitors from the reporter line and an unedited line had significantly improvedhomogeneity compared to unsorted as determined by single-cell RNA sequencing. Furthermore,the derived chondrocytes synthesized more homogenous and robust matrix proteins and hadhigher chondrogenic gene expression.

Rishabh Chandak, PhD Lab of Barani Raman Mapping neural responses onto innate and acquired behavior: from insect olfaction to realizing a bio-hybrid chemical recognition system In many organisms, the sense of smell, driven by the olfactory system, serves as the primary sensory modality that guides a plethora of behaviors such as foraging for food, finding mates, and evading predators. Using an array of biological sensors, the olfactory system converts volatile chemical inputs from an organism’s environment into well-patterned neural responses that inform downstream 18

motor neurons to drive appropriate behaviors (e.g., moving towards food or away from danger). For many external cues, the elicited neural responses are often determined by the genetic makeup of the organism, which assigns an innate preference, or valence, for these different stimuli. However, our environment is constantly in flux, and the same stimulus can be encountered in a variety of different contexts, such as following other cues or under different ambient conditions (e.g., humidity). This can modify the neural activation pattern ascribed to the stimulus and potentially alter the corresponding behavioral output. The objective of this dissertation is to understand how neural responses in the early olfactory system oflocusts (Schisctocerca americana) are spatiotemporally structured to robustly represent innate valence in different scenarios to drive appropriate behaviors and how they can be altered through learning.

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o utstanding docto r a l research aw ard s The Outstanding Research Award is given to recognize independent research that gained recognition at the national or international level. Outstanding research can be work that garnered visibility or recognition, that is novel within the scope of the investigator lab or department, or that combines two or more disciplines in a novel manner.

Shuying Li - BME PhD Candidate During my PhD studies, I have been working on solving practical problems in clinical/preclinical studies of optical imaging. I proposed novel algorithms to mitigate probetissue contact problems and image artifactsin diffuse optical tomography (DOT),and I used a deep learning approach to simplify the data acquisition and post-processing procedure for DOT breast imaging. Two first-authored journal papers have been published related to this project and another one is close to submission.

I have applied machine learning algorithms to spatial frequency domain imaging to differentiate pathological colorectal tissues, and this study, which I am the first author, was covered in the news of the School of Engineering and the related journal paper has been selected as the insidecover of Journal of Biophotonics. I am also collaborating with my colleagues on optical coherence tomography, with an aim of aiding traditional endoscopic diagnosis, and the related journal paper has recently been published.

Punn Augsornworawat - BME PhD Candidate My current research objectives are to investigate therapeutic approaches using stem cells and sequencing technologies to develop treatments for Type I Diabetes. Specifically, I am interested in utilizing single-cell technologies, such as single cell level mRNA, and ATAC sequencing to interrogate genetic changes in pancreatic development and disease progression.

I am interested in applying single-cell and computational tools to study pancreatic development and improve methodologies to efficiently generate functional pancreatic islets from stem cells.

I work with Dr. Jeffrey Millman using stem cell engineering to study and treat diabetes. I used multidisciplinary approaches such as genetic engineering, compound screening, stem cells, RNAand ATAC sequencing, biomaterial, and other novelapproachesto explore pancreatic differentiations and developed methodologies to generate islets from stem cells.

Xiaohong Tan - BME PhD Candidate My primary research interest aligns with developing bioactive alginate hydrogels to regenerate human nucleus pulposus (NP) cells within intervertebral discs (IVD). Degenerative NP cells, characterized as decreasing cell viability, lower cell attachment, and reduced ECM productivity, have been associated with IVD degeneration. This disease frequently relates to chronic lower back pain involves over $100 billion in medical related expenses, and a long-term effective treatment is currently unavailable. My research investigates how integrin and syndecan cell-adhesive peptides induce NP cells to become more biosynthetically active. Single conjugation onto alginate gels using the N-terminal cysteine presenting AG73 peptides(syndecan binding) though maleimidethiol click chemistry, and the cRGD peptides (integrin binding) coupled through a heterobifunctional spacer using Strain Promoted Azide Alkyne Cycloaddition (SPAAC) click chemistry revealed enhanced cell attachment and cell viability. The second part of my research investigates the potential synergistic effect between cell-adhesive and growth factor peptide domains in modulating the secretory profiles of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) for future cell-based hydrogel therapy for IVD degeneration.

My project is paving ways for potential clinical application of biomaterials in treating age-related degenerative diseases including IVD degeneration caused by biomechanical and biochemical changes in NP of the disc.

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d o ct o r a l student servi c e a wa r d s

The Doctoral Student Service Awards are intended to recognize the many ways by which our PhD students contribute to the leadership, outreach and teaching missions of BME @ WashU.

le a de r s h i p a wa r d The BME Leadership Award is given to a doctoral student who has shown departmentlevel, school-level and/or university-level leadership over the course of their doctoral studies.

Dinal Jayasekera - BME PhD Candidate Dinal has been a prominent leader in the WashU BME community on his own, through BME Doctoral Council, and the Association of Graduate Engineering Students (AGES). He led and organized BME’s first off-site and overnight doctoral research retreat. Dinal was also responsible for launching Beyond My Experience, a student-led interview series with BME PhD alumni to share their post-doctorate experiences with current students. Dinal was a student representative of the BME DEI committee and the McKelvey Diversity Council where he led a team that generated actionable solutions in reforming DEI practices across engineering graduate programs.

o u t r e a ch a wa r d The BME Outreach Award is given to a doctoral student who has demonstrated a commitment to fostering science and engineering beyond our departmental, school and/or university borders.

Zain Clapas - BME PhD Candidate Zain Clapacs has performed ongoing work promoting STEM research education to underserved populations. He has designed and implemented a course based in research-skills, for students incarcerated at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. After noticing a lack in STEM education opportunities within Washington University’s Prison Education Project (PEP), a program that grants degrees to students currently incarcerated at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center, Zain helped to implement a class to recapitulate the transferrable skills developed in a traditional engineering undergraduate research experience.

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e n ginee r in g aw ards 2 02 2 ho no r ees dep artme n t of b iom ed ic al en g i ne e r i ng

o uts ta n d i n g ju n i o r aw a rd f or a c a de m i c e xce l l e n ce Neha Damaraju Ritu Dave

o u t s tand ing senior a ch i evement aw ard Noah Bryson

Carolyn Duncan

o u t s t and ing research aw ard

Ritvik Illindala

Francesca Bonetta-Misteli

Joshua Josef

Mike Ling

Sushruth Manchineella

Zhuodong Zhou

Bochun Mei Alicia Repka Eshan Sane Charlotte Weixel

o u t s ta n d i n g s e n i o r aw a r d f or a c a de m i c e xce l l e n ce Zane Joseph Ahlfinger Cameron Bleem Kathleen Cheng Rishab Govindraj Vadvadgi Mohammad Hadji Kaitlyn Hardesty Edward Morris Kaixin Pan

t h e e ntrepreneurial s pirit aw ard Haleigh Pine

di stinguished s e rvice aw ard Evan Morris

de p a r t ment aw ard f or e x e m p lary l ead ership Mohammad Hadji Melissa Pear

ch a i r’s aw ard f or o u t s t a nd ing teaching Michael Vahey

Michael Qiu Zhuodong Zhou

23

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2022!