CApstone - MECH 490
overview
This page is dedicated for capstone projects that were previously done under the supervision of Dr. Kadem. Projects that are undertaken typically have a future purpose, whether it be for research or to test a concept that can be potentially used in the future.
Aortic rupture is a severe injury that can result because of direct or indirect chest injuries, such as a sporting injury (direct) or during an automobile accident (indirect). Despite its prevalence, there is still a lack of understanding today on what actually causes blunt traumatic aortic rupture. The purpose of the project was to design a system that can be used to perform velocity field measurements on the aorta to understand the underlying fluid mechanics that occur during aortic rupture.
To study the flow in the cardiovascular system requires information on the velocity field. Clinicians will obtain the velocity field by using imaging techniques on patients (doppler, MRI); this is known as “in-vivo”. Simulation of the flow can also be done by using computers, also known as CFD. One other approach is to use “in-vitro” simulations, which is a real-life device that will mimic the flow in question. STITCH was built with the purpose of providing a simulator that can be used to perform in-vitro measurements using particle imaging velocimetry as an imaging technique. STITCH is still being used and improved to this day and has been a simulator used for many publications.
The idea behind CHRIS is to build a mannequin that can replicate cardiovascular pathologies. The idea behind such a device is to bridge the gap in multiple problems. For one, training of cardiovascular surgeons is limited to the case that they will experience during their residency. A device, such as CHRIS, could help bridge the gap in training between surgeons by offering a uniform training platform. Additionally, to bring a medical device to market is a very costly project, requiring animal testing and clinical testing. Prior to testing the device on a pig, which cannot fully replicate the conditions of a patient (e.g., smoker, alcoholic, etc), a medical device could be implemented into CHRIS and tested in an in-vitro setting, allowing for a more cost-effective solution and being more friendly to rapid prototyping.
PIITA was a capstone project done by Ghassan Maraouch, Curtis H. Horton, Joseph Fanaberia, Eduardo Malorni and Gian-Carlo Mignacca. The project was an iteration of OSCAR. One of the challenges that plagued OSCAR is that the impact time could not easily be controlled. Depending on where we are in the cardiac cycle, heart valves might be either open or closed. This will ultimately cause a different response. Another limitation of OSCAR is the inertial effect that an accelerating cart has on the flow. The solution of PIITA was to utilize a stationary dummy that is hit with a pendulum. Pendulums are practical because of the controllable energy level input as well as being easy to time.