Investigation of Formulation and Post-Processing Effects on Hydrogen-Doped Liquid Metal Microparticle Inks
Mentors
Optimized Embedded 3D Printing of Two Different PDMS Inks
Mentors
Grant Baker
“My favorite part of research is being able to talk to so many different people and learn about the awesome science that they’re doing. It was great that I was able to talk to the graduate students in my lab and other REU students since that gave me an opportunity to learn about my lab’s […]
Comparing Pericyte and Fibroblast Growth in Engineered Vascular Models
Mentors Project Description This project focuses on identifying the proliferation differences between pericytes and fibroblasts in co-culture with endothelial cells. The primary objective is to evaluate how different culturing methods, such as encapsulating stromal cells in bulk collagen gels versus layering them with endothelial cells on top of the gels, influence cell proliferation rates and […]
Engineering 3D Cardiac Muscle Rings (RET)
Mentors Project Description 3D engineered cardiac tissues are effective models for drug testing, disease modeling, understanding cardiac biomechanics, and biorobotics. However, building durable 3D standalone tissues and manipulating them for use in different assays are challenging due to insufficient or permanent anchoring. This project aims to propose an alternative anchoring strategy based on generating for […]
Engineering 3D Cardiac Muscle Rings (RET)
Mentors Project Description 3D engineered cardiac tissues are effective models for drug testing, disease modeling, understanding cardiac biomechanics, and biorobotics. However, building durable 3D standalone tissues and manipulating them for use in different assays are challenging due to insufficient or permanent anchoring. This project aims to propose an alternative anchoring strategy based on generating for […]
In vivo blood flow imaging in mice
Mentors Project Description We have developed a method to perform high resolution blood flow imaging in a mouse brain. Our technique involves removing the mouse skull to be able to image directly in the brain. We would like to generalize our technique to image blood flow in different regions in a mouse, without “damaging” the […]
Label-free Imaging of Cells and Tissues
Mentors Project Description Photothermal microscopes have proven excellent options for chemical imaging in the mid-infrared spectral region providing high sensitivity, specificity and spatial resolution comparable to fluorescence and optical microscopy. By targeting vibrational bonds, molecular composition can be analyzed in a label-free manner, without requiring fluorescent stains or tags. In addition, with a time-resolved photothermal […]
Polarized-light microscopic imaging of different tissues
Mentors Project Description Birefringence is a property of anisotropic materials wherein different polarizations of light propagate at different velocities. This summer project will provide students with hands-on experience using a polarized-light microscope (birefringence microscope) to explore the optical anisotropy of diverse biological specimens, with the broader goal of expanding our understanding of potential applications for […]
Fabricating customizable anisotropic phantoms for the assessment of clinical optical technologies
Mentors Project Description Phantoms are used as analogues for tissue when testing and calibrating biomedical optical technologies. Most modern phantoms fail to replicate optical anisotropy found in tissues. As differences in anisotropic properties can be diagnostically relevant, producing phantoms with tunable anisotropy is a valuable unmet need. This project will involve iterative prototyping, testing, validation, […]