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Facilities of the
Biomedical Engineering Program
Overview
of Facilities
Biomedical Engineering makes use of a variety of
facilities on the Louisiana Tech campus, including those available at the
Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Sciences (CyBERS), the Institute for Micromanufacturing
(IfM) and Bogard Hall
(BH), which is the main engineering building on campus.
CyBERS consists of
23,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories, and offices.Dr.
Schubert, Dr. Robinson, Dr. Sahin, Dr. Cronk and Dr. Besio have
their offices and laboratories in this facility.The
building is also served by a machine shop, a woodworking shop, an electronics
shop, and a media production facility.CyBERS is
also the location for a variety of rehabilitation services for the community
and state.
The Institute for Micromanufacturing building consists of 41,000 ft2
of laboratory and office space. It includes the offices and laboratories of
Dr. McShane, Dr. Haynie,
Dr. Luo, and Dr. Sit.Laboratories
occupy 20,000 sq. ft. of environmentally controlled workspace, including 5,000
sq. ft. of modular clean rooms with fully certified class 1000 and class 100
working areas. A complete list of facilities for fabrication and for
characterization is available on the IfM web
page.
Bogard Hall is the main
engineering building on the Louisiana Tech campus and the primary location for
the biomedical engineering courses.The
administrative aspects of the Biomedical Engineering program are currently
housed in BogardHall.Dr. Carpenter, the Academic
Director for Biomedical, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, has her office
in this building, along with Dr. Jones, the Program Chair.In
addition, Dr. Napper, the current Acting Dean of
COES is located in Bogard Hall.
Educational Facilities
The
Bioinstrumentation Laboratory is located in BH 316.We have
recently invested $50,000 into this laboratory and a new senior laboratory to
be implemented in Spring of 2002.Six complete electronics workbench, data
acquisition, and computer data analysis stations were assembled.New
equipment includes:6 digital, programmable function generators (Agilent), 6 digital multimeters
(Agilent), 6 digital triple-output power supplies, 6
PCs (Gateway) with data acquisition boards (Keithley).Specialized
software purchased for the lab includes MATLAB and LabVIEW,
though other packages are also available on the computers for general use. The
laboratory also contains patient monitors, pulseoximeters,
fetal monitors (2) and ultrasound.
The Biofluid Mechanics Laboratory (BH 106) is used primarily for
research, but is also used to teach the senior biomedical engineering
laboratory course.
Research Facilities
A number of research laboratories complement the
instructional program.These facilities serve as
resources to our students and contribute significantly to the outstanding
educational environment that exists in Biomedical Engineering.
The Biofluid Mechanics Laboratory (Bogard Hall 106) is used to measure velocities and flows in
models of arteries. The models may be three-dimensional representations of
human artery bifurcations, or they may be more idealized models which are used
to study specific responses of blood-borne or vascular cells. The purpose of
the laboratory is to determine the hemodynamic
mechanisms involved in arterial adaptation and disease. The laboratory includes
laser Doppler velocimetry equipment, a
cone-in-plate viscometer, a data acquisition computer, a Pentium personal
computer which runsAutocad, ultrasonic
equipment, an anti-vibration table, spatial analyzer, physiological pressure
transducers, two Carolina medical EMF flow meters, a transit time flow meter,
model manufacturing facilities, and a distilled water generator.
The Tissue Engineering and Cell Culture Laboratory
(Institute for Micrmanufacturing) has been
designed to investigate the effects of hemodynamic
phenomena on the behavior of vascular cells, (endothelial cells, platelets,
smooth muscle cells, osteoblasts)
as related to atherosclerosis, intimal
hyperplasia, thrombosis, bone growth, and micromanufactured
cell substrates. The lab includes a laminar fume hood, an
environmentally-controlled flow chamber, an imaging microscope, an
injection-flow apparatus (syringe pump), an incubator, a centrifuge, a
refrigerator, and a plate reader. The lab is jointly funded by CyBERS and the School of Biological Sciences.
The Rehabilitative Neuroscience Laboratory (VAMC-Shreveport)
is used to quantify human movement especially as it relates to spasticity and joint biodynamics.
Equipment in this laboratory includes devices to deliver precise displacement
or torques to the ankle, knee or shoulder joints. Portions of this laboratory
are located at the V.A.MedicalCenter in Shreveport where palmtop
computers are used as interface devices for quantifying spasticity.
The SLIP/FALLS Laboratory (VAMC-Shreveport and CyBERS Room 400) is used to study the psychophysics of
balance and neurologically intact and neurologically impaired states. Equipment
in this laboratory includes the Sliding Linear Investigative Platform For Assessing Lower Limb Stability (SLIP/FALLS) which is
capable of making vibration-free linear translations from 5 ?m to
12 cm at accelerations of up to 2.5 mm/sec2. This lab also has
a Tek-Scan pressure-sensitive floor mat system.
This laboratory is presently at the VAMC-Shreveport and is being duplicated
at CyBERS.
The Electrode Fabrication Laboratory (CyBERS 207) is used to build nitric oxide, pH and oxygen
glass electrodes (microsensors). The hardware
available includes microscopes, a computer-controlled horizontal electrode
puller, an electrode beveler, electroplating
apparatus, and various types of meters used in the process. This laboratory may
be used to calibrate, test and use pH electrodes (microsensors).
Equipment available includes a computer monitored dual electrometer, chart
recorder, water bath, balance, and manipulators, and basic trouble-shooting
equipment.
The Mass Transport Laboratory (CyBERS
209) contains one experimental work station and contains the equipment to study
oxygen mass transport in brain slices, heart papillary muscle, and oxygen microbubbles. Equipment includes a computer monitored and
controlled piezoelectric manipulator, picoammeter,
vibration isolation apparatus, water bath and recording equipment.
The BioMEMS Laboratory (IfM
L7) is designed for the testing and analysis of microfabricated
biomedical devices.The lab focuses on the
testing of two main types of components: fluidic and optical.Formicrofluidic
systems, the lab includes a variety of pumps, flow control devices, optical and
electrical particle detectors, sample injection systems, and data
collection systems.For optical systems, the lab
includes optical tables, optical spectroscopy systems for fluorescence,
absorption and scattering, fiber optics, filters, lasers, and associated components.The lab also includes more than 5 data
collection and analysis stations that include computers, multimeters, power supplies, function generators,
oscilloscopes, computers with data acquisition or GPIB cards, and associated
components for testing.Stations are also
available for wet chemistry, electronics testing, and hot embossing.
Service Laboratories
CyBERS also houses a number of service
laboratories to evaluate the technology needs of persons
with disabilities. These facilities include:
Driver Assessment: The center provides a complete
evaluation of an individual's potential to operate a motor vehicle. An
individualized prescription includes recommendations for vehicle selection,
appropriate adaptive aids and devices, and vehicle modifications.
Seating and Positioning Mobility: The Seating and Positioning Clinic
addresses the seating and corrective postural needs of individuals with severe
physical disabilities. Clinical staff can prescribe a wheelchair seating system
to provide better body alignment, normalize muscle tone, and inhibit abnormal
reflexes.
Augmentative Communication: This program provides
comprehensive evaluations for persons who are unable to use speech and/or
writing to fully meet their communication needs. The interdisciplinary team
includes a speech pathologist, occupational therapist, and adaptive equipment
specialist. The augmentative communication laboratory is equipped with numerous
communication aids that reflect the most recent advances in technology.
Information Services: Center staff maintains a current
collection of catalogues, brochures and print material on special equipment for
persons with physical challenges. Cost and purchase information are provided as
well as valuative data, when available. The
center also has access to the ABLEDATA network and is a primary dissemination
point for the CONET desktop database.
Activities of Daily Living: Clinical staff at the center
evaluates an individual's ability to perform activities of daily living while
using adaptive equipment or compensatory techniques. Numerous assistive devices
are used during the evaluation including aids for eating, cooking, dressing,
bathing and controlling appliances.
Field Services: Rehabilitation engineers on staff with the Center travel
throughout the state visiting disabled clients in their homes, schools, or
worksites. After a careful evaluation, the goal of the engineer is to provide
practical and economical solutions to the client's problems.
Biomedical Engineering
Support Facilities
Electronics Shop (CyBERS): The facility contains
a variety of testing, monitoring, and repair devices. The available devices
provide a medium-level capability for testing, repairing, and fabricating
electronic components.
Graphics/Media
Studio: The studio includes a
graphics computer and scanner, color and black and white printers, graphics
layout table, various still and motion cameras, digital still and video cameras
with supplementary lenses, and necessary lighting equipment. There is also an
editing area for producing classroom and training videotapes.
Metal Shop: The facility contains light metal working power tools, including
a sheet metal bender and a TIG welder. The available tools provide the
capability for low-level tooling and fabrication, with the higher level milling
and tooling capability having been transferred to the Institute for Micromanufacturing facility.
Wood Shop: The shop
contains a variety of general wood working power tools, both portable and
stationary. The available tools provide the capability for moderate-level tooling,
fabrication, and finishing.
NEW Biomedical Engineering Building
LouisianaTech University has received state
approval for a new Biomedical Engineering Building. The building will be
located next to the Institute for Micromanufacturing
and will be physically connected to it.It will
contain animal and human research facilities, rehabilitation laboratories,
classrooms, teaching laboratories, and faculty/staff offices.Animal
research facilities will include a sterile surgical suite and animal care staff
and will provide easy access for in vivo testing of sensing and therapeudic, micromanufactured
devices.
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