Title of Document: ARRHYTHMOGENESIS AND CONDUCTION PROPERTIES OF CARDIOMYOCYTES IN RESPONSE TO DYSSYNCHRONOUS MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION Dulciana Dias Chan, Master of Science, 2010 Directed By: Professor William E. Bentley, Fischell Department of Bioengineering Many cardiac therapeutic modalities, including pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchroniz...

Mechanical stimulation induce the morphological changes in plants. In this study, we investigated growth of tomato seedlings applicated to mechanical stimulation. The brushing treatment was used for interval 2 hr using transfer device attached acrylic film from 10 days after sowing. Growth parameter were measured 3-day intervals investigate during treatment. plant height and leaf area decreased...

PURPOSE To investigate the interaction between corneal stimuli at different positions and tear secretion and to establish relationships between nociceptive stimuli detection thresholds and stimulated tearing. METHODS Using a computerized Belmonte-esthesiometer, mechanical and chemical stimuli, from 0% to 200% of the threshold in 50% steps, were delivered (in random order) to the central and p...

Mechanical hyperalgesia is one distressing symptom of neuropathic pain which is explained by central sensitization of the nociceptive system. This sensitization can be induced experimentally with the heat/capsaicin sensitization model. The aim was to investigate and compare spinal and supraspinal activation patterns of identical mechanical stimulation before and after sensitization using functi...

Because stretch-induced activation may be important in generating clinically relevant arrhythmias in the heart, we delineated the ability of different types of stretches to activate ventricular tissue. Geometrically simple sheets of frog ( Rana catesbeiana) ventricular tissue were mounted to allow stretches to be applied perpendicular to one edge. Every heart could be activated by a stretch pul...

1. The responses of starfish sperm flagella to mechanical stimulation with a microneedle were analysed. Flagellar movement was recorded by high-speed microcinematography and by stroboscopic observation. 2. The amplitude of the bending wave of a flagellum was restricted over its entire length when the microneedle was brought near to the flagellum at its proximal region. Beyond the restricted par...

Cough affects all individuals at different times, and its economic burden is substantial. Despite these widespread adverse effects, cough research relies on animal models, which hampers our understanding of the fundamental cause of cough. Postnasal drip is speculated to be one of the most frequent causes of chronic cough; however, this is a matter of debate. Here we show that mechanical stimuli...

Articular cartilage suffers from a limited repair capacity when damaged by mechanical insult or degraded by disease, such as osteoarthritis. To remedy this deficiency, several medical interventions have been developed. One such method is to resurface the damaged area with tissue-engineered cartilage; however, the engineered tissue typically lacks the biochemical properties and durability of nat...

To understand the mechanism by which living cells sense mechanical forces, and how they respond and adapt to their environment, a new technology able to investigate cells behavior at sub-cellular level with high spatial and temporal resolution was developed. Thus, an atomic force microscope (AFM) was integrated with total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy and fast-spinning disk...

To repair articular cartilage defects in osteoarthritic patients with three-dimensional tissue engineered chondrocyte grafts, requires the formation of new cartilage with sufficient mechanical properties. The premise is that mechanical stimulation during the culturing process is necessary to reach this aim. Therefore, mechanical stimulation systems have been integrated in aseptic bioreactors fo...