Research Terms
Mechanical Engineering Aerospace Engineering
This medical diagnostic software detects diseases and age-related eye deterioration by calculating eye blood flow parameters from retinal fundus images. Disease- and age-related vision impairment currently affects 4.2 million Americans over the age of 40 and may affect 8.96 million Americans by 2050. Current eye care standards require routine eye examinations that capture retinal fundus images. Medical experts must screen the images for age deterioration and vision-impairing diseases. However, analyzing retinal fundus images is time-intensive, requires specialized training, and can be prone to human error. Automated assessments of retinal fundus images captured during routine eye examinations can increase exam processing accuracy and throughput and meet growing demands for eye examinations.
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a medical diagnostic software that detects eye diseases by calculating eye blood flow parameters from retinal fundus images that are captured during routine eye examinations.
Medical diagnostic software that assists in diagnosing eye diseases by automatically screening retinal fundus images commonly collected during routine eye exams
This medical diagnostic software assists in diagnosing eye diseases by automatically assessing commonly collected retinal fundus images. After an image is captured during an eye exam, it is uploaded to the software through a convenient interface. The software then detects diseases by isolating the retinal vascular network from the background image of the retina and using constructal analysis to quantify blood flow parameters indicative of multiple eye diseases.
This prosthetic integrates different functional attachments that easily switch in and out of the device to customize it for various activities. Picture an amputee competing in an iron man or triathlon competition quickly changing modular knee components for each event, biking, swimming, and running. The WHO estimates that around 30 million people need a prosthetic or orthotic device. The prosthetics and orthotics market is projected to reach $13.2 billion by 2027. Prosthetic designs vary widely depending on the functionality they must support. Available prosthetics require physical adjustment at the joint, usually with a wrench and often by a professional, and joints typically do not function well for diverse physical activities. Therefore, active users might need multiple prostheses to accommodate different activities.
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a customizable modular prosthetic that allows different prosthetic attachments to easily switch in and out and holds them together by a simple locking mechanism. This design will enable users to have multiple solutions in one prosthetic device to support a multitude of activities.
Modular prosthetic that allows a user to exchange different attachments easily to suit various environments or physical activities
This modular prosthetic device employs a chassis with a joint portion, structural frame, and mounting portion. The structural frame accepts the different prosthetic attachments. Slots and tabs secure the different attachments to the structural frame, and the structural frame attaches to the joint portion by a locking mechanism. The joint portion can attach to existing prosthetic sockets or bone implants using a rotatable mounting plate. The mounting portion of the modular device accepts various removable prosthetic attachments and can improve knee, leg, foot, or upper arm prosthetics.
These synthetic hydrogel devices offer optimum mesh size to reduce friction and increase lubricity in tissue engineering applications. Millions of patients suffer the loss or failure of an organ or tissue by accident or disease, and more than 8 million U.S. citizens undergo surgery as part of their treatment at a cost of $400 billion each year. Tissue and organ transplantations are limited by donor shortages, and tissue engineering is one way to overcome those shortages. Researchers at the University of Florida have explored self-mated Gemini hydrogel interfaces that control the mesh size for increased lubrication and minimized friction. The hydrogel Gemini interfaces can provide exceptionally low friction coefficients, allowing for increased lubrication and comfort.
Hydrogel surfaces with optimized mesh size for tissue engineering
The mesh size of hydrogel surfaces controls the elasticity and permeability of hydrogels, contributing greatly to the mechanical and transport properties of synthetic material. Researchers at the University of Florida have investigated the relationship between the mesh size of hydrogels and the friction coefficient to develop hydrogel Gemini interfaces meant to increase lubricity and significantly reduce the friction. The preparation of these hydrogel surfaces utilizes a hydrogel with at least one surface forming a quasi-Gemini interface adjacent to a tissue-mimicking hydrogel.
This liquid lubricant protects the surfaces of metal contacts, allowing manufactured parts to last longer. Sliding metal contacts are used in motors, gears and other machinery. These contacts are essential to the metal manufacturing industry and the global metals market is expected to reach $872 billion by 2015. Metal-to-metal contacts exhibit increased current density compared to graphite-to-metal contacts, but are they more susceptible to corrosion and friction-induced wear. Long-term fatigue wear of metal sliding electrical contacts increases the rate of oxidation. Oxidation can cause subsurface fatigue cracks, resulting in delamination and the formation of debris particles that destroy the primary anti-wear additive in metal sliding contacts. Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a liquid lubricant for reducing friction between metal contacts and preventing oxidation.
A liquid lubricant for application on the surface of metal contacts to reduce friction while preventing oxidation and cold-welding
University of Florida researchers have developed a liquid lubrication scheme that, when applied to a sliding contact of non-noble metals (e.g. copper fiber brushes and copper slip rings), mitigates damage to the sliding surfaces and promotes low friction and electrical contact resistance. This lubricant reduces friction between metal contacts and the contacts’ exposure to oxygen, preventing oxidation. Oxidation rates can be reduced by minimizing the presence of oxygen in the environment in which the contacts are used, but the lack of a surface lubricating film can lead to cold welding and gross adhesive wear. Instead of removing the oxygen, the contacts are immersed in a fluid that simultaneously reduces friction and mitigates the growth of electrically insulating films.
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