112
Instrumentation for Quantitatively
Assessing Tremors

Team Members
Cody Alger, Jacob Gombar, Daniel Hirst, Michael
Hulway, and Amy Saelen, Biomedical Engineering
Advisor
Dr. Keat Ghee Ong
Sponsor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Project Overview
Currently there is no effective way to quantify the
magnitude and frequency of essential tremors in
the hands. Therefore, the goal is to design and
build a device that quantitatively assesses these
variables. This device must be able to record
the frequency and magnitude of the tremor, with
minimal interference from outside factors, while
remaining cost-effective. In addition, this device
must have a high level of precision and accuracy
so the results can be compared to previous trials
to determine trends in tremor behavior—as well
as help determine whether specific treatments are
having measurable effects in reducing the tremor.

113
Hand-Washing Compliance System

Team Members
David Michael Smeenge, Cari Steinman, Zichen
Qian, and Melinda Ylitalo, Biomedical Engineering;
Britney Estola and Jennifer Lounds, School of
Business and Economics
Advisor
Dr. Seth Donahue, Biomedical Engineering
Sponsor
Portage Health
Project Overview
The goal is to design a compliance system for
hospitals to assess the occurrence of employee
hand washing while in a patient’s room. The
system must be cost-effective, easy to use, easily
implemented, applicable to a variety of rooms,
and compatible with the hospital and health care
workers.

115
Fixation System Design for a
Leadless Pacemaker

Team Members
Daniel Dubiel and Natalie Hartman, Biomedical
Engineering; Beatrice Burgess and Brian
Czech, Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical
Engineering; John Kinzinger, Materials Science and
Engineering; and Amberlee Lifer, Materials Science
Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
Advisors
Dr. Rupak Rajachar, Biomedical Engineering,
and Dr. Steve Hackney, Materials Science and
Engineering
Sponsor
Medtronic
Project Overview
While traditional pacemakers pose risks of
complications and infections, Medtronic’s leadless
pacemaker is designed to reduce these risks
by its sub-cubic-centimeter volume. This size is
achieved through increased efficiency by attaching
the pacemaker directly to the heart wall. Though
effective, one of the greatest challenges associated with this technology can be found in the method of attachment, which served as the focal point for this project. Several attachment designs were developed, and the sponsor chose three of these for testing. Finite element analysis, as well as fluid shear testing and force-displacement testing, were completed on fabricated designs.

116
Bioabsorbable Metal Stent
Degradation Simulation Design

Team Members
Patrick Bowen and Jesse Gelbaugh, Materials
Science and Engineering; Rebecca Franke, Judy
Bryne, Ellen Pokorney, Jessica Rhadigan, and
Aaron Tauscher, Biomedical Engineering
Advisors
Dr. Jeremy Goldman, Biomedical Engineering,
and Dr. Jaroslaw Drelich, Materials Science and
Engineering
Sponsor
Boston Scientific
Project Overview
Research has shown that the use of bioabsorbable materials in stents shows great promise in mitigating long-term, stent-related cardiovascular risks, as well as aiding the vascular healing process. Qualitative and quantitative relationships between the relatively slow in vivo degradation and faster in vitro degradation of bioabsorbable materials will be found in order to better understand how to simulate the behavior of these materials in the body. This project is meant to work toward a reproducible, well-defined protocol for conducting evaluations of candidate materials for use in bioabsorbable stents.

131
Reliability Testing Device

Team Members
Anthony Rossetto and Brittany Potton, Biomedical
and Mechanical Engineering; Sam Bredeson and
Brian Stetter, Biomedical Engineering
Advisor
Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick
Sponsor
Pioneer Surgical
Project Overview
The goal is to complete a prototype mechanism
that can hold and automatically test a tensioning
device. Along with automation, test values will
be recorded for analysis. The ability to have the
tensioner tested automatically will save work hours
and preclude employee fatigue.