Spinal cord implants for nerve regeneration

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 29-30).It has only been in the last couple decades that the potential for regeneration in the spinal cord became accepted. However, there is still no proven method for enabling this regeneration. An implant model was developed to help aid in repair, recovery, and regeneration in the spinal cord following spinal cord injury (SCI). This is a polymer-based model with the ability to host neural stem cells. This document briefly reviews the SCI model developed. It also discusses the intellectual property surrounding the implant model, as well as examines the possible pathways through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to the market.by Lara Suzanne Abbaschian.M.Eng

Cracking susceptibility of aluminum alloys during laser welding

The influence of laser parameters in welding aluminum alloys was studied in order to reduce hot cracking. The extension of cracks at the welding surface was used as a cracking susceptibility (CS) index. It has been shown that the CS changes with changing welding velocity for binary Al-Cu alloys. In general, the CS index increased until a maximum velocity and then dropped to zero, generating a typical lambda-curve. This curve is due to two different mechanisms: 1) the refinement of porosities with increasing velocity and 2) the changes in the liquid fraction due to decreasing microsegregation with increasing velocities