Direct Current to Digital Converter (DIDC): A Current Sensor.

This paper introduces a systematic approach to the design of Direct Current-to-Digital Converter (DIDC) specifically engineered to overcome the limitations of traditional current measurement methodologies in System-on-Chip (SoC) designs. The proposed DIDC addresses critical challenges such as high power consumption, large area requirements, and the need for intermediate analog signals. By incorporating a current mirror in a cascode topology and managing the current across multiple binary-sized branches with the Successive Approximation Register (SAR) logic, the design achieves precise current measurement.

The study of cardiac mechano-electric and mechano-mechanical coupling during heart development in zebrafish.

In the adult heart, acute adaptation of electrical and mechanical activity to changes in mechanical load occurs feedback processes known as "mechano-electric coupling" and "mechano-mechanical coupling." Whether this occurs during cardiac development is ill-defined, as acutely altering the heart's mechanical load while measuring functional responses in traditional experimental models is difficult, as embryogenesis occurs , making the heart inaccessible. These limitations can be overcome with zebrafish, as larvae develop in a dish and are nearly transparent, allowing for manipulation and measurement of cardiac structure and function.

Myocardial Afterload Is a Key Biomechanical Regulator of Atrioventricular Myocyte Differentiation in Zebrafish.

Heart valve development is governed by both genetic and biomechanical inputs. Prior work has demonstrated that oscillating shear stress associated with blood flow is required for normal atrioventricular (AV) valve development. Cardiac afterload is defined as the pressure the ventricle must overcome in order to pump blood throughout the circulatory system.

Valveless pumping behavior of the simulated embryonic heart tube as a function of contractile patterns and myocardial stiffness.

During development, the heart begins pumping as a valveless multilayered tube capable of driving blood flow throughout the embryonic vasculature. The mechanical properties and how they interface with pumping function are not well-defined at this stage. Here, we evaluate pumping patterns using a fluid-structure interaction computational model, combined with experimental data and an energetic analysis to investigate myocardial mechanical properties.

Low-Cost, Smartphone-Based Specular Imaging and Automated Analysis of the Corneal Endothelium.

Purpose: Specular and confocal microscopes are important tools to monitor the health of the corneal endothelium (CE), but their high costs significantly limit accessibility in low-resource environments. We developed and validated a low-cost, fully automated method to quantitatively evaluate the CE using smartphone-based specular microscopy.

Methods: A OnePlus 7 Pro smartphone attached to a Topcon SL-D701 slit-lamp was used to image the central corneal endothelium of 30 eyes using the specular reflection technique.