Closing the Wound: an Eye-Opening Mechanism: Development of a Bi-planar Incision Mechanism Used in Vitrectomy

Background: Treatment of eye conditions, such as retinal detachment, macular pucker or macular holes, ask for an intervention named ”vitrectomy”. In a vitrectomy, multiple surgical instruments are brought into the eye, to facilitate removal of the vitreous humor. The instruments enter the eye through trocar ports that are placed in the sclera....

Vacuum Sealing of MEMS Cavities using Nanoparticle Sintering

Many semiconductor sensors, particularly MEMS sensors such as inertial, temperature, pressure, and resonance sensors need a vacuum environment for optimal performance and sensitivity in addition to the improvement in their long-term reliability. With the rise of heterogeneous integration with the MEMS and ICs being integrated together, process...

Reusable Bipolar Vessel Sealing Device with a Uniform Pressure Profile: Design, Development and Validation

Bipolar electrosurgical vessel sealing is commonly used in human and veterinary medicine. This method of vessel sealing is often preferred over traditional suturing or clipping of blood vessels because it comes with the advantages of reducing intraoperative blood loss and operation time. Most bipolar vessel sealers are disposable. The high costs...

Design of a module for bipolar vessel sealing: The conversion of Electrosurgical to Advanced bipolar power for Low- and Middle-income countries

According to recent survey [1], about 6 billion people live in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) who do not have proper access to safe surgical care. There are several reasons behind this, such as lack of funding to the healthcare department, below par maintenance of the available devices, poor infrastructure and most importantly high cost...

Portable dwellings for temporarily unused areas

The current building environment has a lack of adaptability, which means that buildings are often demolished and rebuilt. In almost all cases, biological and technical materials are mixed by using glues, adhesives or wet seals, therefore materials can hardly be reused, if at all.<br/><br/>After demolishing, there are not always instantly new...

Comparative Study of Self Sealing and Self Healing in Clay and Concrete

Study of self-sealing and self-healing in clay is a fascinating topic which can be applied in many fields namely in construction sector or as the underground nuclear waste repository. However, lack of references still hinders the advancement of such field. Meanwhile, more advance researches are available for self-sealing and self-healing in...

the re seal window: the re-seal window

Windows are important elements in a building. They protect the interior from the exterior environment regarding weather conditions, noise, security and so on. While they also, in contrast to walls and floors, connect the two, creating links and providing rooms with daylight, fresh air and views in and out of the building. The most governing...

Ferrofluid Rotary Seal with Replenishment System for Sealing Liquids

Ferrofluid rotary seals are mechanical contact-free magnetic liquid seals that are characterised by their simple structure, low friction and ability to hermetically seal. Although ferrofluid rotary seals for sealing vacuum and gases are part of a well established industry, the sealing of liquids has not been implemented yet. Literature learns...

Insufficiency of immersion joints in existing immersed tunnels: Case study on functioning of Gina-seal and Omega-seal in the Kil Tunnel

In 2009 and 2010, two leakages through immersion joints occurred in the First Coen Tunnel near Amsterdam. From the study on t-he cause of these leakages, it followed that there was a potential problem for existing immersed tunnels: failure of the temporary Gina-seal combined with corrosion on the clamping structure of the definitive Omega-seal....

Designs for rotary shaft fluid seals in an aqueous environment using fer- rofluid

Seals are used throughout the technology spectrum to prevent products form leaving their container or preventing foreign products to enter. With the sealing of rotary parts like shafts the seal needs to not only provide sealing capabilities, but also simultaneously allow for the desired movement without too much friction or wear. This is often...

Investigation on Stress Increase of Sand Inside Immersed Tunnel Joint Gap

Watertightness and leakage prevention is crucial in every tunnel joint design. Immersed tunnels have been utilizing the Gina-Omega gasket solution since the 1960s to prevent leakage from occurring. However, after almost 50 years of service life, leakages were detected in the immersion joints, which leads to an investigation into the source of...

Microbial tightness of O-ring seals. Case study: duodenoscopes: Evaluation of the sealing efficiency against bacteria of the distal O-ring seal of the Olympus TJF-Q180V duodenoscope

Sealing constructions are frequently used in reusable instruments to prevent the loss of fluids or gasses in a construction by obstructing flow through the glands in the interface of two or more separate parts, and may be applied to seal patients' body fluids. Patient material contains various types of microorganisms, and with the increase of...

High pressure dynamic seal development for SOCCS flow-return tube

Thesis on development of high pressure dynamic seals for Shell Open hole Continuous Casing Systems, this thesis gives an overview of the experimental work carried out at the Wells R&D Department of Shell in Rijswijk.

Control of Subsurface Flow: The Effect of Al-OM Interactions on Hydraulic Conductivity

Control of subsurface flow is important for sustainable water management. It is, for example, a useful tool for the handling of contaminated sites or the reduction of unwanted seepage. In this thesis the complexation interactions between DOM and Al are successfully used to reduce the hydraulic conductivity of a sand layer. The complexation of Al...

Leading a cash cow to a new field: The development of Smurfit Kappa’s Bag-in-Box principle for a new market

Smurfit Kappa Group is a world leading company of paper-based packaging and is the largest waste paper trader and consumer in Europe. In Smurfit Kappa Specialties Division, Bag-in-Box has been one of the successful packaging solutions for the past 10 years. It is nowadays widely used in the wine industry. However, the wine market is becoming...