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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:black"><img alt="Dissertation Defense Announcement at the Cullen College of Engineering" width="600" height="170" style="width:6.25in;height:1.7812in;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" src="https://www.egr.uh.edu/sites/www.egr.uh.edu/files/enews/2022/images/dissertation1.png"></span></p>
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<p align="center" style="line-height:21pt;background-color:white"><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:18pt;color:rgb(200, 16, 46)"><b>Selective Neuromodulation Treatment for Female Stress Urinary Incontinence</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:black"><b>USING MINIATURIZED WIRELESS NEURAL ELECTRODE</b></span></p>
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<p align="center" style="line-height:15pt;background-color:white"><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><b>Farial Samira Rahman</b></span></p>
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<p align="center" style="line-height:16.5pt;background-color:white"><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black" class="elementToProof">April 18, 2024; 2:00 - 3:30 PM (CST)<br>
Location: Room: 2028, Science and Engineering Research Center</span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black"> 3517 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX 77204</span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Zoom: </span>
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0, 120, 215);background-color:white"><u><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://uh-edu-cougarnet.zoom.us/j/82419456425?pwd=djcrazByWXpQRERNSHZxQXNqZWdnQT09__;!!LkSTlj0I!AxVEShtKdqXM9yw2P82KkzhntMPwIDS-ZcL_Q1OC7vvtWAbsGdicqOfMMrGy28XSRh1dQ6zs2xicx2Vizg-iJxef_fM$" title="https://uh-edu-cougarnet.zoom.us/j/82419456425?pwd=djcrazByWXpQRERNSHZxQXNqZWdnQT09" data-auth="NotApplicable" style="color:rgb(0, 120, 215);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA8e981a88-9954-491b-57b0-bf39081ce557">https://uh-edu-cougarnet.zoom.us/j/82419456425?pwd=djcrazByWXpQRERNSHZxQXNqZWdnQT09</a></u></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><b>Committee Chair:</b><br>
Metin Akay, Ph.D.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><b>Committee Members:</b><br>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Mario Romero-Ortega, Ph.D. | Yasemin Akay, Ph.D. | Mohammad Reza Abidian, Ph.D. | Philippe Zimmern, M.D.</span></p>
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<p style="line-height:16.5pt;background-color:white;margin-bottom:11.25pt"><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(200, 16, 46)"><b>Abstract</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a pelvic floor disorder that affects over 26% of all adult women and can result from damage to perineal and pelvic floor muscles, which function as
secondary sphincters in maintaining continence. Current treatment options for SUI do not provide an effective and sustained improvement in severe SUI cases as these cannot effectively treat the underlying pathophysiology. This thesis aims to investigate the
use of direct targeted neuromodulation of perineal (bulbospongiosus, BsN) and pelvic (pubococcygeus, PcN) floor nerves to recruit the damaged muscles, thus re-stablishing their normal strength and coordinated stimulation, and reversing SUI-related deficits.
First, young nulliparous healthy female rabbits were used to evaluate the individual, sequential and synergistic roles of BsM and PcM in assisting urethral closure, and to optimize the stimulation parameters for neuromodulation treatment. Unilateral stimulation
of the BsN at 40 Hz was found to be sufficient to achieve effective secondary sphincter activity. Next, a sub-chronic study was conducted using mature multiparous disease-state female rabbits and the effect of the neuromodulation treatment on BsN using optimized
parameters for 4-weeks was investigated. Unilateral neuromodulation of the BsN at 40 Hz resulted in significantly decreased leak events (40%), increased micturition volume (60%), and improved bladder function, and increased voiding efficiency. Finally, a second
sub-chronic (3-week) neuromodulation study was conducted to evaluate the neuromodulation treatment effect in the early phases of regeneration in a standardized cryo-crush injury in the BsN of young nulliparous female rabbits. BsN histomorphometrical analysis
after a cryo-crush injury demonstrated that neuromodulation treatment significantly accelerates myelin clearance after injury, increased Schwann cell proliferation, increases unmyelinated axon growth and radial sorting efficiency, and reduces myelination aberrations.
</span><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;background-color:white">Therefore, this research shows that</span><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;color:black"> BsM has secondary sphincter role in maintaining
continence in the female rabbit model. Targeted neuromodulation of the BsN improved SUI-like deficits and accelerated regenerative mechanisms after injury, and therefore should be investigated further as a potential treatment for SUI in women. </span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:black"><img alt="Engineered For What's Next" width="600" height="81" style="width:6.25in;height:0.8541in;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" src="https://www.egr.uh.edu/sites/www.egr.uh.edu/files/enews/2022/images/dissertation2.png"></span></p>
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