PhD Candidate in Bioengineering
2011 NSF Graduate Research Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
bshow@udel.edu
EDUCATION
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2009,
Brigham Young University
Effect of Nucleotomy and Hydrogel Implant on Disc Mechanics
My research is to quantify the mechanical effects of removing the nucleus pulposus and of treating the disc with a hydrogel implant. In one test, the samples undergo 10,000 cycles of compressive loading followed by hydrated recovery. In another, samples are incrementally loaded and then scanned using MRI to evaluate internal disc strains.
Publications
- Jensen, K.A., Cox, J.J., and Showalter, B.L. (2007) Articulation of customizable biomechanical designs through assembly modeling. Computer-Aided Design & Application, 2007. 4(1-4): p. 363-373.
Conference Proceedings
- Showalter, B.L., Beckstein, J.C., Martin, J.T., Beattie, E.E., Espinoza Orías, A.A., Schaer, T.P., Vresilovic, E.J., and Elliott, D.M. (2009) Disc torsion mechanics: Comparison of animal models to human. ASME 2011 Summer Bioengineering Conference, Farmington, PA
- Showalter, B.L., Hunter, M.B., and Bowden A.E. (2009) Validation of a modified small punch test for characterizing the material response of spinal ligaments. 55th Annual ORS Meeting
- Jensen, K.A., Showalter, B.L., and Cox, J.J. (2007) Articulation of customizable biomechanical designs through assembly modeling. CAD ’07 Conference