Glaucoma Gals

  Lab with Brinkley, candle test:  The photos above are of Brinkley and I measuring the tubing before and after trying to heat and stretch it over the candle. The silicone caught fire on the first attempt of stretching because it was too close to the flame. During the second attempt I held it higher and it stretched from 201mm-204mm. This was good, but it did not work as well as we were anticipating. I also attempted to make a thin incision on the wall of the tubing to weaken it without puncturing a hole. I accidentally punctured it on the first attempt, but not on the second, so we need Fady to test it to see if weakening one wall makes a significant difference.  One other method that might be good to try, is to make a couple of incisions like the one above around it to weaken the tubing in a couple of sides without puncturing it. I think that is a test I will try next week if the shaving method does not work.  I drew up this mold for us to make different-sized sili...

 This week in class our team did a lot of planning. We had a team huddle where we delegated roles for the semester, and during that I added all of the major due dates to the Jira timeline. After our team meeting we met with Dr. Gordon and discussed what everyone needed to accomplish for the week. My goals were to thin the tubing walls, start making the model smaller, and creating another design iteration off of Fady's results. After that meeting we met with Dr. Rickard to go over his expectations for the semester and remind him of what we have so far. During this meeting we decided that we no longer need the volume measuring device and that Alex and Fady will be focusing on computer simulation of our model.  After all of the meetings we went back down to the lab and I prepped the pressure sensor system for Fady to use to help get important results.  In the meeting with Dr. Gordon we talked about the last capstone group and the silicone spray they used, I got in touch with...

 Over the break, I reflected on what was done over the past semester and what I could improve to be more successful during the next semester. I worked on the volume measuring device that we are planning on using to measure the inflow and outflow in the eye. Here is a detailed plan of the device: Mount the ball in the middle of the device. Mount the ultrasonic sensors around the ball at evenly spaced intervals, making sure that each sensor has a clear line of sight to the surface of the ball. Use the sensors to measure the distance from the sensors to the surface of the ball. Use the measured distances and trigonometry to calculate the coordinates of the point on the surface of the ball that is directly beneath each sensor. Use the coordinates to create a 3D model of the surface of the ball. Use the 3D model to calculate the volume of the ball. A simple way to do this is to divide the ball into small tetrahedrons and sum th...

 - Over the break, I mainly focused on going over past materials.   - I wrote out my self-reflection on the last couple of days of the semester   - I ordered candles for testing  - manufacturing possibilities possibling doing silicone molding using regular kit then upgrading to a biocompatible one  Silicone Mold Making Kit Liquid Silicone Rubber Bubble Free Translucent Clear Mold Making Silicone-Mixing Ratio 1:1-Molding Silicone for Resin Molds,Silicone Molds DIY - Walmart.com

 Over break I was able to talk to different family members multiple times about this capstone project. This was really fun for me to explain what I have been doing this semester and how I am applying concepts I have learned to a real tangible thing. The first time I talked about capstone was when I was at a Chanukah party with some of my extended family. They also seemed really interested in the project. A week or so later, I explained my project to my family in Washington. I was taking with my aunt about it and learned that she has had an eye surgery for a detached retina and her parents have issues that seemed similar to glucose from how she was explaining it. She was excited about this project and wants it to continue on, so there can be improvements in the current medical industry.  Towards the very end of break I began reminding myself of how far we have come in the project and what still needs to be done. I looked at some of our data and where we need to continue to work...

  Work from last semester:  In class we gave our final presentations, and a few classmates gave their ethics presentations.  Dr. Gordon also gave a quick update on what the first few weeks of next semester would look like and told us that we still had to get 10 hours for the first week of next semester.  After the presentation, I processed with Brinkley about how she thought it went, and I shared my concerns and feelings with her about how I was a little upset at how the question portion went. We debated if it would benefit me to talk to Dr. Gordon about it.  I wrote my self-reflection but some of my answers were a little harsh, so I waited to send it to Dr. Gordon until after I had talked with him.  I filled out the peer evaluation form and sent that to him for the semester.  I went to Dr. Gordons during office hours and discussed how the presentation went, as well as talked about the project.  After talking to Dr. Gordon, I revised my self-refle...

 Week 11/12 consisted of coming up with a design to measure the volume of the eye after the implantation of our prototype to monitor IOP. Inflow/outflow ratio based on volume to determine the success/failure of the product. If the inflow is higher than the outflow then the volume would increase and vice versa. This is another way of testing the product besides the pressure sensors. I researched various volume-measuring devices but found none that would work on a spherical solid other than using a graduated cylinder which will not be accurately monitored over time. Here is an example of the devices that are offered on the market, Cube 1 from Blickfeld LiDAR: These devices would not be suitable for our project. I did research on laser/ultrasonic sensors and came up with a design that contains 11 small and accurate ultrasonic sensors that would surround the eyeball from every direction and get a continuous reading of the distance. I reached out to the company to inquire about the sens...