Glaucoma Gals

 This week I contributed to del. 6, manufacturing the model, and testing the pressure in the model with the sutures.  I was given the system section for Del. 6, so I wrote out how the tubes connect to the housing, the gluing process, and how we insert the sutures into the tubes as resistors.  During capstone we created more valves to test on. We have finally gotten the size down to what it should be, and we had 3/4 working valves, which shows that our method is pretty consistent compared to what we used to get.  This is 1 of the 3 working valves with the sutures coated in super glue. This was the epoxy we used to coat our suture In the lab this week I was heavily working on getting the right sutures. We tried to coat the sutures in super glue 1,2,&3 times to see if that would better block our tube and help vary resistance. The data from this is pretty wonky, so we are no longer going to be using this method. Instead we tried dipping the suture in hard epoxy to wa...

 Worked on  Deliverable 6: “ include prototyping of each individual component, as well as the system integration prototyping. Evidences of your prototyping work (description of how each part was made, difficulties encountered, how you would improve for the future, and pictures) should be included/shown in your report.” Started the tubing component and wrote out the outline for what other individual components and system integration components there were. Each Individual Component:  Tubing:  We are currently using tubing with a .3mm ID and .6mmOD  This was ordered from a medical grade silicone company and is comparable to the silicone tubing used for the Ahmed Valve.  We also tested tubing bought off of amazon with a .3mm ID and a ____ OD. This tubing was much thicker than the medical-grade tubing, so we decided to stop using it.  Difficulties:  The tubing is quite small, so it is very difficult to work with.  It is hard to thin the walls, and...

 On Monday, 02/01/2023: I had a meeting with Dr. Gordon for the weekly update. Met with my team to address the tasks that need to be done in the upcoming weeks. I was assigned to do benchtop testing and set up pressure sensors, I was also assigned to look into FEBio to assist Alex with her work by Dr. Gordon. During lab time, I caught up on the progress made in manufacturing the valve. I started working on resetting up the pressure sensors with Elvis, helped Kierstin and Brinkley to purge the system of any bubbles to make sure the pressure sensor data is accurate. On Sunday, 02/05/2023: I downloaded FEBio software on my desktop to attempt the task assigned by Dr. Gordon. I followed the instructions in the videos, and the simulation worked. I created a tube in FEBio, but when I tried to run it, I was not able to figure out how it worked yet. I need to do more research to understand how the software works. I will meet with Alex tomorrow to check with her. On Monday, 02/06/2023: I wen...

  - had to add two launch configurations, then go to bin and input the febio_spec 4.0 to get it to show -materials did some more research on materials Neohookean can be used:  Neo-Hookean hyperelastic model for nonlinear finite element analysis | by WELSIM - Engineering Simulation Software | Medium -went through the different material categories to try and find which could be imported  - attempted to download FEBio SDK to import material for coding will be using GDB (stated you just need a c++ compiler ) FEBio: Building a Plugin Downloads – FEBio Software Suite GDB online Debugger | Compiler - Code, Compile, Run, Debug online C, C++ (onlinegdb.com)   -didn't download because it was glitching and want to make sure it is safe  Section 4.1 Elastic Solids | FEBio Documentation Units: Section 1.4 Units in FEBio | FEBio Documentation Global Refinement – FEBio Software Suite -After trying many tutorials running FEBio does not work I will be asking Fady to see if his wo...

 In class this week we created a lot more valves, Kierstin was puncturing the holes and putting the tubing in, and then I was sealing them with soft silicone. We checked back later in the week and only some of the valves works. The sealing seemed to be good, but sometimes the tubes were stuck into the part at strange angles, causing flow issues. The one that did work was the smallest of all of the valves, so Kierstin created a mold that has many of these valves, so we can practice some more.  On Monday, Kierstin and I went into the lab so we could try different suture sizes and material at different pressures, so we could see which ones work the best for us. When we got in there, the system had bubbles, so we had to resurge the system which took a lot of time. Then, the pressure sensor we realized was leaking out of the bottom because it was broken, so we had to put in a new sensor, and purge the system again. After we got everything set up, we tried multiple resistor material...

  Meeting with Gordon to talk about how we are manufacturing, and also discussed how we are thinning the tubing. We are thinning the whole tubing, not just a small section.  Brinkley and I worked on manufacturing 5 valves. I used two different methods to insert the small tubing into the housing. One was to feed it through the purple needle (shown above), and the other was to push it in using the purple needle. The second method was faster, but it might have caused internal folding. We made different-sized valves, and I tried to make them as thin as possible without puncturing the part where the tubes intersect.  We also worked on resetting up the benchtop testing for Fady. We had to reconnect and purge the system which took a long time. We have to ensure all the air is out to get an accurate pressure reading, so this was very important.  I went into the lab and tested each of the valves to see if they were sealed (so they wouldn’t leak) and to see if there was flow t...

 New molds were made based off of Kierstin's newest 3D print. I poured in the silicone to have multiple models to test on.  The voltage values were found at different heights and then the pressure values were calculated from that.. Kierstin and I spent time in the lab doing this to create our voltage to pressure conversion equation. This was done in a google sheet.  After we finished in the lab, I went back into the google sheet to organize it better and make readable charts. This chart shows the pressure values of different diameter sized resistors at different lengths.  Because we had found the above pressures, I was able to input them into different formulas from del. 5. These are shown below.  Kierstin and I went back into the lab to manufacture 2 prototype valves. We sealed them with the soft silicone to seal up the holes where the tubes were inserted. I went back into the lab later in the week after they dried, and one of the valves was sealed properly in ...