This week was, in one word, incredible. Wednesday was the beginning of my internship as it was my first day in the lab. To get started, I met with a lab technician who gave me an in-depth tour of the lab, all of its equipment, and some of the various projects that are currently underway. At the moment, the Sarver Heart Center is focusing most of its efforts on studying platelets – what causes them to activate (and subsequently aggregate). This platelet activation is what causes blood clots to form, so its study is important in minimizing heart attacks and strokes. The tour was incredibly information-rich and technical. While I learned a lot, knowing more about platelets would definitely have helped me going into the lab. A run-down of some of the things I learned during this tour:
After the tour, I was introduced to a few undergraduate BME students at the University of Arizona who are using BioStamp Sensors to create signatures on movements based on acceleration and EMG patterns. EMGs are electromyograms - they pick up the tiny electrical signals motor neurons give off that cause a muscle to contract. They are also using these sensors, however, to help in carrying out Six-Minute Walk Tests. That's where I got to help. A Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is a measure of aerobic exercise capacity. It measures the heart rate, blood pressure, fatigue, and neuromuscular function of a person walking for 6 minutes, often times to show the heart function before and after a patient has had a medical intervention, or to show the progression of disease over time. Because the experiment we were carrying out is in its early stages, we started with healthy subjects in order to see if the results are accurate or significant enough to be extended to patients with heart complications. We started testing this on Wednesday, and on Friday, I got to be one of those subjects. The problem with this test was that normal blood saturation level should be around 95-100%, but mine was at about 82% during the entirety of the experiment. My heart rate read to be about 115 as well. Yikes. We spoke to the medical student that was assisting us after and he said that with a blood saturation level of 82% percent I would not be able to be talking to him. The conclusion? My index finger was too small for the pulse oximeter. We might repeat the trial using a thumb, but it might not be needed. I was also given homework this week. One of the students that I am shadowing is creating a CPR experiment using pressure sensors and a BioStamp to show the discrepancy in the execution and effectiveness of CPR between how people who have not been trained in it and people who have. The Sarver Heart Center was one of the leaders in advocating for CCO CPR (chest compression only CPR) and puts emphasis on the importance of training people how to properly perform CPR, so this experiment is right up their alley. I am, however, to design the procedure for the experiment. Wish me luck. Thoughts
Until next week, Maren
1 Comment
Cynthia Blackey
2/28/2017 12:00:11 pm
Great, informative post! Thanks for the pics, too.
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AuthorHello! I'm Maren, a high school senior and aspiring BME student. My goal is to share my experiences as I dive into the field of Biomedical Engineering. If you have any questions or remarks, please don't hesitate to leave a comment! Archives
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