At the meeting last Friday afternoon with our client on 11/11, we discussed the material properties of our gel chamber and decided to look further into whether or not the materials we wanted to 3D print with would absorb small molecules like urea which is 60 daltons (very small). We also discussed methods to sterilize the device as the autoclave is not an option for most 3D print materials. The high temperatures and pressure that that the autoclave goes up to will end up deforming most 3D print materials that we use.
In our meeting, we also discussed other options to look into. Due to design and print difficulties, our group has decided to try out needles using agarose gel as a proof of concept. From speaking to other researchers in the George Lab who have expertise in using needles that interact with ECM and PDMS gel interfaces, we have decided to submerge our needles in bovine serium albumin (BSA) for 30 minutes in an attempt to decrease the friction coefficient and make it much easier to remove from the gel. An official protocol will be uploaded next week after further discussions with George Lab members. We have also asked for scientific literature and protocols from the lab, which we are in the process of getting. Further, we will be testing the BSA needles in an agarose gel in order to assess the plausibility of this strategy. The needle will be inserted into agarose gels at varying concentrations, allowed to polymerize, and then removed to assess any damage that is done to the gel afterwards. Protocols will be uploaded as these experimental designs are finalized. We are excited to start testing out different components in order to assess the feasibility of our ideas. At the same time, we are also developing back-up plans in case aspects of this prove to be beyond our capabilities.
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Group 38Archives
April 2017
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