This is my most recent project as an undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering. The objective of our study was to mitigate the formation of biofilms, and my group chose to fabricate a hydrogel with antibacterial properties and coat it on stainless steel samples for application in knee joint replacement implants. 

Turns out fabricating your own hydrogel is actually kind of hard: we first struggled with the chitosan solution crosslinking within the conical tube before we could even immerse it in the rest of our sample. Then our beaker was contaminated with zirconia powder (there was a friendly rivalry between us and another lab group all semester) and our hydrogel burned up in the oven. Dropcoating chitosan onto our control hydrogel samples, made of gelatin crosslinked with glutaraldehyde, was the final solution that worked.

Our results were inconclusive. Water contact angle testing proves to be challenging when the hydrogel coating is sensitive to any minute force, and cleaning the water droplets between trials most likely lead to KimWipe residue being left behind which may have decreased surface hydrophilicity. Going further, we would definitely try to fabricate a stronger hydrogel. And certainly create more samples. 

My first official research presentation (I was so excited). I wore a pair of thrifted heels that were taller than I remembered. They got me lots of compliments and plenty of blisters by the end of my two-hour presentation. 

Someone in our group had 3D printed a model of the murine bones we were studying, straight from the ImageJ .tiff file we analyzed regularly for changes in bone length and volume to quanity calcification. It was fascinating that something so tiny (mouse digits) had incredible implications for advancements in regeneration physiology and studying the impacts of genetic factors. And due to some versatile technology, I was holding it in my hand. Or a replica, rather. 

The most common question we received in presenting to both judges and students was, "are the down syndrome mice any different?" Well, as seen in our results, yes. They do also have cuter, smaller faces and are more resistant to isofleurine gas when we sedate them for microCT scans.