Process

Project Management

In the first several weeks, the conceptualization and beginning design processes ran very smoothly and efficiently. The team had a surfeit of ideas on providing a viable medical device design to suit the needs of the project. Throughout fall quarter, things ran smoothly due to being completely conceptual. The team was able to narrow down it's designs to three options: a design using a motor, a design using a reel, and a design using a solenoid.
As the project progressed into the implementation phase, things became more difficult, as one would expect. Going into the beginning of the implementation phase, our motor design was the most favored. However, once the parts the team thought were necessary were ordered, we saw that the motor wouldn't be a viable option because there wasn't a commercially available motor that was small enough and powerful enough to meet our needs. We also realized that machining the reel design was also outside of the scope of our resources as undergraduates, so we turned to the solenoid design.
Once the team used CAD to mock up a model of the device that would interface with another part of our device, we moved into the 3-D printing phase of our project. This phase would prove to be the most time-consuming and would be the step that ultimately threw the team off it's Gantt chart because of it's many unexpected factors. First, the only accessible printer on campus that had the resolution to print on the scale the team needed was broken. After making several unsuccessful attempts to use other working machinery (which took ~3 weeks), the team made an executive decision to outsource the printing of the device. Even once the parts were printed with the outsourced company, the team was unable to remove the parts from the support material they were encased in due to their size. By this time, the team was so heavily thrown off trajectory that we shot for proof of concept models. Using the lower resolution printers, the team printed and successfully tested a scaled-up version of the final device design. Little to no testing has been done in-vivo due to the issues with 3-D printing the device. The team is planning on implementing the scaled-up version of the device in rabbit models rather than rat models to further demonstrate proof of concept. Ultimately, the device will be used in human models and scaling up the device has proven to be easier than scaling it down.

Left: Initial Senior Design Gantt Chart

Experience Gained

Throughout this entire experience we gained valuable knowledge that will help us throughout the rest of our careers. Being able to learn about medical device planning and fabrication was an enlightening experience.
Beginning with the planning phase, we learned about potential design and fabrication constraints based on our research into material science and other avenues. This phase helped us to understand that the medical device planning process required a broad range of knowledge and an ability to think about potential risks at all stages of development. We also learned how to correctly brainstorm and mold ideas into a workable device.
Throughout the implementation process we gained experience in fabrication techniques such as 3D printing and using CAD to achieve our aims. Our unconventional route through the fabrication process led us to widen our knowledge base in subjects like magnetism and motorized actuation. We gained valuable experience in troubleshooting and redesign when we went through iterations of our designs.
Finally, we gained valuable interpersonal skills not only working as a team, but also presenting at Bioengineering Day. Being able to present our prototype that we worked so hard on was extremely rewarding. We gained valuable presentation tips and tricks that will transfer over into our professional careers.

Page Leader: Matt Jaconetta (Project Management) & Olivia Lipco (experience gained)

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