20 time final post

1. My 20 time project all in all went really well. At the beginning i can honestly say that it was hard for me to find a topic that I would be passionate about. However, i feel like chose something that I love and something that I will pursue later on in my life. In my project I learned a lot about prosthetics and how they work. I learned about the different types of prosthetics and how 3d printing has been implemented to further revolutionize them. I also learned how to use a 3d printer. Through multiple trials and much error i can now finally print parts easily with the 3d printer i have. I learned a lot from this project. I feel like the prosthetic hands I made turned out really well and I am incredibly proud.

I feel like my Ted talk went alright. I am not all that great at presenting. I also procrastinated a lot in the preparation for my ted talk. However, i did convey my message across to the audience. I feel like if i did practice much more my ted talk would have turned out much better.

20 time reflection

I chose to do my project on something related to what I want to study more of when I go to college. I chose to do my project related to prosthetic devices because it is such a useful technology with many new advances appearing. New methods of creating prosthetic devices have arose making them so much more accessible and cheaper to produce. One new method is to use 3d printing. I chose to 3d print my own prosthetic hand to see just how pervasive this new technology makes prosthetics. Currently prosthetics can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and not many people can afford them. 3d printing allows the possibility to build durable devices with the same function at around a couple hundred  dollars. During this project I challenged myself to first design and build my own prosthetic hand. I used 3d modelling to create the parts and connected motors to a remote control to control the hand. During this I was focused on honing the skills I know I will need more of in college. After I finished this I then 3d printed a design from enable who uploads dozens of 3d printed prosthetic hands design for people to be able to print for free to see just how widespread this technology has become. During my printing of the hand I had at least 10 unsuccessful prints. I am a little bit new at using this technology so it took me around 2 weeks to finally get the hang of it. I learned a lot through this project about the different types of proshetics such as myolelectric prosthetics and mechanical prosthetics. I also learned all about the different projects already going on revolving around this similar field, and how an element of uniqueness and style becomes added in the prosthetic as a result of the 3d printing. If i had a chance to do it again I would probably have spent a little bit more time outside of class researching and developing my models. Some parts are still a little disfunctional and coming this close to the presentation date makes it more stressful to fix the problems I have. Next I will begin to pursue this path in college, hopefully developing more advanced 3d printed prosthetics that will.


Outline

First I will talk about why I am interested in this topic, and what problems currently affect society revolving around prosthetics. Then I will talk about the current prosthetics available. I then will talk about the process of 3d printing and how it can revolutionize the current thinking of prosthetics. Finally I will end by saying how 3d printing and this new technology can incorporate the ideas of many in prosthetics and ultimately many other aspects of medicine like never before.

Reflex Lab

1. In this lab we looked at the many different reflexes. This includes the physical observation of how our bodies react to certain stimuli, as well as figuring out the different receptors and processes going on during a reflex. A reflex is an almost instantaneous response to a stimuli. The impulse only travels to the spinal cord and back to the muscle instead of going all the way to the brain as it takes less time.

2. 

1. The photopupillary reflex is one that is designed to protect our eyes. It will result in our pupils dilating or constricting in response to a change of light in the environment. This did occur when we tested the reflex by shining a flashlight in the participants eye. The pupils constricted almost instantly. 
2. The knee jerk reflex may be one designed to fend off danger in our early evolutionary development. What will happen is the leg will kick forward when the knee is bumped. When we tried this on the participant we saw that this actually happened. 
3. The blink reflex is also designed to protect our eyes from physical danger. Our eyes will blink if something is thrown at us. When we experimented this we saw that the participants eyes almost always blinked even though they knew they were safe. 
4. The plantar reflex may be one designed to protect our feet from any danger. The feet curl up and tense if there is pressure on the sole of ones feet. 
5. Finally the reaction time part tested our reaction time to certain stimuli. Here we see the time it takes for the brain to process what happens and react, with and without distraction. When we did the reaction time experiment we saw that texting drastically increased the time it takes for reaction. In my data there was almost a .05 increase in reaction time from .19 seconds to .24 seconds. 

Here you can see me carrying out the reaction time experiment 

Sheep Brain Dissection

During this dissection we looked at the brain of a sheep. We first looked at the outer structures and identified the anterior and posterior sides of the brain. We then labeled the major structures such as the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem. We then cut the brain in half lengthwise to observe the internal parts. Finally we did another perpendicular cut of the brain to identify the grey and white matter of the brain.

Cerebellum	Coordinates voluntary muscle activity/function
Cerebrum	This part of the brain is associated with more complex brain function such as thought and action
Brain Stem	Associated with many involuntary actions of the body, primarily relating to respiratory and cardiac activity

Thalamus	Responsible for organizing sensory information
Optic nerve	Transfers visual information from the retina to the brain
Medulla Oblongata	Responsible for activity of heart and lungs
Pons	Is a bridge between various parts of the brain such as cerebellum and cerebrum
Midbrain	Associated with hearing, vision, motor control, sleep/wake, arousal, and temperature regulation
Corpus Callosum	Connects and relays sensory and motor information between both hemispheres of the brain
Hypothalamus	Links the nervous system to the endocrine system, regulates hormones in body

Sheep Eye Dissection

Videos from the Dissection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibsrqtx2FD0: Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apVGaDMAId8&feature=youtu.be: Part 2



The eye allows us to see. Light rays reflect off an object and pass through the cornea of our eye, the clear outer covering. The rays pass through the pupil, which is a hole regulated in size by the iris. They then pass through the lens which bends the light onto the back of the eye on the retina. The lens is controlled by the ciliary muscle. These rays are then interpreted by the optic nerve and signals are sent to the brain to tell us what the object looks like.

Continuing the build

I have been continuing to 3d print the parts. I have decided to use an arduino chip to control the hand, I have been learning how to code and use this device in my digital electronics class. The design that I have settled on is the K1 hand by enable. What I will do is make the hand after I have 3d printed the parts then go a step furter and motorize the hand so it can open and close at my command. The system will use a system of pulleys and cables to function. Currently I have printed half of the parts and am still working on the others. However, I have faced some difficulties printing the parts as I am about to run out of the printer feeder material, and a couple of the parts I have tried to print have failed so I will need to reprint them.

Clay Brain

We made a model of the brain made out of clay. We used different colors of clay to represent different parts of the brain, and labeled them as well. We had to look at different models from the internet to get an accurate representation.

The Women with a Hole in her Brain

This article talks about how recently it was found out that a women who is 24 years old has been able to live without a whole cerebellum. This part of the brain contains about ten percent of the volume of the brain but about 50 percent of the neurons. It is even considered somewhat of a mini brain as it is responsible for many important functions relating to voluntary movement and balance. Her brain was able to adapt to this missing part of the brain and other parts of the brain took over the job of the cerebellum. This case displays the remarkable ability of the brain to adapt.

The main function of the precentral gyrus is to control the voluntary muscle movements of the skeletal muscles. If that part of the brain was taken out one would experience much difficulty carrying out physical tasks as it would be hard for them to coordinate their movements. You essentially would be able to survive without this part of the brain. Other parts of the brain would help take over these actions as the brain is extremely adaptable.

Initiating the 3d Printing Process

On my topic I have learned a lot about the different mechanisms that the human hand has so it can move the way it does. In my goal to create a prosthetic hand I have started to 3d print some of the parts necessary to put it together. I am currently still working on the final model of the hand and will continue to 3d print the rest of the parts. Through this process I have learned that I really enjoy designing and modeling things to be 3d printed. The setbacks that I have encountered mainly relate to finding the different electronics parts necessary to initiate the movement of the hand. The next steps in this process is to continue to 3d print the parts and start the code for the movement of the hand. I will also need to plan out exactly how the electronics will work.














This is the first 3d printed part of the prosthetic hand

Unit 7 Reflection

This unit covered the muscular system. In this unit we learned all about the different muscles that are in the human body and what movement they carry out. We learned about the fast twitch muscles and slow twitch muscles as well as which exercises are suited for each type of muscle. Slow twitch muscles are suited for long distance cardiovascular exercise while fast twitch muscles are best for short bursts of high intensity cardiovascular exercise. We also learned about the 12 steps of muscular contraction and the different processes involved in this. Finally we learned about performance enhancement supplements and while they may produce many appealing short term effects, their long term effects are extremely dangerous

I still want to learn more about the different diseases of the muscular system. I want to learn what types there are, the treatment available, and how these different diseases affect the anatomy of the muscular system. I still wonder about the question of how much potential our muscles really have. I wonder about why we are able to lift so much weight with just our hand, and almost no other mechanical device can do the same task with such efficiency.

As a student I believe I have grown. I tried to keep my notebook in check. I did all of the homework that was assigned. I did watch the vodcasts multiple times to try to understand them as well. I also paid very close attention to the labs we did as they were really interesting.

Pictures of the Chicken Dissection Lab


























Link to the Video on the Steps of Muscle Contraction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V97qYN_Uf4I&feature=youtu.be

Performance Enhancement Reflection

Performance enhancement substances are becoming more prevalent in the athletic world. People often take these to give them an edge. The substances are designed to help an athlete become stronger, faster, have more endurance, and obtain many other athletic benefits. Although these short term benefits sound tempting, one must not overlook the negative effects performance enhancing drugs can have on the body. Substances such as steroids can completely mess up the hormonal balance of teenagers. They can also cause shrinking of the testicles and a reduced sperm count. Caffeine can often lead to heart problems, and cardiovascular diseases. Other substances if overused can even cause kidney and liver damage. Although many of these substances have negatives, there are some performance enhancement substances that are natural and beneficial. These include carb loading, massages, and creatine. Creatine however, can prove damaging to the kidney if taken too often. Many people should refrain from these harmful performance enhancement substance no matter how tempting they may seem. In the long term these just prove to not be worth the short term benefit.

Chicken Dissection Lab

03/21/16

1. During this lab we dissected a full chicken. We were primarily examining the different muscle groups in the chicken. We saw how the different muscles and tendons interact. We also examined the type of movement the muscle allows for the chicken. Movement is allowed by the muscles as the muscles connect to the bones of the chicken. These muscles are connected to the bones via tendons. When the muscle contracts the bird is able to move its body one way and when the muscle relaxes it can move the other way. One example of this is the pectoralis major. When this muscle contracts it allows the birds wings to flap downward and when it relaxes the wings return to its original position. An origin is a fixed attachment of the muscle, while the tendon of insertion moves as the muscle contracts or relaxes. One muscle in the chicken that is similar to humans is the bicep brachii. Both muscles allow the arm to flex or extend via contraction and relaxation. Another muscle is the pectoralis. Both species have this muscle however, in the chicken it is one of the largest muscles in the body. This is primarily due to the breeding the chickens undergo for large breasts. The last muscle is the latisimus dorsi. However, in the chicken this muscle is extremely small, again resulting from the process the chickens are bread from.

Semimembranosus: Responsible for the flexion of the leg
Semitendinosus: Responsible for flexion of knee extension of hip

Biceps Femoris: Helps with the flexion of the knee

Quadriceps Femoris: Plays large role in running, and jumping

Biceps Brachii: Responsible for flexion of arm
Tracips Humeralis: Responsible for extension arm
 Deltoid: Causes the rotation of the arm 

Brachioradialis: helps flex the elbow and aids in supination
Flexor carpi ulnaris: responsible for abduction of the hand

Trapezius: moves the scapulae and supports the arm
Latisimus dorsi: responsible for extensions, abduction, rotation, and flexion of the shoulder joing

Pectoralis Major: Responsible for the flapping down of the wings
Pectoralis Minor: responsible for bringing the wings back up

Iliotibalis: Splits into superficial deep layers, and anchors into the thigh
Sartorius: Is the longest muscle in the body, rotates the thigh at the hip joint

Tibialis Anterior: functions to lock the ankle, toe-kicking

Gastrocnemuis: responsible for plantar flexing of the foot

Prosthetics 20 Time 1st progress report

March 17, 2016

The first thing I researched about my topic are the major problems that are affecting people who have lost limbs. These problems have to do with the current market of prosthetics. The major problems are the expense and manufacturing of prosthetics. Prosthetic limbs are extremely expensive and many people cannot afford them. The limb manufactured also use the same technology since the 1900's and are very outdated and uncomfortable. Some even prefer not to wear them. I have researched the solution of implementing 3d printing and other new technology to help fix this. I have learned through this research, that prosthetics are something that interest me greatly and it is something that i want to pursue further in college. Because I want to build my own prosthetic hand, many setbacks have arose. The primary ones are those relating to obtaining the materials neccessary, as of now. I have handled this through extensive research of finding the parts and ordering them online. The next step is to find out more about how these new technology's can solve the current problems in prosthetics and continue to build my own prosthetic hand. I can apply everything I have learned as this is something I want to further pursue in college. I will use my knowledge gained to help me find summer internships, as well as help shape the major i choose in college.

What Happens When You Stretch

Title: What Happens When You Stretch

Quotes:

"When you stretch the muscle fiber is pulled out to its full length sarcomere by sarcomere"
This explains what is happening to the fibers as the muscle is stretched. The sarcomeres work in sync to extend the muscle.

"Sarcomere"
This is the smallest of contraction in a muscle. Muscle consists of many of these working in unison to relax and contract the muscle

"Proprieceptors"
These are nerve endings that allow us to be aware of our body's position and movement.

Relate and Review:

This article is about understanding what happens to our muscles when we stretch. It talks about the different components of the muscles that are involved. These include the different muscle fibers such as intrafusal and extrafusal muscle fibers. It also talks about sarcomeres, what they are and their function in muscles. Also talks about how these muscle fibers interact with connective tissue. Finally it talks about the most effective ways of stretching using the natural tensions between muscle fibers and connective tissues.

Unit 6 Reflection

This unit was all about the skeletal system of the human body. We learned about bones, and the different parts and cells that make them up. We also learned the locations of majority of the bones in the human body. We learned about fractures and the different types there are. Finally we learned about joints and how they add mechanical advantage to the human body. One thing I truly want to learn more about is how bone implants work. I want to learn more about the mechanisms that go into having a metal implant put inside your body to help support the bones. I also want to know more about how bones can be fractured and how joints are damaged as I will apply this knowledge to keep myself same as I exercise. During this unit I have grown much. I used my time much more efficiently in studying for the test. I also kept my notebook up to date. My goals for the next year however, are to have no late assignments and to organize myself better.

Prosthetic Limbs and Expanding their Availability

What is 20 Time: The basis behind this project is that I am able to use 20% of the class time in Anatomy to work on a certain project that I truly believe in and am interested in.

My Project:

The essential question that my project addresses relates to prosthetic limbs and how we can make them more available to the public. Currently artificial limbs can cost $30-50,000 and many people cannot afford these. My project addresses the solution of what new technologies can be implemented in prosthetics to make them more affordable as well as able to use. The major new technology I am exploring is 3D printing and how this can be used to make artificial limbs cheaper.

I chose this project based on my experience working in a veterans hospital. I saw many veterans who had lost limbs due to their experiences in war however, many of them did not have prosthetics. It is unfair how these people sacrifice so much for our country however, they still have to live a life in complete discomfort and inability to use their limbs. Making artificial limbs cheaper and more affordable will help solve this problem.

My goal is essentially to bring awareness and research the current solutions to this problem. I want to explore what 3d printed prosthetic designs already exist and maybe even design and build my own prosthetic hand using a 3d printer.

I will measure my progress through how much of the prosthetic I complete on a weekly basis. I will also measure my progress through the amount of research I am able to collect.

My plan moving forward is to continue researching this problem as well as finish up my design for the artificial hand that I plan to print. I will hopefully finish designing and putting together this project by next week.

Owl Pellet Dissection

Summary: During this lab we first researched about the different types of organisms owls consume and found out basically how to go about recognizing these organisms from their pellets. We then proceeded to dissect the pellet using tweezers a knife. Carefully we then sorted the different bones, and fur that we found in the pellet. Finally we analyzed these bones to find out the animal the owl had consumed and tried to recreate the animals skeleton from them.

Claim: The organism that our owl ate was a mole

Evidence: The first piece of evidence that the animal is a mole is because it has white teeth. The second major feature is that there is no gab between the teeth in the jaw. Finally the animal has a cheekbone.

Reasoning: Because the organism had teeth we can rule out any birdlike creatures. Finally because the animal had white teeth and no jaw we could eliminate the animal down to three organisms including the mole. Finally only the mole had a cheekbone out of these three organisms, confirming our claim that the animal was a mole.





Similarities
1. The first major similarity is in the bones of the limbs. These look extremely similar to those of human anatomy, specifically I noticed similarities in the tibia and fibula.

2. The second similarity is in the ribs. The ribs look exactly alike to those of the human skeleton.

3. The final similarity is in the teeth. The teeth of this animal mirror molars in the human body.

Differences
1. The jaw is completely different from a human jaw. It is sharper and curved more at the front ends.

2. The skull is definitely smaller and more elongated that a human skeleton.

3. The vertebra that we discovered looked slightly different than that of a human.

Unit 5 Reflection

This unit covered the topics of metabolism, the digestive system, diabetes, the endocrine system, and the lymphatic system. I learned all about the different metabolic pathways and what happens to the food that enters your body. I also learned about the different causes of diabetes and how it can be treated. I learned about the functions of the endocrine system, and the lymphatic system. The essential themes relating to this unit include how all the different we learned about maintain homeostasis in our body.

This unit my definite weakness was keeping track of my notebook. The major reason for this was because I missed the first day of this unit. As a result I did miss a section of notes and keeping up with my notebook after that was difficult. My success was with my time management. This semester has been especially busy because of my extracurricular activities, despite this I have been able to successfully complete all my homework and study sufficiently for the temp checks that we have had.\

One interesting lab we did revolved around the digestive system. We used string to measure just how long the digestive system is. I found out the digestive system is around 14 meters long. I was amazed at how something that long can fit in our body.

I would like to learn more about the impact of the endocrine system on our muscular system. I would also like to learn more about the different functions of the hormones in the endocrine system.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Digestive_system_diagram_en.svg/2000px-Digestive_system_diagram_en.svg.png




Digestive System



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Endocrine_central_nervous_en.svg/2000px-Endocrine_central_nervous_en.svg.png



Endocrine System

Digestive System Lab

1. Briefly recap what you did and what you main “take aways” were from the activity.  Include a copy of the data table on the previous page.

I basically cut different lengths of string to represent different parts of the digestive tract. I then attached them together to see the total length of the digestive system.

Mouth: 13cm (green)
Esophagus 41cm (red)
Stomach 18cm (gold )
Small Intestine 660cm (string)
Large Intestine 165cm (white)

2. How does the length of your digestive system compare to your height (if you know your height in feet and inches, convert your height to inches knowing that there are 12 inches in a foot, then multiply it by 0.0254 meters/inch to get your height in meters)? How do you think your digestive system is able to fit inside your abdomen?  

My digestive tract is roughly 8 times my height as it is around 13.7 meters and I am 1.7 meters tall. It is able to fit inside my abdomen as it is curled up. 

3. How long do you think it takes (on average) for food to move through your entire digestive system?  Write down your guess, and then look it up online from a credible source.  Compare your guess to the actual average.  What factors influence the time it takes?

I believe it takes an average of 6hrs for food to move completely through the digestive system. The actual average from eating to elimination is 53 hours. Some major actors that influence this time are the types of foods eaten, how many fluids are consumed, and if any exercise was done.

4. How is digestion different from absorption and what organs are involved in each?

Digestion is the breakdown of foods into smaller particles that can be absorbed by the body. Absorption is that taking in of those particles for the body to use. Organs involved in digestion include the small intestine and the stomach. Organs involved in absorption include, stomach, small intestine, anus, and large intestine.

5. What questions do you have or what things about the digestive system do you want to learn?

I am still baffled as how the whole digestive system is able to fit inside the human body. I want to learn more about the different functions of each of the organs in the digestive system 

Second Semester Goals

1. I will become more organized. I will organize my binders for school better and keep my room clean as well. I will make sure I am always on top of the things I need to do and complete them without being left behind. Some steps to doing this will be keeping my notebook more organized for anatomy, using my planner, and keeping my binders organized for my classes.

2. I will be more confident to take risks. I will step outside of my comfort zone more often and build courage to take risks. I will do this by interacting more with strangers and building my confidence. I will do this by challenging myself on a daily basis to not take the easy path to the solution. I will be adventurous and try new things.