Hey everybody! Thanks for tuning in for another week of blog posts.
From now on, I promise I’m going to refrain from using this same cliche every week, but it’s insane just how fast this project has been moving. We are already 4 weeks in, meaning we’re halfway through the internship already! I feel like I’ve met so many new faces and have gained so much valuable perspective in such a short amount of time. It’s hard to fathom being in such a lucky position, but I am so thankful to be here!
To start, let’s talk about our project status. Diya and I have made a lot of progress on the breast cancer model this week! We had our first in-person meeting with the MD Anderson clinicians this week to mark our progress. It went really well! For one, the clinicians approved of the low-fidelity 3D mold we had printed out. We managed to capture a good general layout for the proportions/general layout of the model, which is going to be very helpful in the long run for prototyping! Additionally, perhaps by a stroke of good luck, we “purposefully” came across a discovery in prototyping our initial model that may prove to be a feature we keep throughout. When we poured our silicone into our mold, we were worried about the silicone sticking to the PLA plastic. So, we put a small piece of construction paper around a corner of the mold, in hopes of being able to easily pull the silicone out. Instead of remaining on the outside of the paper, the silicone actually ended up enveloping the paper. After managing to get the silicone mold, we felt around the paper edge and were intrigued by the texture. We brought this to the clinicians, and it turns out that the texture is quite similar to the thickening of breast tissue around lesions!
One thing the clinicians also noted about our prototype is the general model material is much too stiff in comparison to actual breast tissue. This being the case, we’ve been brainstorming/trying out a number of materials to see if we can capture a more realistic texture. Silicone, so far, has definitely been the way to go, with the most accurate (in our opinion) being a soft silicone gel produced by BrickInTheYard. That being said, we’ll keep brainstorming ideas!
Finally, we’ve been working on our 3D-print mold for our model, and while progress has definitely been made, this has been quite a struggle for me. I’m not sure what it is, but it seems like whenever we’ve been on the cusp of breaking through and finally designing the mold exactly how we want it to look, there’s always some exception in the Rhino platform that prevents us from taking that next step. Nevertheless, I suppose that’s just a part of the design process! Perhaps, that happy accident will rear its face once again and pave the way forward.
Outside of work, we’ve been having a lot of fun. Many of the International Interns have just made it to Houston, so it’s been fantastic to get to know them! We went to an escape room on Friday, and I can proudly say that my team escaped! The car ride over was fun too, as we bonded over our favorite songs and artists, with the music bumping full volume all the way there and back. Afterward, we shared some laughs and stories over a meal at Chipotle, a great way for the average college student to cap off the night!
Thanks so much for tuning in once again! Hope to see you back here for next week’s update!