UPDATE 2A Technical Overview There have been no changes or revisions made to the product.

Progress from 4/9-4/15

This week mainly consisted of figuring out a method of implanting the copper tape in to the vasculature. This presented to be an exceedingly difficult process. A few methods were attempted as follows: sandwiching the copper tape between two layers, placing a circular rod of copper tape through holes in the vasculature, and by inserting a thin flap of copper straight through the vasculature.

Sandwiching the copper tape: In the image above it be seen that the copper tape is sandwiched between two layers of a silicone cornstarch mixture (same material that was utilized to produce the vasculature). This attempt was a failure. As mentioned in previous updates the copper tape functions as a sensor, when the charged catheter guide wire comes into contact with the copper a LED is lit up and the Arduino keeps track of the location that the guide wire came into contact with. In this case the LED was not lit up consistently, the current only passed to the copper where there were holes in the silicone corn starch layer. Further research showed that silicone is a poor conductor of electricity.

Placing a circular rod of copper tape through holes in the vasculature:

This method functioned properly as far as sensing the guide wire was concerned, since the copper tape and the guide wire were able to come into contact without fail. In this case the problem was that the layer of copper was too thick. When pulling out the guide wire the spring loaded tip was being caught by the layer of copper.

Inserting a thin flap of copper straight through the vasculature:

This attempt performed the required function. The flap of copper that was placed was placed within the vasculature consistently identified the catheter guide wire upon contact. Additionally the flaps were dynamic enough to shift in position when pushed by the guide wire. This resulted in the guide wire not being trapped by the copper. The extensions of the copper wire seen below will be used to solder wires

to.

Testing the Arduino code:

The Arduino code failed to function as necessary. The Arduino code has no language errors but it failed to display which copper layers came into contact with the guide wire. Without this it would be impossible to identify and keep track of which direction or junction the guide wire is going. It seems as if the part of the code that is involved in outputting to the serial monitor. Arduino Program that requires debugging:
const int numReadings = 10;

int clock = 0; // timer to track user elapse time

int inputPins[] = { 1, 2, 3 }; //array of pin numbers corresponding to the different sensor regions int pinCount = 3;

int inputUpperBound; int inputLowerBound;

string userData = ""; int previousLocation = pinCount;

void setup() { // initialize serial communication with computer: Serial.begin(9600); // initialize all the readings to 0: for (int thisReading = 0; thisReading < numReadings; thisReading++){ readings[thisReading] = 0; } for (int thisPin = 0; thisPin < pinCount; thisPin++){ pinMode(imputPins[thisPin], INPUT); } }

void loop() { // loop from the lowest pin to the highest for(int thisPin = 0; thisPin < pinCount; thisPin++){ int readings[numReadings]; int index = 0; int total = 0; int average = 0; // the readings from the analog input

// the index of the current reading // the running total // the average

for(index = 0; index < numReadings; index++){ readings[index] = analogRead(thisPin); total = total + readins[index];

} average = total / numReadings;

string currentLocation = "";

if((average < inputUpperBound) && (average > inputUpperBound) && (thisPin != previousLocation)){ clock = millis()/1000; currentLocation = String(thisPin + 1) + ";" + String(clock) + ":"; userData = userData + currentLocation; Serial.println(average); previousLocation = thisPin; } }

delay(1); }

// delay in between reads for stability

Plans for 4/16-4/22

The following week will primarily be utilized for debugging the program. Secondly, we will begin to put the various components together. Such as the musculature, skeletal system, vasculature and the fiberglass body. We will also be soldering wires to the copper flaps that we place in the vasculature. This will allow an easier set up process that does not involve the arduous process of connecting alligator clips to each of the copper layers.

Project Timeline