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Quantifying Maternal Blood Loss in Vaginal Birth

Progress Report 6 – February 26th, 2019

  1. Previous goals from project assignment:
    • Begin experimentation and collect preliminary data on absorptive material(Gel Max)
    • Obtain blood samples for later testing
  2. What we did to accomplish these goals:
    • Two sessions of experimentation were conducted. The first was largely exploratory to understand how the Gel Max absorbs water. These tests help demonstrate the high absorptive capacity of the Gel Max, as well as qualitatively giving us the chance to observe the texture and appearance of the fully- saturated absorbent material. The second experimentation day involved tests following specific parameter to measure absorptive rate when water was added to the top, elution rate up a strip of Gel max, and total absorption. Sample videos for each test are below.
    • Dr. Schorn advised us to contact the VUMC blood bank for blood samples. When we spoke to them, they said they would not be able to provide more than a few milliliters of blood, but suggested we contact a local butcher shop
  3. What went wrong; what we need help on; what we did not accomplish:
    • Absorptive rate and elution tests were mostly successful, while the total absorption tests were inconclusive, since the material began to degrade and thus was not able to measured for a final time point. We also only tested with water, and we need to understand how the osmolarity of blood affects absorption to get results relevant to our application
    • We were not able to contact the butcher shop and obtain blood.
  4. How we can fix errors; how we can accomplish unfinished goals:
    • Obtain blood from the butcher shop and begin testing on Gel Max
    • Determine a way to secure Gel Max so absorbent doesn’t leak when super-saturated.
  5. Additional goals for next week; how we’re going to accomplish them:
    • Blood tests of Gel Max similar to current test
    • Integration of HemaStix in Gel Max pads and determination of correlation between HemaStix color change and blood volume absorbed.

Preliminary Testing

Top Absorptive Test

Elution Test(Timelapse)