Progress Report 8 – March 26th, 2019

– Previous goals from project assignment: – Derive relationship between concentration, volume, and creep within spatial parameters of prototype – Approximate blood volume based on creep – Potential use of Hemastix/alternative – What we did to accomplish these goals: – We ran more trials examining fluid absorption as a function of blood concentration and volume. We saw that the GelMax easily absorbs water, but has more trouble absorbing blood. We are not sure yet if the relationship is totally linear. – We measured the density of the blood / water mixture before and after absorption in order to determine the percentage of blood in the mixture (i.e. if the total concentration of blood in the fluid is the same as the concentration of blood in the portion of fluid which was absorbed) – As a side note, we designed a 3D model for our basin – What went wrong; what we need help on; what we did not accomplish: – We are not able to find an alternative for Hemastix. As a result, we may have to find a completely different method for quantification other than using a colorimetric assay. – How we can fix errors; how we can accomplish unfinished goals: – There is a possibility that the volume of blood absorbed is constant, regardless of the concentration of blood in the fluid. We need to identify if this is actually the case. – Additional goals for next week; how we’re going to accomplish them: – Continue testing – Analyze data