Our most recent progress has included ordering and receiving new supplies to further construct our model, continuing to test and decide between sensors for our first task, and an update with project advisor, Dr. Anderson.  The most recent supplies we have received are a touchscreen that is compatible with the raspberry pi and an arduino uno.  The touchscreen will be used to display the video feed from the camera inside the model uterus and provide a user interface to choose between the various tasks.  The arduino uno will be used to program the touch sensors and potentiometers for each task to measure hits and to give feedback to the user.  Additional materials that have been ordered include the potentiometers for the linear tracking task and pink foam to line the model uterus to make it more true to the actual surgical environment.

Since beginning construction of the HSS and designing the tasks to test surgical skill, we have been testing various sensors in the search for one to best suit our needs.  We are in the process of constructing a model with a completed diagnostic task (touching sensors on the walls of the uterus to test user accuracy and time) with button sensors but fear that they require too much force to fire, so we are also further exploring the use of capacitive touch sensors.

We have also discussed the overarching goal of the project with our advisor, Dr. Anderson.  Upon further discussion, we have agreed that it would be best to focus our efforts on making a reliable and accurate uterus model complete with the various important tasks to test surgical skills rather than try to divide our time between the uterus model and designing a model hysteroscope.  In order to accomplish this, we will solely design the uterus and use a real hysteroscope provided by Dr. Anderson in order to view inside the uterus and accomplish the tasks.  This will ensure that the tasks we design work and are beneficial to the surgical residents, and it will allow the surgical residents that use the model to become more familiar with the equipment they will use in a real surgery.  Additionally, Dr. Anderson will be providing us with tools (such as a cauterizing loop, scissors, and a grasper) that we will need to accomplish the various tasks we are designing.