Week 6: Aidan

This week I was able to get Amelia and Arina into some of Dr. Kaplitt’s surgery cases on Wednesday, which included a GPI DBS stage one and stage two, and an intrathecal pain pump implantation. 3D print of the flat halbach array was successful, and the print seems very high quality for a first iteration. Unfortunately the epoxy did not arrive in time for me to build the array this week, so I will next week. The goal with this platform is to perform a place-preference tests with mice that have the viral gene expression of ferritin-TRPV1 channel. Prior testing with a simple array of magnets laid on the floor of the chamber demonstrated either no preference or aversion to the magnets. Since the mice have no mechanism we know of to avoid the magnetic field, we hypothesize that the aversion was due to the exposed metal surface of the magnets feeling cold compared to the acrylic behavior chamber. In future testing, we will apply a thin sheet of plastic to the entire chamber to provide a consistent surface feel.