Week 8: Aidan

 Final week in NYC - lots of progress. Printed two platforms for magnets (a repeat of the flat halbach device, and then the first radial device). Built the flat device again, this time using improved construction techniques based on what happened with the first (used clamps to let epoxy set between the 3rd and 4th sets of magnets). The hypothesis was that with better construction/placement of the magnets, the field should be more strongly aligned in the target direction and get closer to the predicted strength of 87 mT 1cm from the surface. Oddly, the magnetic field measurements are ~30% weaker on the new flat device compared to the old device that had magnets misplaced. However, I had measured the old device and Aldana measured the new device, so it's possible that the difference is due to user-to-user variability, since the measuring tool does not have any guides (you have to eyeball 0.5 cm based on a ruler, and the measuring probe is ~0.2cm thick, so depending on which part you align with the ruler it could be 0.3cm to 0.7cm from the surface of the magnet. Additionally, orientation of the measurement tool matters). I also had the opportunity to observe more surgical cases on Wednesday, which were a deep brain stimulator stage 1 implantation (electrodes), followed by a deep brain stimulator stage 2 (battery) implantation.

Week 8 - Kirtana

 This week I primarily worked on finishing up my lung cancer project. I prepared the lung cancer incidence and PLCO risk graphs for the population, and also started working on developing my own model. This is currently a work in progress and I will continue it after immersion. 

Summer immersion has truly been an enriching experience and I learnt a significant amount about the clinical side of biomedical engineering. Shadowing surgeries, performing image segmentation, performing data analysis all led to me obtaining new skills. My favorite part of the experience was getting to operate a MRI machine. While it was interesting to use the machine without being a patient, I understood the challenges that are present in medical device development in terms of user accessibility. Considering that my PhD is on point of care device development, I believe there is a lot I can take from this experience. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go through the summer immersion program and I am looking forward to using my newly gained clinical knowledge in the lab. 

Week 8: Pei Wen

This week marks the end of our summer immersion program. Most strikingly in OR, Anais and I observed a myomectomy with the largest fibroids we have seen thus far, roughly the size of a coconut. The larger fibroids were accompanied by a multitude of smaller ones. We were shocked to learn that Dr. Fenster has had cases where the fibroids were even larger. I cannot imagine the pain that the patient must have felt living with the fibroids as the fibroids were pushing on their other organs. This surgery sparks my curiosity further on the prevalence of fibroids among certain populations and the factors that contribute to their growth in severe cases such as the one we observed. I am grateful for the opportunity I had this summer to shadow Dr. Fenster in her surgeries and patient visits, to gain perspective in clinical needs and gaps pertaining to our field, and to learn how present and future technologies can be applied to improve patient care. 

Week 8 : Adil

This week was good mix of research and time in the OR. I continued to work on the pipeline we started last week and ran more RNA datasets from the ICSBCS biobank to compute immune cell fraction across samples. I also analyzed the TCRseq data of the pooled trovo sample and combined the results from the scRNA analysis I did last week. This analysis has helped us to optimize our experimental protocols (initial sample size and initial cell count) for the upcoming trovo experiments. Later in the week I attended a presentation by a sub-intern working with Dr. Newman on the various factors that come into play in decision making in breast surgical oncology and how clinical trials have shaped these protocols over the years. I also attended a didactic session by Dr. Newman on systemic therapy for breast cancer. In the OR, I shadowed Dr. Newman for two lumpectomies, one sentinel lymph node biopsy and a ductal node excision. Overall the summer immersion was a great learning experience - both on the clinical and research fronts. I look forward to applying the learnings from my immersion experience to my ongoing projects.

Week 8: Ben

For my final week, I concluded the last of my experiments. I ended cell cultures and threw away leftover supplies that I had. Now, I am waiting for the last of my samples that I submitted for ELISA analysis. My wet lab efforts are now concluded for Immersion. In addition, I attend my last clinic of Immersion. It was pretty routine overall. I got to learn about the different formulations of insulin (short-acting, long-acting, and combination) and the different blood glucose profiles that will benefit from each formulation type. Also, I learned about the different types (or brands) of continuous glucose monitors, their drawbacks, and in what cases they will benefit the patient. I also established my collaboration with the Rafii group, and now we have plans to have a meet with their group, me, and my PI in Ithaca to talk specifics about the areas we will collaborate. Overall, Immersion has been a busy, insightful, and productive time. From the 8-weeks I was here, I learned how to isolate islets from mice and perform glucose stimulated insulin secretion, two protocols that will be useful for me moving forward with my PhD. In addition, I was able to network and gain collaborators that will expand on my research and give me more resources to work with. I am really going to miss the city and this experience, but I am ready to apply what I learned and execute the various ideas that I have gotten from this summer.

Week 8: Adam

 For the final week of immersion, I was able to start working with some of the multiplexed immunofluorescence data from the run we did last week. It seems that some of the antibodies were not quite at the correct dilution, so we are making some changes to the dilution factors for the panel and we will run the experiment again soon. I am glad that this immersion project will open doors to some new collaborations which will continue after I leave the city. I spent a lot of time on the microtome this week, sectioning more tissue samples for future experiments, which should save me some time down the road. It was also good to get additional practice on the microtome before I leave. I spent all day Wednesday shadowing in the OR, and saw several different procedures, including a brow lift, a skin graft, a mammectomy, and a panniculectomy. The variety of procedures that they see on the plastic surgery service is quite interesting. From some of the procedures we were able to collect some more tissue, and I helped to process this tissue for the biobank. 

Week 8: Allison Goehl

 In my final week of immersion, I spent more time shadowing Dr. Beal, a radiation oncologist specializing in brain cancer and metastases. Some of the patients she met with this week were ones I saw last week, but had since started receiving radiation or received additional fractions. It surprised me how quickly things progress in this field. Patients are sometimes able to start radiation within a week of being seen by Dr. Beal for the first time, and I didn't expect that fast of a turnaround. It was also very interesting to see MRIs of patients before, immediately after, and months after treatment and see how the tumor has changed, and then to see patients in the clinic and hear how their symptoms have changed. I also saw the maps used to plan treatment with either stereotactic radiosurgery or gamma knife surgery, and it is fascinating to see how precise treatment can be. Prior to arriving this summer, I was only familiar with full body radiation, but the techniques used by Dr. Beal can treat tumors deep within the brain without impacting surrounding healthy tissue. I saw multiple patients undergo a simulation, where a mask is made to immobilize the head as they receive radiation and a CT scan is performed so the radiation treatment can be designed. This has been one of my favorite parts of immersion, so I was very happy to spend additional days shadowing Dr. Beal this week.

In the lab, I've been working on data analysis for the five day coculture Eleana and I performed last week with cytotoxic T cells and irradiated glioblastoma and triple negative breast cancer cells. We did not have time to optimize the staining, so some cells are too bright, some are too dim, and some imaging locations are not usable due to the fluorescence obscuring all other details in the area. However, it looks like initially the cancer cell population declined as the T cell population expanded, but over the next few days the cancer cell population grew to overtake the entire area, which was interesting to see.