Final Project Presentation

The week we came back from Dublin and had a 211 exam and preparation/delivery of the semester project for Enmodes. This was a very stressful week. There was just a lot to get done. First there was the 211 exam, which passed alright I suppose. Then right after we had to prepare for our final presentation for Enmodes. This was a fun project to take on. It was interesting to me to tackle a real life problem with the skills and knowledge I have gained thus far. This also broadened my resourcefulness at gaining knowledge or getting the help needed to complete a task.

Our job was to design a device that would eliminate or prevent bubbles greater than 100 microns from entering the left atria from the PCMO. This proved to be a challenging problem to solve. We came up with ideas, pursued them, scratched them and started over again and again. In the end we had three groups working on very different designs for debubbling the blood. This was a good thing as it gave Enmodes a range of ideas to play with, and as they say, what they eventually decide on will be some combination of the devices. The design my group went with was a combination of sequential increases and decreases in radius of the device and helical grooves to move the bubbles toward the center of the device. There the bubbles come into contact with an ePTFE membrane which is permeable to gas and not liquids, allowing the bubbles to pass through. Once inside, the gas is removed from the device using airflow from the PCMO along with the venture effect. The presentation for Enmodes went well. They had some good feedback along with some constructive criticism. The other groups did great and I think the whole thing ended up being a great experience for everyone.