My research has seemed to come to a close on one portion of my project (turning images of DAPI and TUNL stained images into viability counts). I have started working on designing the fixtures and experiments that will hopefully accompany me back to Ithaca. It will allow my lab to have a collaborate here in NYC and tie the two campuses together stronger than ever.
The most interesting meeting I went to this week was the biomechanics meeting. At the meeting, four students from one lab discussed their research and what they are working on. They ranged from bone to ligament but everything was about the knee joint. After the meeting, the PI showed me his lab where they do joint testing using industrial robots and cadaveric knees.
The most interesting surgery I went to this week was the Da Vinci surgery. They were doing a prostectomy using the robot. It was amazing to watch and even better due to the 3D view we were able to see. One of the med students who was present was kind enough to explain the procedure to us and generally give us a blow by blow of what we were seeing. The only part of the surgery that made me nervous in the least was the removal of the needles from the body, I kept expecting them to have snagged on some tissue on the way out and ripped open something but it never happened.
Finally I was able to go to Dr. Wang's lab and learn how to operate an MRI. It was surprisingly intuitive to run. Although I believe it is one of those skills easy to learn but difficult to master since you need to determine the correct resolution and control other variables to get the best image. The other three people there (Karin, Brandon and Ryan) all had different parts of their body imaged using the MRI. I might go back later to get imaged myself, but since I have a permanent retainer (a metal piece glued to my bottom teeth) we were nervous about having me imaged without checking with one of the MRI techs first.
Overall it was a very good and productive week.
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