Science Forward Fall 2018

Dr. Edyta Greer, Baruch College

Author: Mia Zaidi

Blog Post 2

November 11, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Working in the lab and synthesizing Aspirin was a very interesting experience. I learned about the importance of following your procedure strictly and carefully. Accurate measurements of substances and timing was crucial to produce the best results. There were many trials where aspirin still had traces of salicyclic acid in the class, and I believe it may have been due to time constraints.  My partner and I was able to successfully remove salicyclic acid from my aspirin, however, we were the last ones to finish the experiment and stayed over the class time. When considering how this experimental design can be improved to produce more successful results, I believe that a greater understanding of the procedure before implementation is key. Although Dr. Greer gave us a run-through of the experiment beforehand and we did not ask questions then, I believe many of us did not realize how many questions we would have until we actually started the experiment. Many students needed help from Dr. Greer during the experiment, including my partner and myself. Waiting for assistance from Dr. Greer could affect timing of certain steps, and not having a thorough understanding of the instructions could obviously affect the results. If we were to redo the experiment, I would suggest giving more detailed instruction, especially considering our inexperience in the lab.

HI Project Proposal

October 16, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Thermal Compression Glove with Massaging Feature to Relieve Arthritis Pain

Group Members: Daniel Khaldarov, Felix Malamud, Mia Zaidi

The healthcare problem that we would like to address is rheumatoid arthritis pains in the hands. Due to the fact that rheumatoid arthritis is a serious issue affecting over 1.5 million people in the United States, we wanted to propose an idea for the most effective form of treatment possible. Very frequently, some kind of drugs or supplements are used in an attempt to deal with arthritis, but this can cause further health complications and some patients prefer a non-pharmaceutical alternative. Products have been made using heat therapy, compression, as well as massaging, to treat pains in the hands due to rheumatoid arthritis. There is an abundance of scientific literature that shows that heat and compression has a beneficial effect on people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. According to an article in the PloS One Journal entitled, “Defining Immunological Impact and Therapeutic Benefit of Mild Heating in a Murine Model of Arthritis Evidence,” heat treatment significantly reduces inflammation in joints (Lee 2015). Although there was little improvement in hand function with the use of therapy gloves, pain was substantially reduced (Nasir 2014). Our healthcare innovation aims to increase the effectiveness in pain relief by combining these forms of therapy (which current available products fail to do) into one wearable product. Our idea is a thermal compression glove with a massage feature. The massage feature would use vibration and target specific pressure points that are associated with pain relief. This type of innovation is much more convenient as it is an all-in-one form of treatment that requires no prescription and can be worn without interfering with a person’s day-to-day activities. In terms of commercial success, such a thermal compression glove can be used by anyone that wants an easy and effective way to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Those that deal with rheumatoid arthritis often, or even people who have early stages of it, would definitely find this product incredibly beneficial. We feel that there has to be a better way to deal with this issue and our innovation would be the right tool for the job, due to its multi-functionality, convenience, and effectiveness. 

Bibliography

Lee, Chen-Ting, Kathleen M. Kokolus, Nicholas D. Leigh, Maegen Capitano, Bonnie L. Hylander, and Elizabeth A. Repasky. “Defining Immunological Impact and Therapeutic Benefit of Mild Heating in a Murine Model of Arthritis.” PLoS One 10, no. 3. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120327

Nasir, Siti Hana, Olga Troynikov, and Nicola Massy-Westropp. 2014. “Therapy gloves for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a review.” Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease 6, no. 6: 226-237. https://doi-org.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/10.1177/1759720X14557474

Healthcare Innovation Research

October 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Project Name: 3D Printed Models of Cancerous Tumors

Other Group Members: Felix Malamud, Daniel Khaldarov

Bernhard, J., Isotani, S., Matsugasumi, T., Duddalwar, V., Hung, A., Suer, J., . . . Gill, L. (2016). “Personalized 3D printed model of kidney and tumor anatomy: A useful tool for patient education.” World Journal of Urology, 34(3), 337-345.

Authors (Researchers): Bernhard, Jean-Christophe (1,2,3); Isotani, Shuji (4); Matsugasumi, Toru (1); Duddalwar, Vinay (5); Hung, Andrew (1); Suer, Evren (1); Baco, Eduard (1); Satkunasivam, Raj (1); Djaladat, Hooman (1); Metcalfe, Charles (1); Hu, Brian (1); Wong, Kelvin (1); Park, Daniel (1); Nguyen, Mike (1); Hwang, Darryl (5); Bazargani, Soroush (1); Castro Abreu, Andre (1); Aron, Monish (1); Ukimura, Osamu (1); Gill, Inderbir (1)

Affiliations:

  1. The Glenn & Wendy Miller/Inderbir Gill Kidney Cancer Program, USC Institute of Urology University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
  2. Department of Urology CHU of Bordeaux – University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux Cedex, France
  3. French Research network on Kidney Cancer (UroCCR), Bordeaux, France
  4. Department of Urology Teikyo University, Tokyo. Japan
  5. Department of Radiology University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

This article explains a study where patients with a primary diagnosis of kidney tumor who were being considered for partial nephrectomy underwent a multi-detector computerized tomography (MDCT) scanning from which renal volume data were extracted to create life-size patient-specific 3D printed models. Patients were then evaluated on their understanding of their condition before and after being given a 3D model presentation. Their satisfaction with the 3D printed model was also assessed through a visual scale. The results showed patients demonstrated an improvement in understanding of tumor characteristics by 39.3 % (p = 0.068) and the planned surgical procedure by 44.6 % (p = 0.026) after viewing their personal 3D kidney model. This source can be used to justify the need of 3D printed models of cancerous tumors in helping patients understand their diagnosis more thoroughly.

Choi, Y., Kim, J., Park, S., Hur, B., & Han, J. (2017). “Therapeutic response assessment using 3D ultrasound for hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer: Application of a personalized, 3D-printed tumor model using CT images.” PLoS ONE, 12(8), E0182596.

Authors (Researchers): Ye Ra Choi (1); Jung Hoon Kim (2); Sang Joon Park (3); Bo Yun Hur (4); Joon Koo Han (5)

Affiliations:

  1. Department of Radiology, Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
  2. Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  3. Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  4. Department of Radiology, National Cancer Center, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
  5. Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

This study evaluated the accuracy and reliability of three-dimensional ultrasound (3D US) for response evaluation of hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC) using a personalized 3D-printed tumor model. After comparison, 3D US tumor volume showed no significant difference from CT volume leading the authors to believe that the 3D US tumor volume using a personalized 3D-printed model is an accurate and reliable method for the response evaluation in comparison with CT tumor volume. This source can be used to prove that 3D printing is accurate enough to have valuable application into the medical field and creating cancerous tumor models.

 

Davenport, Liam (2018). “3D Printing Offers Insights Into Cancer Development.” Medscape Medical News. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/840866.

Author (Health and Science Writer): Liam Davenport

This article provides an easy-to-understand, general perspective on the use of 3D printing to create tumor models. It notes the progress some scientists have made and their opinions on the significant potential 3D printing has in cancer research and development. Such an article is valuable in building our understanding of 3D printing and it helps reaffirm the feasibility of our health innovation idea.

BioBlitz Worksheet

October 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Team Members: 

Felix Malamud

Daniel Khaldarov

1) What is the final version of the question you are interested in asking?

How does the population of toxic plants in Inwood Hill Park compare with that in other major parks (with a certain minimum square footage) in NYC?

2) List some keywords to use when searching for related scientific literature. Be specific!

Key words: Toxic plants population, NYC parks 

3) Where will your data come from? Do you need to collect new data? Please describe.

Data will primarily come from the Bioblitz INaturalist database. The Bioblitz database can provide information about where poison ivy has been spotted in the major parks of NYC in addition to Inwood Hill Park.

3) What will you be measuring or comparing? What are the dependent and independent variables?

We will be comparing the population of toxic plants in Inwood Hill Park to that of other major parks in NYC. The independent variable is the location of the toxic plants, and the dependent variable is the population of the toxic plants. 

4) Please make a list of your methods. If you are using existing BioBlitz data, you do not need to describe those data collection methods on this worksheet, but you do need to describe how you are extracting the relevant data from the entire BioBlitz data set.

With existing Bioblitz data collected through INaturalist, we will first identify what toxic plants inhabit Inwood Hill Park by looking through the data collected under the “Plants>Species” section of the database and researching the species to determine their toxicity. Then we will identify the population of these toxic plants identified in Inwood Hill Park and other major parks in NYC.

5) Why is this question interesting to you? Why should others care about this topic?

Knowing if Inwood Hill Park or other parks in NYC have an abnormally high or low population of toxic plants can indicate whether or not there is a need to regulate the growth of such toxic plants in certain areas to maintain a healthy environment.

3D-Printed Hand Compression Targets Specific Pressure Points

October 3, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Reflexology has several health benefits such as improving blood circulation, relieving stress, relieving body pains, boosting energy, and generally, promoting relaxation. My healthcare innovation idea is to create a 3D-printed hand wrap that has precisely located ball-like padding in the interior to apply pressure to the certain areas of the hand. It can be customized for the individuals health needs as reflexology can target specific organs or systems in the body in need of relief. It would be lightweight and non-restricting to the wearers normal activities and would provide an alternative therapy for those who have mild pains that do not require medicine.

Blog Post #1

September 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

If I had to author an article in the NY Times or a comparable periodical on a scientific paper, I would be sure to include visual aids such as photographs, graphs, charts, and/or infographics to display statistics in an appealing and understandable way while remaining scientifically sound. In addition, I would use quotations from expert sources, so that I do not accidentally misinterpret data. If I am not understanding something thoroughly, then I would reach out to the researchers and interview them myself to increase my comprehension. Writers, such as myself, should realize their limitations and that they are not experts at everything; this is okay as long as we do not try to fill-in the gaps with inaccurate or misleading information. I also think that authors should be careful of oversimplifying information (e.g. leaving out standard deviation values, variables that could have altered the results, extraneous values etc) as it can often lead to more definitive-sounding results that make the article less objective. There were many presentations in class that testified to this problem. I was surprised that several of the authors of the popular media article had no science background. As readers we should always be mindful of this and determine the credibility of the source.

The Importance of Food Allergy and Epinephrine Autoinjector Training Program

September 6, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It can be difficult for school nurses to determine a proper course of action for children suffering an allergic reaction as health care providers, their current school district, and the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology guidelines may suggest differing emergency action plans. Due to this lack of clarity, school nurses may delay treatment trying to decide the appropriate treatment and patients may not receive the appropriate treatment, which can present a significant danger to patients’ health (Wahl et al. 2015, 97).

Artificial Pancreas to Help Type 2 Diabetics

September 5, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Popular Report

Nedelman, Michael. 2018. “New Evidence for ‘artificial Pancreas’ in Type 2 Diabetes.” CNN, June 26. https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/26/health/artificial-pancreas-diabetes-hospital-study/index.html.

Primary Source

Waseem Majeed, Hood Thabit. 2018. “Closed-loop insulin delivery: current status of diabetes technologies and future prospects.” Expert Review of Medical Devices 5660, 1-12.

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