Week 2: We hope to incorporate ferrofluids into our hydrogel design and use magnets to improve the administration of drug delivery via hydrogels. Through this method, the magnetic fields will pull the medicine more effectively in emergency situations from the alginate gel. The two medicines we are looking to use are either Acetaminophen or Naproxen. Both are found in common over the counter forms but we are looking to administer these into the leg, similar to an Epi-pen applicator.
Shout out to our partner Eric, we hope you make a speedy recovery!
Week 3: We are working with Professor Cheng to finalize details regarding the injection method. We researched two drugs: Naproxen (found in Aleve) and Ibuprofen (found in Tylenol). Our main takeaways from this research: Tylenol reduces fever and relieves pain well, but it doesn't lower inflammation and swelling. Naproxen works well for mild to moderate pain and inflammation, and it lasts longer than other Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Week 4: Our initial proposal has found some major setbacks as injecting alginate gel that are not nano particles is extremely difficult and we do not have adequate resources to make this a possibility. We are looking into Chitosan, a different gel naturally derived from shells in crustaceans.
Week 5: Our proposal has been shifted from the injection method to an alginate "pill" method. We found this would be a lot simpler given our constraints of time and resources. We are also using Caffeine as our molecule to be diffused from the gel as its molecular weight is small enough for alginate to pass through its pores. Based on a research paper done on alginate gel and vitamin B12, we are confident that this method will be effective.
Eric update: WELCOME BACK! We are excited to have you back and ready to test our new ideas in the lab next week.
Week 6: We have ordered all the items we will need for testing this week in lab:
- Hydrochloric Acid - strong acid needed for acidic envrionment
- Pure Lye Drain Opener - weak base
- Caffeine Pills - 200 mg capsules
- Food Grade Sodium Alginate
- Litmus Paper - testing pH
Should we need further materials, Amazon Prime is our friend.
Week 6 Lab Update: Today we put formed alginate beads and submersed them into a basic solution of sodium hydroxide and distilled water. Bubbles and what looked like fuzz surrounded the beads of gel, which lead us to believe that some caffeine dissolved from the gel. For next week, we will bring better lab equipment (more distilled water, spoons, clear cups) and food dye so that way we can see the caffeine leave the gel into the solution.
Week 7: During week 7 lab, we were able to dye the caffeine solution so we could watch diffusion. The main goal was to observe the differences of basic, neutral and acidic environments on the gel mixture.
Week 8:This week we were able to control concentrations and ratios better. We only tested the gel in an acidic environment because the pill's destination is the stomach which has a pH of 2.
Week 9: Due to our final experiment in week 9, we were able to conclude that a lower % by mass alginate will have a faster release, but the initial amount of caffeine is also not known due to discrepancies in measurement. The conditions were replicated with as much accuracy as possible for both experiments, so we have confidence in our findings.
Excellent!
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