Steel Bar: Status Report 1 Gregory Ragosta Maureen Loughran Christina Felarca Adham Sohby

Deformity of the chest and rib cage, in which the sternum concaves Most common in children, but also occurs in adults If not treated, the depression will become more severe and the sternum will begin pushing against the heart and lungs Pectus Excavatum Hebra, Andre. 16-Year Old Boy With Severe Pectus Excavatum Medscape. Dec. 5, 2012.

The Nuss Procedure Stainless steel/Titanium bar is bent to the shape of the chest wall The bar is passed through on side of the chest, under the sternum and out the other side (facing the opposite direction) The bar is then flipped over, pushing the sternum outward in the process Surgical Treatment

The Nuss Procedure Front and side view of bar inside patient X-ray Wikepedia. Dec. 2, Before and After Wordpress. Feb. 19, 2013.

The bar stays inside the patient for an average of 2-3 years Surgeons make the decision to take the bar out based on past experience There is no reliable method currently being used to determine when the chest is no longer pressing against the bar 10% of pectus excavatum cases undergo the Nuss Procedure more than once, because the bar is removed too soon This assures us that there is a need for a method that can establish the appropriate time to remove the bar

Miniature device, which can wirelessly transfer data from a RFID reader Takes in a radio signal and then transmits back out the stored information on the tag Semi-passive RFID: uses a battery to power sensors and other parts of the chip Can automatically shut-off until they receive a signal from an RFID reader WISP (Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform) Developed by Intel Entirely powered off of the incoming radio signal RFID - Radio Frequency Identification

WISP Wisp Functional Diagram Elsevier. Feb. 19, 2013.

Place 1 or 2 strain gauges on the surface of the bar Using Intels strain gauge solution, we can connect the strain gauges to the WISP The WISP will interface with the reader (outside of the patient) and report the data using WISPs reader software Parts needed: Stainless steel/Titanium bar WISP development kit Reader & antenna Strain gauges Our Solution

The group is working on acquiring all of the necessary parts Working on biocompatibility research The final product will not be biocompatible, due to time and budget constraints The next step is building the WISP Strain gauge wheatstone bridge, as well as build a theoretical model of the ideal final product. After, we can begin the necessary coding and testing Progress

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