artificial pancreas

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radhika
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 1:35 pm
Occupation: student
Project Question: using planaria see the effects of curcumin on memory curves. To do this project, I want to have an idea about how to condition them for direction, what all materials are required and how to proceed and what are the controlled and variable parameters in experiments.
Project Due Date: October 8th 2014
Project Status: I am just starting

artificial pancreas

Post by radhika »

hi scibuddy

my name is dhruv and I am doing a project on creating artificial pancreas, a road to curing diabetes. (Dealing with Diabetes: The Road to Developing an Artificial Pancreas)

This is the first time I am doing any type of science project and need some help with basic questions.

What will be my question/purpose and what should be my hypothesis. I do not know how to apply my theory knowledge practically to actual experiment. I am done researching and conducting the basic experiment given.

what are the constants and variables in my project.

what are different variations I can do to make my project more interesting or advanced?

please help to understand the basics.



Dhruv
SciB
Expert
Posts: 2066
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:00 am
Occupation: Retired molecular biologist, university researcher and teacher
Project Question: I wish to join Scibuddies to be able to help students achieve the best science project possible and to understand the science behind it.
Project Due Date: n/a
Project Status: Not applicable

Re: artificial pancreas

Post by SciB »

Hi Dhruv,

The artificial pancreas model is an ambitious project and you can learn a lot from it. In order to build and use the model correctly you will have to read and understand ALL the instructions carefully before you begin. If you have any question at all about the components, the construction or the running of the ‘pancreas’ be sure to ask us.

As you know if you have read the project guide, this is a MODEL of how an artificial pancreas might work and not based on the actual blood chemistry. In this model vinegar represents the blood sugar glucose and baking soda represents the insulin. In your body, insulin is released when blood glucose exceeds a certain concentration and this causes the cells to remove glucose from the blood and store it. Too much glucose in the blood is harmful.

The pancreas is the organ that produces insulin and so an artificial pancreas is a stand-in for that organ when it is not working properly. The artificial pancreas has to ‘read’ the amount of glucose in the blood and automatically pump out a precise amount of insulin to bring the glucose concentration back into the normal range.

The model in this project senses the amount of acidity in the vinegar and this actuates the pump which pumps a solution of baking soda into the vinegar until the acid is neutralized. Your questions refer to a project that asks a question, proposes a hypothesis and then sets up experiments to accept or reject the hypothesis. The sensor and pump that you are building is a model—a demonstration of what an artificial pancreas might be like, so is not an experiment in the sense of testing a hypothesis.

If you read the Make it Your Own section of the artificial pancreas project guide (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... eityourown) you will find in the first paragraph a suggestion for testing what happens when additional amounts of vinegar are added. This could be the basis of a hypothesis where you would say: “Addition of more vinegar (increase in glucose) causes the ‘artificial pancreas’ to pump in more baking soda (increase in insulin).” Then you would test this hypothesis as described in the guide by adding more vinegar and measuring the amount of baking soda pumped in in response. The independent variable would be the amount of vinegar you add and the dependent variable would be what you measure—the volume of baking soda solution.

In the second paragraph there’s another suggestion that you can read about and decide if you want to try that. Either one could be the basis of a hypothesis and experiment.

I hope this helps you to understand this interesting project better. Let us know if you need further help.

Good luck!

Sybee
radhika
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 1:35 pm
Occupation: student
Project Question: using planaria see the effects of curcumin on memory curves. To do this project, I want to have an idea about how to condition them for direction, what all materials are required and how to proceed and what are the controlled and variable parameters in experiments.
Project Due Date: October 8th 2014
Project Status: I am just starting

Re: artificial pancreas

Post by radhika »

sorry about the late post but by the way i won a silver medal with this project at the regionals. Thx for all your help. :) :D
sciencegeek12345
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:57 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: artificial pancreas

Post by sciencegeek12345 »

Hello SciB,

I have a question regarding this project: what exactly are the independent, dependent, and control variables? I would like to do this experiment for the science fair, but I need to identify the variables first. Please reply as soon as possible.

Thank you!
SciB
Expert
Posts: 2066
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:00 am
Occupation: Retired molecular biologist, university researcher and teacher
Project Question: I wish to join Scibuddies to be able to help students achieve the best science project possible and to understand the science behind it.
Project Due Date: n/a
Project Status: Not applicable

Re: artificial pancreas

Post by SciB »

Hi,

The artificial pancreas that is built in this project is a demonstration. It shows you the principle of how the real pancreas works--by sensing the glucose in the blood and secreting insulin to promote its uptake into cells. This is different from a hypothesis-driven project where you make a prediction that something is true and then you test the hypothesis by doing experiments. With a demonstration there are no variables because you are not setting up an experiment to measure a quantity. Anything you might measure with the 'pancreas' would be irrelevant because it is not a real pancreas.

I would suggest that you go to the Scibuddies project ideas wizard, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... deas.shtml, and find a project where you can propose a hypothesis and test it by experiment. This is the way science is done and you will learn to use the scientific method and statistics in a project where the outcome is unknown. That's what makes it interesting!

When you get some ideas, post again and we can help you make a final choice.

Sybee
sciencegeek12345
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:57 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: artificial pancreas

Post by sciencegeek12345 »

Thank you SciB,

But could you give me some ideas for projects that ARE hypothesis-based. My high school requires experimental projects so I need projects that are hypothesis-based. I would appreciate it if you could give me some ideas that are not too easy and not too challenging.

Thank you,
(Please reply ASAP)
SciB
Expert
Posts: 2066
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:00 am
Occupation: Retired molecular biologist, university researcher and teacher
Project Question: I wish to join Scibuddies to be able to help students achieve the best science project possible and to understand the science behind it.
Project Due Date: n/a
Project Status: Not applicable

Re: artificial pancreas

Post by SciB »

You are welcome! Did you try finding ideas using the Scibuddies wizard?

We can't tell you what project to do. There are thousands of possibilities and it has to be something that YOU are interested in. You can look through the list of posts on the forums and get a pretty good idea of what questions other people ask. We can help you in developing a project but you have to decide what area and subject you want to study. As soon as you do that we can make some suggestions.

Sybee
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