We chose Macular Degeneration (MD) as the problem we would solve, a disease that effects 1/3 of people over 55. There's also a 2% chance that younger people will get it too. We solved Dry MD specifically. There's 2 forms of MD, Dry and Wet. The more severe form, Wet, accounts for only 10% of cases. It currently has 2 treatments, Laser surgery and Anti VEGF injections. There's some problems with these though; laser surgery can scare your vision, and VEGF treatments are EXTREMELY expensive, as much as $2300 for a single dose! These 2 treatments are also usually taken monthly, sometimes for only a year or so, but other times the patient could need them for the rest of their lives. The last major problem with these treatments is that they only slow or stop the progression of the disease. They don't reverse the effects. Our Solution: Our solution is in 6 steps:
1. Doctors take skin cells from the patient via a skin biopsy.
2. Cell biologists engineer the skin cells to be like embryonic stem cells.
3. Patient gets a Pars Plana Vitrectomy. This is a surgery that removes the Vitreous gel, the gel that fills up the extra space in between the front and back of the eye. This allows easier access to the back of the eye.
4. The stem cells are injected into the macula tissue.
5. Patient’s eye is re-filled with saline solution or silicone oils in place of the Vitreous gel. This will later be naturally replace by aqueous humor.
6. The cells grow and thrive in the macula, replacing the damaged tissue that was caused by the disease.
Thanks for reading! If you want MORE INFOROMATION, it's on our website!! There's also some info about our robot, and pictures!!
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(hehe, I feel authoritive, and yes, I just made up a new word)
If you hadn't notice by the countdown clock, (up there, to the right, kinda up in the corner, but below the picture of us all doing our best LEGO minifig impression. It has numbers, ya right there, the numbers that keep changing, getting less and less and less, that's the countdown clock.) THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! (but we leave tomorrow -Friday-) Wish us luck, or live long and prosper, may the force be with us or whatever you want, wish us well please!! :D Also, (like said above...) we leave tomorrow and we're gonna go tour something (I don't remember exactly what it's called) about a Biomedical Engineering Lab. AND WE'LL HAVE FUN.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited, and don't forget to check out our website! :)
AND GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE OTHER TEAMS WHO ARE ATTENDING!!
~Calvin-
(oh, and by the way, Lord of the Rings is epic, you should watch AND read it)
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