Archive from the Fall 2001 semester.

Week 14 E-mail Progress Report

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Thermal warm/heat probe for neurological examination

Team members:

Andrew Hoyord
Bern Jordan
Dana Mueller
Paul Thottakara
Paul Victorey

Client:

Miroslav Backonja

Reporting period:

12/6/01 - 12/12/01

Problem statement:

"Doctors are now finding it necessary to test patients experiencing pain or numbness primarily in their extremities, and possibly the trunk or face for neurological damage and warm/heat sensitivity by applying hot sensations to their skin. A device that heats up to target temperatures of 38 and 45 degrees Celsius relatively quickly, and is able to be used many times per charging of the handle is preferred. This device would be an attachment to the already existing battery operated portable and wall mounted Welch-Allyn ophthalmoscope/otoscope handle."

Restatement of team goals:

1. Review comments from mid-semester design paper.
2. Write final design paper.
3. Prepare poster presentation materials for the final presentation
4. Finish PCB design and ordering.
5. Receive ordered parts to construct prototype.
6. Test functionality of all circuits and connections made in prototype.

Accomplishments:

1. Consolidated circuitry to one breadboard for demo purposes.
2. Ordered printed circuit board for prototype.

Goals for next reporting period:

1. Finish final design paper.
2. Finish final design presentation and attend poster presentation session.
3. Attend final design meeting with client.

Project schedule:

Past
9/7 - 9/12: Assigned roles to team members and met as a group to discuss project goals and tasks.
9/13 - 9/19: Housecleaning of old project materials. Tested probe for heating characteristics.
9/20 - 9/26:
9/27 - 10/3: Investigated a microprocessor kit to use in device. Tested new Welch-Allyn battery to see how powerful it is, compared to the old battery.
10/4 - 10/10: Tested probe prototype for its power requirements at each target temperature.
10/11 - 10/17: Prepared mid-semester presentation. Thinking about how to use microprocessor. Made CAD drawings of power handle.
10/18 - 10/24: Mid-semester presentation in class, 10/19. Continued learning about microprocessor. Divided team to work in parallel on separate parts of the project.
10/25 - 10/31: Continued programming microprocessor. Began design of thermistor circuit. Found Op Amp and ADC that will function with a single supply voltage. Testing components that make up the thermistor circuit.
11/1 - 11/7: Thermistor circuit design completed, circuit constructed and tested for correct operation. Found probe temperature swings upon cutting and adding power when the temperature rises or falls through each of our 2 target temps.
11/8 - 11/14: Added filter to the analog circuit to reduce error in voltage conversion. Tested entire prototype, analog and digital parts together. Searched for a way to close a switch upon contact of the probe surface with the patient's skin.
11/15 - 11/28: Continued testing prototype, updated program code to better deal with errors in operation, and created a program flow chart that tells the function of the code. Investigated the human subjects testing protocol that we will have to supply information for.
11/29 - 12/5: Ordered parts for prototype. Began PCB design.
12/6 - 12/12: Finished pcb design and ordered it.

Future
12/13 - 12/19: Begin prototype construction and demo to the client. Finish final design paper. Final design presentation on 12/14/2001. Attend final design meeting on 12/18/2001.

Difficulties thus far:

Re-shopping for circuit parts that we thought would do the job, but came up short.

Activities:

Total time (this period):

35.5 hours

Total time (overall):

258.5 hours

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