My
name is Francisca Wood and I am a senior studying biomedical engineering. I
currently work under Dr. Agrawal at the µ-SCALE lab in Krasnow, which focuses
on tissue engineering and microfluidics. Once I complete my undergraduate
studies, I would like to pursue my Ph.D. in Bioengineering. It is possible that
I will continue to work with Dr. Agrawal and pursue my graduate studies here at
George Mason.
Microdialysis
is a sampling procedure used for measurement of molecules in the interstitial
fluid (ISF), the environment that surrounds cells. ISF contains a lot of
information about the state of the cells and body. Unfortunately, current
microdialysis techniques only allow small concentrations to be captured and
analyzed, and these concentrations are sometimes too small to measure. If more
biomarkers could be collected from the ISF, scientists would be able to gain a
superior understanding of the milieu intérieur. The
opportunity to improve our overall understanding is what has driven me to
pursue this project.
My project focuses on the improvement of the microdialysis technique by
use of hydrogels. Hydrogels are porous polymer networks that have the ability
to retain a large amount of water. The premise is to fill a small
microcapillary tube with a hydrogel and to insert it into a solution for an
extended length of time to allow biomarkers to adsorb into the gel.
This week, I tested two different hydrogels to compare their adsorption
kinetics. The hydrogels were placed in a solution containing fluorescein, a
fluorescent dye, for 3 hours. These 2 hydrogels contained different
concentrations of suspended nanoparticles, which were also responsible for
absorbing the dye. The two hydrogels were then imaged using fluorescence
microscopy. It was discovered that the hydrogel containing a greater ratio of
nanoparticles to gel adsorbed less of the dye.
Once the hydrogel is optimized, I will test the hydrogel in different solutions
containing different biomarkers, before moving to animal tissue.
