ODU Prof, STEM Students Take on New Research Project with EVMS Surgeon
Five students in Petros Katsioloudis' STEM 221 course (Industrial Materials) at Old Dominion University took on a new challenge involving health care and safety in the medical arena as their final class project last semester.
The project is the latest collaboration between Katsioloudis, assistant professor in the Department of STEM Education and Professional Studies and director of the department's Industrial Technology Program, and Dr. Kal Sakhel of Eastern Virginia Medical School, assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics Gynecology and director for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery (see photo below). Earlier last year, they and some other students of Katsioloudis teamed up to study the production of surgical smoke by various instruments during operations, and to analyze the content of the smoke to determine what health risks this may pose to surgeons.
The five STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students devised a medical apparatus to conduct experiments related to the safety of hysterosalpingography (HSG) testing in patients with tubal occlusion (a nonsurgical form of tubal ligation that is performed via hysteroscopy, or a camera inside the uterus). A tubal occlusion procedure is a permanent voluntary form of birth control in which a woman's fallopian tubes are blocked from the inside using one of two FDA-approved implants to prevent pregnancy.
Three months after the procedure, the patient is required to undergo an HSG to confirm the successful occlusion of the tubes. The HSG is an X-ray test that employs the injection of a radio-opaque contrast dye to look at the inside of the uterus and fallopian tubes and the surrounding area.
This latest study will examine the safety of HSG testing in patients with tubal occlusion and look for ways to minimize the risks, Katsioloudis said.
According to Sakhel, the safety concern associated with HSG testing in patients with tubal occlusion has to do with the possible dislodging of the implant from the tube due to pressure buildup inside the uterus. This particular risk does not exist in patients without tubal occlusion.
"The technician injecting the dye in the testing procedure receives little indication as to the amount of pressure, except for the resistance in the dye syringe plunger and the visualization of the dye entering the uterus during the X-ray," Sakhel explained. He indicated that although nominal uterine pressure is required for this testing, the risk of dislodging the implant has been noted in the past, and technicians currently do not have any means of monitoring uterine pressure during the dye injection.
Under Katsioloudis' guidance, the ODU students, whose majors include industrial technology, technology education and engineering technology, designed a test procedure and an apparatus that would attach to the dye syringe and HSG balloon catheter that is placed inside the uterus. The end result was a low-pressure gauge attached to a "Y" fitting with isolation valves inserted between the dye syringe and balloon catheter, and a similar low-pressure gauge and vent valve attached to a uterus model provided by EVMS.
The first phase of the experiments involved measuring the dye media pressure at the injection site and in the model, during the dye injection portion of the test. The goal was to determine the relationship between the two pressures and whether the injection site pressure would be a good indicator of uterine pressure.
"The initial results of the phase one experiments indicated that the pressure gauge at the injection site was a good leading indicator of uterine pressure and would provide feedback to the technician conducting the injection, so excessive uterine pressures could be avoided," Katsioloudis said.
The experiment concluded that monitoring the quantity of dye injected and its pressure would allow technicians to avoid creating a situation where ligations could be dislodged.
Phase two of the research project, which the students will work on during their own time this semester, involves designing a smaller, practical-use pressure indicator that can be produced for use with HSG balloon catheters for patients with tubal occlusions. This phase, which may ultimately lead to testing on patients by Sakhel, could possibly result in a patent application, according to Katsioloudis.
Both Sakhel and Katsioloudis are pleased with the progress of their latest joint research project, and impressed with the students' commitment. Last semester, Katsioloudis and his students communicated with Sakhel each week via Skype, which allowed the students to ask questions during the process of designing and creating their apparatus.
"This has been a very fruitful collaboration between the two schools, where health care is benefiting from the engineering know-how of ODU," Sakhel said.
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| Petros Katsioloudis, assistant professor of STEM education and professional studies, and Dr. Kal Sakhel of EVMS. Photo by Chuck Thomas | |
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