Final Safety Training Class!

I have finally completed my last required Environmental Health and Safety class at ASU.  Now I can finally work in the SMoRG lab. But before I get to that, let me tell you a bit of what I learned in my chemical safety class today.

Know your Chemical Hygiene Plan. This includes the following information:

Read and review your laboratory's emergency response information. Your lab should have an easily accessible copy in its vicinity. 

Know where your lab's Emergency Spill Kit is and how to use it.

                                             

You should know how to use and when to use the items in this kit. Most wet chemical labs and storage areas have them. These kits are normally used for aggressive liquid spills such as acids and bases. An example for when NOT to use this kit is a hydrofluoric acid spill. Hydrofluoric acid is a highly corrosive acid which is capable of dissolving glass and many metals. Its aqueous form is a contact-poison and can cause deep, initially painless burns and severe tissue damage. Exposure to this substance to about 25 square inches of your skin can cause systemic toxicity and eventual cardiac arrest and fatality. Its gas form is incredibly poisonous and may immediately cause serious damage to the lungs and eyes. So you do not want to attempt to clean this spill let alone be around it.

Personal Protective Equipment

          


ALWAYS wear what your lab requires you. This includes proper eye-ware (goggles), closed-toe shoes, a lab coat (protects skin from exposure to dangerous chemicals and may serve as temporary protection from fire), and many other equipment such as respirators. NO SKIN SHOULD BE SHOWING. Pants are usually a requirement, too. Also, DO NOT wear your PPE outside of the lab for this may serve as a danger to others (may still contain hazardous material). Your PPE must be worn at all times in your lab, unless a dangerous substance has been spilled on your protective equipment.

Know where your Material Safety Data Sheet (a compilation of hazardous materials and safety procedures, a sixteen section document) is and know what you need to be aware of for your laboratory environment. 

You should also know your laboratory start-up and close out process. It is necessary to know how to set up and put away your materials properly so as not to create a hazardous environment overnight or in the first ten minutes of your day.

If you are a BASIS student, I probably do not need to tell you Mr. Nishan's number one rule for lab work: NO FOOD OR DRINK DURING THE LAB. Why? For one, you can mess up your experiment. Two, and probably more importantly, you are risking your life by potentially contaminating your food and ingesting dangerous materials which could either harm or kill you.

LABEL YOUR CONTAINERS CORRECTLY. You don't want to have someone mix up some NaCIO with some ammonia you mislabeled (if you do, you are a potential murderer, or a very angry and possibly sadistic person). But in all seriousness, these mistakes can be fatal.

You should also know how to use and Emergency Eyewash and Safety Showers. Here is a quick tutorial.

                                             

Eyewash:
1.) Immediately flush eyes for at least 15 minutes (FIFTEEN MINUTES!!).
2.) Keep eyes open and rotate the eyeballs in all direction to remove contamination from around the  
     eyes. An injured person may need help holding their eyelids open.
3.) Call Poison Control for advice, and then seek medical attention immediately.

Safety Shower:
1.) Immediately flush the affected area with copious quantities of water for at least 15 minutes.
     Protect your eyes from inadvertent contamination.
2.) Remove contaminated clothing, jewelry, and shoes (you can't let your fear of being bare in front
     of your associates get in the way).

After these step, you should bring the Material Safety Data Sheet for the chemical to the doctor and report the injury/exposure.

Credit goes to University of California San Diego. If you would like to learn more about eyewashes and safety showers, visit their website.
http://blink.ucsd.edu/safety/research-lab/laboratory/eye-wash.html

I am aware that I already mentioned this, but know what to do in an emergency situation and what signs you should watch out for (i.e. inhaling a toxic chemical such as Sodium Cyanide-- once you smell almonds, death will arrive in seconds. Evacuation is best). So you should probably (No, not probably. Do it.) review what chemicals in the lab you will be using and what elements should be segregated at all times. Also know your emergency procedures for each potential danger (use eyewash, clean up immediately with the spill kit, evacuate, etc.). One good source you can read would be your lab's Exposure Standards.

You should also know the major symbols of the Globalized Harmonized System. This is a universal  classification and chemical labeling standard. Here are a few of them:

                        

One you should especially note is the skulls and crossbones. This means the substance has an acute toxicity when exposed orally, dermally, or through inhalation.
Another thing you should note is to handle cryogenic materials. Cryogenic liquids are liquefied gases that are kept in their liquid state at very low temperatures-- all are extremely cold and most have boiling points below  -150°C (- 238°F). All cryogenic liquids are gases at normal temperatures and pressures. If you are around or are working with cryogenic materials, it is necessary to know how to store and use them-- along with the potential dangers some of these materials pose. For example, liquid carbon monoxide can release large quantities of carbon monoxide gas (this can cause immediate death). Some cryogens can cause asphyxiation when vaporized; this is especially dangerous, in both mentioned examples, considering that small amounts of cryogenic liquids can evaporate into very large volumes of gas (one liter of liquid nitrogen can vaporize into 695 liters of nitrogen gas!). On top of that, cryogenic material can lead to severe burning of the skin and tissue damage is handled incorrectly.  You should refer to the MSDS for more information about the cryogens you are working with.
Credit goes to Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety:http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/cryogenic/cryogen1.html

If you are required to ship or receive hazardous materials, know the basic procedures. Always examine the labels of the container. Make sure you have labeled it properly if you are shipping it; understand what the label means if you are receiving material. Also, use the proper equipment to transport certain chemicals. Here is a sample of some of the symbols/labels:

                                             

If you receive a box with the 1 or 7 label, DO NOT accept the package and contact the appropriate emergency authorities. 1 means the package contains explosives; 7 means the materials are radioactive.

FINALLY, know how to dispose of chemical waste. Make sure you know which substances to keep segregated and know which containers are compatible with each chemical material. Most importantly, LABEL them PROPERLY and CORRECTLY. Also, refrain from disposing the chemical waste in the sewer system (do not dispose in sink, toilet, etc.). Do not dispose of these material on your own, especially biowaste (material that is capable of self-replication and is harmful or potentially harmful to other living organisms; radioactive material, blood-borne waste, etc.). Contact the proper disposal facilities to eliminate your chemical waste. *whew*

If you would like to review more on your own or failed to read this blow entry thoroughly, you can visit the Environmental Health and Safety Administration (EHSA) pages that is on most university websites. To learn more about proper lab procedures, visit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) website at osha.gov  (my main source of information for this blog entry).

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I am so excited that I have finally finished all of my safety classes and will soon get to work in the SMoRG lab. I will keep you posted!

On a side note (to see if you actually read my blog), how many cats were mentioned in the above paragraphs? You better know. It can save your life!

Feelings Feelings Feelings

There's something cool I learned about the SMoRG Lab today: haptics!

Haptics is the field which studies how our sensors in the skin are used to derive information and how this information is used to carry out specific functions.

A common usage of haptics can be seen in the technology we know and love. For example, haptics is used in the common video game controller; we can feel the racing of a heart, the recoil of a gun, or the smack of a tennis racket hitting a ball. It is also used in our touchscreen phones through the vibrations and clicks our devices make when we scroll down a page or press a virtual key. Without haptics, many users would have no sense of whether or not a task has been executed successfully-- the vibrations and resistance we feel in our devices reassures us of this.

                                  

At the SMoRG lab, they have incorporated the study of haptics with that of violin bowing. Information concerning the execution of the goal (playing the violin) is confirmed by the auditory feedback (the sound of the violin), while the information regarding the friction between the bow and the violin strings are assured by the tactile feedback.

                                         

All of the studies regarding this manipulation of the bow is incorporated into SMoRG's research on haptics in neuroprosthetics (the bow is almost like and extension of the arm). Through this synthesis of data, SMoRG hopes to combine their knowledge of normal sensation and electrotactile stimulation to create a neuro-electronic hybrid system which can be manipulated directly through brain signals.

Playing with Fire!

No... don't do it.

Today, I went to one of my required safety training classes, specifically, a fire safety training class, which wanted to prevent this from happening:

http://www.noob.us/humor/the-office-fire-drill/

Don't try this at your own office.

At first, I was skeptical about having to take the class, because I thought I did not need it. But it turns out, of course, that there was a lot I did not know. So I am going to share a little of what I learned with you today. 

As seen in the link, you can test the door handles to see if whatever portal is safe to open. This is necessary for a few reasons. One, there can be a fire on the other side. Two, if this is the case, opening the door will allow more air, especially oxygen, to flow in, and you know what oxygen does to fire... BOOM! But unlike the video, you should NOT use your palms to test the temperature on the door handles; instead, you should use the back of your hands to prevent your palms from being burned (so you could use the face of your hands to execute certain functions to help yourself and others escape).

Here is the Emergency Procedure the class gave me:

1.) Pull nearest alarm station.

2.) Immediately exit the building.

3.) Call 911 from a sage location.

Notice something missing from the list? I'll give you a second to think about it........

It does not tell us to use a fire extinguisher! It is not required for anyone to put out a fire... so, you can just stand there and watch the fire grow (don't).

Talking about fire extinguishers, let me tell you how to use one.

                       

After unlocking the discharge hose, you can follow the acronym PASS:

Pull the pin.
Aim low (at the base of the fire).
Squeeze the lever.
Sweep from side to side.

Another thing you should note is the extinguisher's data plate. Many have these little lables, which I had no idea existed:
                             

There is also a starred D label which is meant for flammable metals (Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, etc). So you may want to note what kind of fire extinguishers are present in your facilities.

Another fun fact about fire extinguishers: they only last about two seconds per pound (and most are about five pounds)! So all those movies and television shows you saw where the spray function was used as a substantial weapon were ALL LIES. Also, the little gauge is a liar. Even though it indicates that you are in the green (have a lot of extinguishing foam) while the extinguisher is in use,  the reality is most likely otherwise. Overtime, the gauge solidifies (if not shaken regularly).

Also, know the fire escape plan for your facility and for your own home (and if you don't have one, make one). Have a primary and secondary evacuation routes, know where the closest fire alarm and extinguishers are, have a location of refuge, and be calm. In short, be prepared. Don't be like the folks in The Office. I know you think that you won't panic if a serious fire ever started in your own home or workplace, but imagine this (for my skeptical BASIS peers): when you walk into a test, do you feel more confident and calm about what you are doing when you study? What about if you only "kind of" studied, only barely paying attention in class. Do you still know what you're doing? Being prepared gives you a calmer, and more sensible mind. So pay attention to those last minute fire drills, note where the alarms and extinguishers are, and know your route, because maybe the person you are following half-heartedy does not know what they are doing either.

Thank you for reading my brief safety procedure blog! I think this is important for all of us to know. I only have one more safety training class, and I will be able to work in the lab! I will keep you posted.

Enter Oscar, the Bionic Cat!

This, my friend, is the main entity that inspired me to pursue my once small interest in prostheses. I know that for many, their influences to pursue bio-engineering are drawn from an inspirational person, who despite losing their legs, refuses to stop running or a person who sacrificed a limb, or even more, saving lives. But for me, my inspiration comes from a little black cat named Oscar.

Oscar, otherwise known as the bionic cat, had his two hind legs torn off by a harvester while sleeping under a bush in 2009. Instead of putting him down or leaving him without the ankle down part of his legs, Oscar’s owners turned to veterinarian Noel Fitzpatrick in England. Fitzpatrick is responsible for creating the first feline ITAPs (intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics), a prosthetic with a dome structure which enables skin to bond with the implant. This event sparked my interest for two reasons: one, this is one of the first cases where the prosthetic bonded incredibly well with the body and function; two, it was done for a cat, my favorite animal of all time. Instead of pursuing bio-engineering for my own species, I would like to study in this field for our furry little family members. But before I start ranting about my love of animals, let me tell you about the point of this blog: prostheses.

Prosthesis stems from the Greek word prósthesis, meaning "addition" or "attachment." Like its root, a prosthesis is an attachment of the body, an artificial body part. A prosthesis can be aesthetic, like a glass eye, or they can restore a specific function, like a prosthetic limb equipped with biosensors.

At the SMoRG Lab, I will be working with neuroprosthetics, which are, as the name suggests, prostheses for damaged or missing sensory and motor output structures. One of the best known neural prostheses are cochlear implants, which restore the function of hearing.

                                        

At the SMoRG lab, I will be working with neural prosthetics for the hand. I will update you on that when I learn more about the virtual prosthetic when I meet it. Thank you for reading!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blogosphere! This blog will be updated during the entirety of my time at BASIS. So I hope you enjoy. 

Prostheses have been around for thousands of years, found in many  cultures and in many different shapes and materials. One of the earliest recorded prosthesis is a 3000-year-old toe made of wood and leather in Cairo (image below and left). The variety of prostheses has never ceased to intrigued me. Although I was not very interested in real life prostheses as a little girl, the ones I saw in movies, anime, and video games always astounded me. As I began to learn how things worked in our world, I started to question how the artificial limbs in all the fiction I have been watching all my life functioned, like the Automail in the series Full Metal Alchemist (image below and right). 


During my Senior research project, I will have the honor of working with esteemed Stephen Helms Tillery and his amazing associates in the SMoRG lab (SensoriMotor Research Group), pioneers of the realm of volitional prosthetics. In my time working  in this facility, I will learn how the SMorG Lab was able to control a virtual prosthetic directly through the brain, in addition to how our own natural hands work. Afterwards, I will be exploring the relation between the mechanics used to control a natural hand and the cortical control of the neuroprosthetic hand using the 3D model. And in the end, I will be comparing the natural and current artificial neuro-electronic interfaces and how each can be applied to the creation of a neuro-electronic hybrid system.

I hope you enjoyed reading my brief introduction! I will be posting my progress on a regular basis, and I hope you accompany me on this journey. Feel free to subscribe, and remember to appreciate you own biological members. See you soon!