**Disclaimer, this blog post contains a lot of text that will likely be boring for y'all to read so, brace yourself for some minutia you probably don't care to know about my research project**
So, today marks the final day of my summer research project-- or so it is supposed to. But, as I worried, it's not wrapped up just yet. It turns out that there is "something funny" about the raw data files that we collected from the da Vinci robot. The guys I'm working with in the lab are under the impression that perhaps the reference point was "off" and we need to get some calibration data to ensure that the data we collected is being transformed correctly into usable numbers. I'm not freaking out--just a little paranoid that all the work we did last week to get a submission in for the conference produced a submission with erroneous values for the results. (okay, I'm freaking out!!!)
Because of all this, it meant more time in the lab for me. But, fortunately for me, I had a handsome assistant this time (since said assistant is now done with his first law school class!). He took his final on Tuesday of this week and now has some time "off" before orientation starts on the 22nd. I say he has time "off" because he will inevitably be helping me get this project as complete as we can get it before my classes start too.
We had to use this reference block to collect more data, so yesterday Tom and I got out all the equipment and set to work.
I ran the computer system while Tom did the manual labor of moving the da Vinci tools through this reference block that has a maze on it. We used this training block that is used for laparoscopic surgery training to hold the instrument steady.
Then, we're going to compare the data files we collected to the data files the engineers already have on file to make sure that they are processing the same (they should be). But, there was some confusion about whether or not they used a training box to get the reference files they collected in the past. So, just to be safe, we had Tom do it free-hand too.
Here's hoping that the files match up, that we don't have to totally rework all the numbers and we'll be able to be done with data collection for good! Then I just have to finish up my poster that I will use to present my findings in November at school and my paper (which is basically complete unless I have to input totally new data numbers).
One last piece of the study is to have expert surgeons watch and rate the video recordings of subjects doing the block transfer task. We will then compare those ratings to get a subjective assessment of performance rather than just an assessment of the data. The trick here--the expert surgeons have to have time to sit and painstakingly go through 30 videos at 2 minutes a piece and grade them on a 30 point scale...Do you think they care to get it done on my timeline? I think not! So, more likely than not, that won't happen until mid way through the Fall quarter when I have absolutely no time to get things done for Raven and I'll be working on this paper and my presentation all through Christmas break....But, I'm trying not to be too pessimistic!
In other news, we had an impromptu picnic earlier this week with some new friends I acquired thanks to the Raven project. It turns out that most of the students in my class that did their first year outside of Seattle and volunteered for the study were students from Montana! I think they were reaching out to a fellow Montanan. We headed over to magnuson on a gorgeous summer evening and enjoyed good company, laughs and good food. I never got good photos of the group, but here we are:
After dinner we wandered through the park together and Tom got some much needed football time with some guys that can actually throw a football :)
And, in case you were curious-- we definitely put those blackberries we got last week to good use. Tom and I made a scrumptous blackberry pie. It was so good we considered eating the rest of it last night for dinner, but we decided to eat a real dinner and then have a small slice for dessert while at the movie in the park this week: the Sandlot.
This weekend I'm trying to drown my anxiety over the fact that the Raven project isn't done by heading off for a much-needed weekend away from Seattle. We're headed to Yakima for a weekend with the Craven family! Woo hoo! I'm sure there will be photos to follow :)
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