This week, our team started simulating our project's design in comsol and formulated our design architecture. Below are the images displaying our work in this week

figure 1: Comsol simulation of the project
comsol simulated one of the ideas of our project:
- the geometry of our project
- fluid flow
- magnetic strength

The following Image shows our design architecture. It is compartmentalized into different sections which are:
1. patient: Two reservoirs (one being the source of the fluid, and the other, where the fluid is returned) will be used to symbolize the patient.
2. Power: This includes the pump that will be pushing water and its power supply
3. injection site: where the nanoparticles will be injected into the fluid.
4. Turbulence: This will be part of the geometry that acts to increase the turbulence
5. collection site: This will be a bag embedded with magnets into which blood will flow for magnetic nanoparticles to be collected.
6. Extraction site: where nanoparticles will be extracted from the blood.

Figure 2: the project's design architecture 

 Figure 3: incidental interactions in different parts of the design

We also drew parts in solidworks to illustrate how our model is going to look like. Here are some that show some ways to increase turbulence. A 90 degree tubing and a tubing with varying diameter would help increase the turbulence in the flow.

Figure 4: some of the ways to increase turbulence

We also tested the concept of our project and these are some pictures and results

 figure 5: The testing apparatus of our design. The picture on the left shows the injection site of the nanoparticles. The picture in the middle shows the collection site where the magnets are put to attract nanoparticles. The picture on the right shows the who apparatus.

To test, we run the water into the apparatus, and injected 0.8 ml of the nanoparticles dissolved in water. we let the nanoparticles run into the bag and be collected by magnets. 0.1 ml of nanoparticles were able to be collected at the end. The picture below shows nanoparticles that had been collected by the magnet.

Figure 6: nanoparticles collected by the magnet . 

For further testing, we will 

- use more magnets

- lower the concentration of nanoparticles

- make smaller collection area. 

Some challenges that we ran into while testing were:
- water was washing away the nanoparticles from the magnet area.
       we will solve this by measuring the water's velocity, pressure, and drag force applied on the surface of the tubing; and we will buy magnets that have higher magnetic strength, and that would resist the water's drag force.