UMass 2

Inspiration

A few years ago, Paige was on vacation in Maine and happened to stumble upon a Moose tour! Eager to see one, Paige jumped on the tour bus at dusk and patiently waited. While she was waiting, there was a moose fact song playing, and that's where it all started. The children's song highlighted how moose antlers are the fastest growing bone in the animal kingdom. Coupled with curiosity and a little background in biomaterials, Paige's imagination started taking over. How could we take this impressive regenerative aspect of antler bone and apply it to the human body to help prevent, treat, and even improve injuries?

What it does

Our product Alkass, combines the technology of stem cell therapy and a stint, implant, or bioglass to increase bone regeneration. We theorize that we can utilize antler cells to reinvigorate the human cell environment, fixing the balance between the buildup and breakdown of bone. Placing these cultured cells within the body along with a stint, implant, or bioglass may aid in natural healing, and the absorption of these cells may allow the bone to regrow back to its intended strength.

How we built it

We 3-D printed all the bones that we used for the demonstration. Most of our project is theoretically based and modeled by Play-doh.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into some significant challenges. We got stuck figuring out how we can actually "prove" this science. At the end of the day, we decided to trust our intuition, data we found online, and the biomaterials knowledge we have and connected them all. It was difficult at times trying to talk about systems we may have only heard of once, but it pushed us to broaden our spectrum and sought out answers to these questions.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

There are so many things that we were able to do in such a short amount of time that we never dreamed was possible. It was one of the first times we talked about theoretical science outside of a classroom. We used our education to design, create, and implement a product for the first time.

What we learned

We have learned that no matter how many roadblocks we may face, as long as we keep working together and continue to problem solve effectively, we can overcome it all and succeed.

What's next for UMass 2

We have some serious plans for UMass 2 and our product Alkass. We are going to introduce our project to our professors to hopefully solidify the science behind it.