They are likely too young to remember, but West Ferris Grade 9 students Caleb Charette and Riley Geisler may both be the North Bay versions of Doogie Howser M.D.
For those of you too young to recall, that was a late 1980’s TV series based on a 16-year-old brilliant teenage doctor played by well known, now adult actor, Neil Patrick Harris.
These two doctor hopefuls are perhaps surpassing the fictional character from more than 25 years ago.
You see, Riley and Caleb have teamed up on a completely unique project in which they have used the school’s 3D printer to create a two-third scale print of a human heart. The heart was designed by using a 3D MRI that was taken of a patient, and then it was turned into a 3D model that was printed on the printer at the school. The small heart took about 15 hours to print.
“This is an innovation type science project. We were given a task of creating a science fair project and we tried to incorporate all the technology we have at our school because we are both very interested in medicine, that’s our future career path,” said Geisler who most definitely resembles a young Neil Patrick Harris.
What is most amazing is these grade nine students in the STEAM program at West Ferris are doing something that has never really been done before.
“Right now this heart is proof of concept that it is possible, even at a high school, to print a 3D heart,” said Charette.
“So if we had a medical grade printer we could print a functioning 3D heart that you could put into a person, and that’s never been done before.”
Charette and Geisler are actually doing the project as part of a very high tech science fair project which will be part of the North Bay Regional Science Fair which they are optimistic will lead them to the National Science Fair.
The two students believe the STEAM program, short for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, will give them an advantage when they both go to medical school.
“What we think now will be much different than when we are older, but this gives us a head start above other people and we can use it to our advantage, and if we get noticed it would help us in the future getting into things like medical schools and whatnot,” said Charette.
Both teenagers have been working with a company out of California to provide them with the proper silicon to create a real full scale heart.
They hope the 3D heart project doesn’t end after acquiring a science fair ribbon.
“It’s never been done before and with the materials we have been able to create this, and say we were able to get a research grant, how much further this project could go is really exciting,” said Geisler.
