Ray Henson
Portland High School
Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science 

Dr. Michael Miga, Biomedical Modeling Lab 

My research was conducted with the aid of Jared Weis. We developed a phantom that served as a representation of the healing callous of a mouse tibia. I tested several callous materials, but in all cases a toothpick represented the bone of the mouse tibia. The polysilicone materials, Dragonskin and Oomoo, and the urethane rubber material, Vytaflex 60, approximated the callous of healing bone. We tested the resistance of these materials to the deformation of elongation (tension) on an electric tensiometer. The Vytaflex 60 urethane rubber material mimicked callous deformation more closely than the other two materials. This material closely resembled the cartilage at the healing site.  

I focused on the stress testing aspect from our research and applied it to structures and their resistance to the stresses of high winds of tornadoes.