Creating 2nd Generation Sample via Hydration

Creation of HP/HC  (Scott Smith, K9 Service Dogs of Virginia)

1. The scent sample is placed in 3 oz of distilled water, shaken and left for 15 min
2. The distilled water is then sprayed onto new gauze (or cotton) pads which will be double bagged and frozen.
3. The original sample may then be removed from the distilled water and used for training. 
1. Excess liquid may be extracted from the HP by placing wet sample between 2 spoons and pressing
2. Reserve the excess water

Re: the spritzer used for creating HC

I've been making samples once a month. I buy a cheap spray bottle and run it though the dishwasher twice with no soap. Then I rinse the inside of the bottle with distilled water a couple of times, put the top on and spray a few times. After I've made the samples, I throw it out.   (SS)

NOTE:  For our testing purposes, we hydrated using 2 oz of distilled water instead of 3 oz, as Scott suggests.


Scott hydration demo:

 

Hypotheses and Assumptions

Four more tests to go and Nad will have completed all the scheduled tests on unadulterated sample collected from Donor 3 on 8/19/12.       (Done.)

Then we will begin hydration testing.

That is telling us that 2 month old sample is still viable.

Which means that sample collected from one donor could have been used in the training of a seizure alert dog for 2 months.

And if, as Scott Smith, Tidewater K9s,  has found with hydrated blood glucose saliva sample, he is able to add an additional month of testing using hydration produced second generation sample, that adds an additional month of training opportunity with this single sample collection.

Dr Dana Sue Hardin, Eli Lilly researcher, is finding in her testing of saliva blood glucose sample, that her unadulterated sample appears viable up to 3 weeks before indicating a breakdown of scent or appearance of biological contamination.

Means of preservation is playing a huge role in longevity of sample.

And acquisition of donor sample continues to be the greatest challenge - for testing and, ultimately will be for training as well.

The Seizure Alert Project presently has two dogs in two locations testing sample from multiple donors.  Our minimum goal is to have sample from 3 different donors tested using the Testing Plan for Donor Sample before making hypotheses or assumptions.  We hope to have the opportunity to compare Multi Donor Sample following that Testing Plan.  The test for Viability Age will be ongoing.

But it is difficult to refrain from making premature assumptions as we watch these dogs work the scent wheel with such confidence and assurance.

New Considerations

As testing progresses, it is also being refined.  And new questions and considerations present themselves.

What is the influence of bacteria upon the sample?  We have come across our first sample that shows physical contamination.  We cancelled the test (I:D Saliva Target Sample with donor non-seizure sample) but preserved the contaminated sample by re-freezing it.  We will use it for testing purposes once we determine how to conduct the test.

How small can a sample be to be effective?  We received a single saliva seizure sample and a single skin swab seizure sample and cut it in half diagonally, creating 2 sample.  But could we have successfully tested if the gauze pad had been cut into quarters?  Or eighths?

When we remember that the ultimate goal of our testing is to collect empirical information about seizure sample to be used for training purposes, then the greatest potential of even a single sample is critical knowledge to have.  So we shall add another tests regarding sample size.

If we are able to find an appropriate donor, does pre-ictal sample have the same scent as post ictal scent?  We want to first complete multiple tests of current sample types with multiple donors tested with multiple dogs before pursuing this possibility.

Dr Hardin reports that in her seizure scent research, all roads lead back to the hormone, prolactin.  What opportunities do we have in the SAP to pursue that avenue?  And then that thinking leads us to wonder, could synthetic prolactin be a viable scent source for training seizure alert?

Yesterday, while working with a veteran with PTSD, Nad performed what might be interpreted as an untrained alert behavior when the Marine experienced the beginnings of a panic attack.  He was sweating.  Nad has been testing skin sweat sample this week.

Could Nad have been reacting to sweat production?  He easily discerns the difference between non-event skin sweat sample vs seizure skin sweat sample on the scent wheel.

Could there be a common element found in a panic attack and also in a seizure?  And could we find an answer through our testing?

We have asked for panic attack sample from Freedom Dogs Marines.....saliva, skin sweat swabs and clothing.  We must remember to also ask for non-event sample.

The Service Dogs of Virginia have successfully trained 4 working DAD (Diabetic Alert Dogs) using unadulterated clothing sample that is stored at room temperature for training purposes.  We are planning to take a portion of the clothing sample from Donor 3 and preserve and test it following the Service Dogs of Virginia model.

Ending a Test

When do we conclude a test?

• When the test meets the Baseline Criteria, of course.

• Because we don't begin having the dog testing live sample until we are confident that she has a thorough understanding of all tests performed on the test wheel, we will consider the scent to not be viable when the dog has completed 3 subsequent sets with an AB of 80% success rate or lower.

Whenever a test is concluded (TC) without meeting the Baseline Criteria, using the current Sample we will re-introduce the test in a teaching model.  If, after completion of the entire scope of re-teaching the test, the SS appears to have a viable, detectable scent, the test may then be repeated.

Repeated tests will be indicated within parenthesis.  i.e.  SS Test I:C (2)

Any test may be repeated once per Sample before it is considered to be not viable for training purposes.

Testing Options Presented by Clothing

How to handle the clothing sample from Donor 3?

What do we want to test?

• Is there identifiable scent in the clothing?
• We want to compare clothing sample with saliva sample.
• We want to compare clothing sample with sweat sample.
• We want to test the easiest method of using clothing sample - tested dry, stored in a bag indefinitely.
• We want to test dry clothing sample and preserved by freezing.
• We want to compare the two.
• are they equally strong?
• do they age equally?
• We want to compare dry clothing sample with saliva sample and with sweat sample
• Hydration
• We want to test the strength of HC
• Created from water infused with the nightgown itself
• Created from water infused with a square of the nightgown
• We want to preserve (via freezing) water that has been infused w/hydrated clothing for delayed hydration of HC.  Is frozen infused water valuable/usable?
• We want to test HC created and frozen the same way we hydrate and preserve saliva HC.

Additional information that we can obtain through testing?

Hydration Challenges

Because we have such limited saliva and sweat sample from Donor 3, we are going to have to hydrate one half of the original before any testing begins.  This means that each single saliva gauze and sweat gauze will need to be cut in half (diagonally) prior to hydration.  One half of each will be reserved for non-hydrated testing.

We will follow the Scott Smith protocol for hydration:

1.  The scent sample is placed in 3 oz of distilled water, shaken and left for 15 min.

2.  The distilled water is then sprayed onto  new gauze (or cotton) pads which will be double bagged and frozen.

3.  The original sample may then be removed from the distilled water and used for training.

 Hydrate as many HC as the water permits.

Then the HP will be used for testing.

Refer to Dog 2 Testing: Days 4 - 6.  She was testing the HP.  What can we learn from that testing?  The sample is described as "soaked".  That was the residual distilled water remaining from the hydrating process.  How can we improve upon our procedure?

• no odor detected from frozen sample
• the sample became effective at room temp
• HC made from this HP were effective, as was the HP

The main question here:  How can we best utilize the "extra" water remaining in the HP and, in the process, minimize the amount of water remaining in the HP?

Another HP possibility:  What if we do NOT freeze the HP, but merely refrigerate it for storage and use it at room temperature for testing?

How can we extract the extra water from the HP without contaminating it?

Trial Times

Why is it important to notate the length of each trial?

I don't know.  But it is collectible data.  And at some point in the future of the project as we are compiling the data and making hypotheses, it may be important.  So we collect it now.  Rather than wishing in retrospect that we had.

The time each trial takes the dog to complete is impacted by a wide variety of conditions:  time spent searching for the scent, time spent searching for the treat, time spent turning the wheel, time spent resetting the dog, time spent on duration of the indicator.  The number of repetitions. And the obvious, the strength of the scent.

Just as it is human nature for the trainer to want to see rates of success of 90% and 100% on each trial, it is also human nature when the trainer wants to see the dog complete the trial efficiently, confidently and quickly.

But that's not necessarily the name of the game.  And it doesn't necessarily indicate a mastery of the job at hand.

So, whenever possible, we record the length of each trial.  And trust.

Variables vs Distractions

This is how I define these two terms in light of testing the viability of the seizure scent.

If I am testing a sample that is on a hydrated cotton square and if I am testing on a six container scent wheel, then the SS sample is in one container and hydrated cotton squares without SS are in the other five.  One Sample.  5 Dummies.  Variables.

If I am testing a sample that is on a dry gauze pad and if I am testing on a six container scent wheel, then the SS sample is in one container and dry gauze pads without SS are in the other five.  One Sample.  5 Dummies.  Variables.

If I am testing TWO SS samples on a single scent wheel, then the remaining four containers on the wheel contain unscented sample dummies.  Variables.

I might even conduct a test with SS sample in one condition and have the dummies have different conditions.  A hydrated SS sample on cotton and dummies of hydrated cotton, dry gauze.  But all would be SS sample related.  This might be a test to tell if the dog is alerting to SS or to wet cotton, for example.

In my mind, this is testing the scent.  This is the job of Phase 1.

When it comes to distractions, I include kibble, toys, anything else that is different from sample in my definition of distractions.  In my thinking, teaching the dog to search out the scent from other optional scents is Phase 2: Teaching the Dog to Search and Locate.  To Monitor and Locate.  But it is separate and apart from testing the scent itself.  No less valuable.  No less important.  But different.  Phase 2.

In Phase 2 we are using the scent that we know is viable because we determined its viability in Phase 1.

It's a fine line, I know.  And I may be totally off base and misguided in my thinking.  Diabetic Alert Dog trainers know that the scent they use is viable.  They have even measured it and tested it against their BG monitors.

There is no way to measure seizure scent and there won't be until, as a result of our Phase 1 testing of SS sample, it is used to train several Seizure Alert Dogs that are working successfully.

Phase 1 is the first step up the path.

CAVEAT:  Before the testing of live SS begins, the dog must first be taught how to play the "find the scent" game.  And, be introduced to the Scent Wheel.  During this training process it is assumed that distractions (as defined above) will be used so that the dog understands all the parameters of the game.  The criteria of switching from training mode to testing mode should be a) eager enthusiasm for the game; b) being able to find and alert to 3 different scents on the scent wheel; c) clear and consistent alerts.

Testing the Scent Sample

Robert Milner speaks to our challenge .....

"It sounds like you are doing a great job.  If I were going to train a dog to alert on impending seizures I would first try to determine whether a seizure alert dog is responding to an odor change or to a minute behavioral change in the patient.

If it were odor, I would want to know what the odor was and what its persistence was before I made the huge assumption that the clothing worn during a seizure was a valid target odor upon which to train a dog to alert. 

The easy part is that of training the dog.  The hard part is figuring out what target to train him on."

Read the entire conversation with Robert Milner found in the Research Index.