Seventh grade students in Sue Taber’s Wareham Middle School class are now “clot catchers.”

In a recent science experiment, students were challenged design a clot catcher device to prevent a blood clot from becoming an embolism and traveling to the heart.

Drawing upon what they have learned about blood flow and the circulatory system, the seventh-graders determined that the vena cava — the vein that carries blood from the lower half of the body to the heart — was the best vein in which to place a blood clot catcher.

The challenge was to catch the clot while allowing blood to flow at an acceptable rate, Taber explained. The students learned how to calculate blood flow in their math classes.

Students placed their clot catchers in a model vena cava made out of pipes, then filled the vena cava with water and placed a clot in the flow machine. Then they calculated how long it took for 750 milliliters of blood to flow through the vena cava.

The students rated their catcher based on how well it caught the clot, if it stayed in place, and if the blood flowed at an acceptable rate.

Check out the photos and video below to see the students in action.