Exploratory
The majority of New Projects are in the Exploratory or early Product Development (PD) stage. This means that the Research and Development (R&D) department is very open to improvements and variations to the design. I’ve always been intrigued by the R&D department because of the amount of design, prototyping and innovation present. Through this internship I have learned that the exploratory engineers in PD work very closely with R&D and share some of the same work. So far, I have been assembling prototypes of products, testing their function and then suggesting areas of improvement regarding their design to PD and R&D. It is unbelievable that I am making decisions and influencing the design of a device which will eventually save a person’s life.
In two of my projects, where I am working with Exploratory and PD engineers, we are reimagining medicine in some way. A lot of the technology already exists, however it can be combined and used more effectively. For instance, one of my projects is using a material (that is commonly used by BSCI for one product) in a novel application for another product. In addition, having a supplier engineer perspective has been especially useful while working with the PD engineers because I have the expertise and resources of all BSCI’s existing materials and vendors.
This week, I have thought a lot about what I find so interesting and rewarding within medical device design and what I’d like my initial career to be. In many cases, completely preventable and treatable diseases claim lives because access to healthcare is so limited. Improving this reality can be done in many ways such as policy reformation, advocacy, education and many more. Personally, I hope to help with device design because I believe technology has an enormous potential to disrupt the delivery of healthcare globally, particularly in areas where health professionals and infrastructure are scarce. Being one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, Boston Scientific has a great opportunity to help bring positive change to areas of the world that need it. As for my future career, I haven’t made much progress about a specific job title, however I came up with a checklist. It must:
- Contain creativity and design thinking
- Allow for medical devices or treatment to be more economically accessible to all populations
- Incorporate listening and working with health professionals and patients in order to fully define unmet medical needs
MilkyWaves
We received our implementation project assignment for the rest of the year and I am working with Christine as the project lead for MilkyWaves. MilkyWaves is a device to improve fat delivery via enteral feeding to increase the rate of weight gain in premature infants. Seventy-five percent of these deaths could be prevented with access to existing technology and for these premature infants, receiving adequate nutrition is especially important. I am very excited to work with health professionals here in Costa Rica but also the Texas Medical Center back in Houston. Moreover, along with bench testing and manufacturing, I am really excited to write and conduct a clinical trial. I am eager to learn about this important part of the validation process within medical device development because I will inevitably be exposed to clinical trial design and conduct later on.
Surfing
Our group spent the weekend in beautiful (and dry) Guanacaste. A few of us took advantage of the waves and decided to give surfing a try. Even though I left the ocean covered in bruises and scrapes, I caught enough waves to deem it a successful experience. It’s hard not to feel lucky when you’re swimming in crystal clear water with a Jurassic World backdrop.
Pre Surf