Wow, we only have two weeks left in Costa Rica! The summer has gone by so fast, but I am starting to get homesick and am ready to see my family again before moving down to Houston. Last week, Annie and I got to start doing some testing for our guidewire test method project. We learned that we still have quite a few kinks to work out before starting to collect data, so we will be working on that this week. We need to design a better fixture for the Instron to hold our synthetic venous tissue, and we need to decide whether or not we want to use a catheter to provide support to the guidewire during testing. The biggest problem we have right now is that the guidewire prolapsed during testing, so the Instron wasn’t able to register any force. We thought that using the catheter would avoid prolapse, but it did not help. It is possible that the Instron is not sensitive enough to be used for this application, and we may need to rethink our test method design. In the meantime, I have been writing a report and making a presentation on our preliminary testing results to show our team later this week.
In my free time, I have been catching up on all of the DialOasis documentation. Paula and I will be leading DialOasis this year, so we are trying to set up meetings with our collaborators here in Costa Rica to find out more about their expectations for the project. The purpose of DialOasis is to create a small room, or “cuartito,” to provide a clean environment where patients can perform peritoneal dialysis at home. Chronic kidney disease is becoming an epidemic in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, mostly among young men who are agricultural workers. The suspected causes of this epidemic are the hot working conditions, and dehydration. The value of DialOasis is that it will allow patients to perform treatment in their homes, giving them the opportunity to continue working, and saving time and expenses incurred by traveling to the nearest hospital, which can be a few hours away for some patients. The idea for the cuartito stemmed from the percentage of dialysis patients whose homes are not suitable for at-home treatment. The hope is that the cuartito would allow all patients who wanted to, to perform their dialysis at home so that they can continue supporting their families.
According to the documentation, last year’s team wanted us to complete and submit the paperwork for a two-week pilot study that was to be finished by the end of the summer. The purpose of the study would be to get the DialOasis cuartito into the homes of five patients to get feedback on the design and usability. However, since we have just begun familiarizing ourselves with the project, I think this deadline is going to be significantly pushed back. When our group attempted to assemble the prototype at Invenio, we had a difficult time and identified a few pain points of the design. There are also differences between the prototype that Invenio currently has and the prototype that is documented. Hopefully Paula and I will be able to meet with our collaborators and talk with them about the current design and future steps.
Last weekend may have been my favorite trip yet. We went to the cloud forests of Monteverde, which were unlike anything else we’ve seen so far. On Saturday, we hiked during the day and saw the continental divide and a beautiful waterfall. Saturday night, we took a guided night walk through the forest, because most animals are nocturnal and you can see the most activity at night. We headed out with our flashlights and the first thing we saw was a Boa Constrictor, yikes! We also ran into a tarantula, scorpion, sloth, kinkajou, and a blue-capped motmot. Sunday morning, we went ziplining, which was my favorite part of the trip. We got to fly “superman style” on two of the lines, which was so amazing. There was also a “tarzan swing,” where you walked out on a flimsy bridge really high in the sky and basically bungee jumped a few stories, then swung through the trees. It was probably the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I was so happy I did it. We had so much fun and I definitely want to zipline again. Maybe when we visit for DialOasis during the year we’ll make another trip to Monteverde. Ciao!
Hanging Bridge
Ziplining in Monteverde