From our trip to Irazu Volcano on Saturday to having a spontaneous movie night Sunday night to our busy but exciting work-week at the hospital, this week was one of the best ones yet!
Hola from Irazu!
Hace Frio!
On Saturday, the GMI cohort decided to head to Irazu. We all boarded our bus in San Jose at 8 am and arrived at Irazu at 10:06 am. On the way, as we started climbing the volcano, it began raining and the weather gradually began getting colder. Stepping off the bus, I was quite surprised to experience such cold temperatures after experiencing warmer weather back in San Jose and sweating just the day before from our walk back from work. I was definitely not prepared for the brutal wind chill but felt lucky that I had brought a jacket as I had doubted packing one in the morning haha! Despite the weather, the view was absolutely breathtaking (just like every place we have visited so far, Costa Rica has amazing scenic views)!!! Just being there and looking at the volcano and the nature that surrounded it made me feel complete bliss. Every few minutes, the fog blanketed the entire landscape making it appear like we were on the moon for a brief second haha. Check out the pictures below!
Irazu Volcano!
Pictures do not do justice to Irazu’s beauty!
Our bus was scheduled to leave Irazu at 12:30 pm so we had quite some time to spend just admiring the beauty while struggling in the cold haha. No matter how many pictures I had taken or how red and numb my hands had become from the cold, I was still unable to satisfy my desire to document everything I saw at Irazu. To anyone reading this, you have to go to Irazu to experience its stunning sight.
GMI at Irazu!
Laurel, Jhalak, and I at Irazu! (Sitting on the fence was quite scary haha)
Was able to squeeze a picture just in time as the fog cleared out.
After exploring the volcano, we decided to treat ourselves to some sweets and warm hot chocolate. Then we boarded our bus and headed to Cartago and then took another bus from there to get to San Jose. After arriving in San Jose, we then all walked back to Selina where we took a small break and then Ubered to Escazu where Haruto and Vanessa were staying. We ate at Papadog and then went to POPS right across from it for ice cream!! Saturday was definitely a day for the books!
Cookies and Cream Ice Cream at POPS!
The next day, we spent time relaxing. After a late breakfast, I worked on some personal work for most of the day before cooking dinner with everyone and then having a spontaneous movie night with popcorn in the Selina movie theater! The weekend was perfect for taking a break from work and just having fun with the cohort as we explored Costa Rica.
Jhalak, Katy, and I are movie night ready 🙂
“Ideas are the building blocks of ideas” – Jason Zebehazy
Laurel and I brainstorming clinical need solutions!
Our time at Hospital Clinica Biblica was spent mostly doing research, brainstorming, and prototyping (my favorite part). After having conducted tons of clinical needs finding in the different departments we had shadowed in so far, Laurel and I translated our observations into ideas and into small-scale models to better communicate our solutions. As we spent hours brainstorming and developing design criteria, it was interesting to see how ideas developed into more ideas the more we discussed and shared them.
Low-Fidelity Prototyping at Hospital Clinica Biblica is so much fun!
Here are some examples of our prototypes from this week. The first image is a small-scale device to help detect Trigeminal Neuralgia. Trigeminal neuralgia is a condition in which the trigeminal nerve is compressed by nearby blood vessels causing the patient to experience severe pain on the lateral side of their face. Unfortunately, this condition does not have a diagnostic tool, rather physicians currently use MRI and CT scans to rule out other etiologies. For this reason, we brainstormed a list of possible ideas and ultimately came down to the development of a doppler device that can detect the velocity of the blood in the vessel. The change in blood velocity can help to relay blood vessel compression as well its depth into the skin.
Low-Fidelity Prototyping for a solution to help detect Trigeminal Neuralgia
Essentially, the blue cylinder with the spherical shaped foam is the component that will be placed onto the patient’s skin and the small rectangular shaped screen will help to reflect the data obtained.
The next clinical need finding was conducted for the detection of the gram-negative bacteria: P. Aeruginosa. This bacteria is very common in hospitals and can grow on almost any surface. Importantly, P. Aeruginosa is antibiotic-resistant, and patients with immunocompromised systems that become infected with this bacteria end up dying. For this reason, here is need for a medical device utilizing UV-C to help detect and/or destroy this gram-negative bacterium in hospitals/clinics to reduce fatality in patients that have compromised immune systems.
Device to help detect and kill gram-negative bacteria in hospitals
As seen from my prototyping model above, the device uses a combination of UV-C light and fluorescence detectors to identify and kill this gram-negative bacteria.
After having built multiple small-scale prototypes for different problems we observed, our next step will be to show our models to the hospital staff in their respective specialties to communicate our idea and gain feedback. Laurel and I can’t wait to share our work with everyone at the hospital! While prototyping, in general, is a critical step to help translate ideas into 3-D physical models, being able to eventually build and test the device is even more important. Hopefully, we can a get a chance to further our work in the future 🙂
On the Other Side of Things
Throughout the week, Laurel and I found fun ways to relax in between our brainstorming and prototyping sessions. We made delicious meals and ended up having a feast in our room as well as a picnic on the roof.
Our picnic was un-beet-able!
It’s simple and spontaneous moments like these that make the journey so much more meaningful. Here is a picture of us having lunch on the roof at Selina! Laurel made the most delicious dish with beet and we made a pretty tasty sandwich for lunch with it. One of many things this Costa Rica trip has taught me is that simplicity brings so much happiness! Up until now, there have been so many moments that have allowed me to step back and be thankful even when everything isn’t perfect. I’m definitely going to miss my time here! As I approach my last week here in Costa Rica, I am trying to make the most out my last few days at my internship at Hospital Clinica Biblica and in San Jose. So stay tuned for more 🙂
Picnic on the roof!
~ Raniyah 🙂