This week Sarah and I shadowed Dr. Bogantes while he tended to consults with patients that suffer from neuromuscular diseases. It was of special interest for us to learn about a type of procedure done in patients with certain types of drug-resistant epilepsy which implants an electrical stimulator connected to the vagus nerve. Dr. Bogantes explained to us that sensory stimulation or controlled movements often “disperse” through the zone of excitement in the brain, creating mini-zones of neuron in refractory period, which cannot conduct bio-signals until recovering a couple of milliseconds later. The stimulator takes advantage of this phenomenon by stimulating the vagus nerve continuously with a low amplitude pulse at a set frequency to reduce the occurrence of epileptic crisis by preventing their spread on the brain using the refractory period zones as a barrier. If patients are able to react and tend to their “auras” (the feeling of a big epileptic crisis coming) then they can also signal the stimulator to discharge a much larger amplitude stimulus to terminate the crisis from occurring.
We have continued working in the TCD helmet project, but have encountered issues with availability of resources in Costa Rica. We are dealing with having to pay to get specific springs made, and certain screws and inserts simply not being available at all (with no time to send them to get sent from the US). We have been experimenting with different sizes, materials and designs of the transducer holders, I think we are finally setting into one specific revision. This week after some modifications, we are gonna try to 3D print the helmet section specifically, I hope we have more luck with that.
On the weekend, some of the cohort and I went to La Fortuna; I was very excited about it since I’ve personally never been to the region despite living my whole life in Costa Rica. We partook in a whole-day tour going from hiking near the Arenal Volcano, to visiting the La Fortuna Waterfall, and finally going for a dip in the geothermal springs. I managed to take some very nice photos with my DSLR and other great shots with my phone. Swimming in the pond just after the waterfall was also incredibly refreshing. The next day we hanged out most of the morning before going to Lake Arenal for some paddleboarding, it was my first time doing it, but I really enjoyed it and now want to do it more often.
