¿Qué tal amigos y amigas?
Yesterday marked the end of the needs finding bootcamp hosted by Professor Casey Howard. I truly enjoyed this experience and cherished the opportunity to see medical devices in action. Even though I am a bioengineer, I hadn’t previously seen or learned about many of the devices I saw being used in the hospital. A quick recap of what I saw:
- Nerve conduction studies
- Pediatric respiratory therapy
- EEG interpretation to diagnose epilepsy
- Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt – a procedure that treats hydrocephalus by draining extra fluid from the brain into the peritoneum within the abdomen
Many of the doctors I shadowed were able to explain the devices from both the engineering and medical standpoints which was so helpful. Here are a couple interesting observations I made:
- During nerve conduction studies, two electrodes are placed over the nerve and stimulated. The time taken for current to travel between the two electrodes is recorded. Then, the physician measures the distance between the two electrodes using a measuring tape. Lastly, the formula, velocity = distance/time, was used to calculate the velocity of the nerve impulse generated via stimulation. I wondered if there were automated means to measure the distance used in this calculation, so I searched it up. Interestingly, there aren’t currently any means to automatically measure the distance, but there is a patent which outlines an idea to create a tool for this purpose.
- In pediatric respiratory therapy, I noticed that some patients were in the prone position rather than supine. When I asked about this, the therapist told me this was a way to help increase expansion of the lungs. I’d never seen this before so it was pretty interesting to me.
- EEG’s are complex but filled with valuable information. Although I didn’t fully grasp the complexity of the EEG, I did encounter some familiar concepts. I learned about β, 𝛂, θ, 𝚫 waves which I was slightly familiar with from my prior psychology studies. The neurologist explained the use of resistive and capacitive filters in EEG processing. The neurologist also explained the use of a familiar engineering concept, fast fourier transform, in determining the frequency of the EEG waves.
- One thing that really stood out to me during the VP shunt procedure was how difficult it was for the surgeon to push the distal catheter up towards the brain. I wondered if this was a pain point I could address as an engineer.
I’ll stop here because I don’t want this to turn into a recap of my Needs Finding Observation assignment! On another note, I met Costa Rican students and got to connect with my fellow Rice students 🦉 which was so exciting. So far my favorite Costa Rican breakfast has been Gallo Pinto (rice, beans, and eggs) 🍚🫘🍳. Other than that, I am working on my Spanish, which is definitely a challenging but interesting experience for me. To end, check out a cool banana tree in CR! Adiós!
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