This week has been a very eventful week, to say the least. The week began with a 2-day HealthTech boot camp. While the first day primarily focused on the history and overall mission of the hospital, the second day delved more into the projects being developed by start-ups throughout Brazil. We got to hear a bit more about a project that really interested me during our tour of the children’s cancer hospital. Doctors were able to determine that children who were about to undergo surgical procedures experienced higher levels of stress and anxiety leading up to their procedure. In many cases, these feelings manifested themselves after the surgery and even impacted the child’s recovery. One of the doctors developed a solution that “gamified” the anesthesia process by incorporating VR into the procedure. The VR included a little avatar that explained the process like “missions” the child needed to complete.
Early this week we also met with a Brazilian start-up named Unawave. They are currently working on creating a more efficient way to screen for skin cancer. They are using Infrared light to visualize skin lesions with the hope of implementing an AI or machine learning model to determine if these lesions are at high risk of being skin cancer. After the boot camp, we met with them separately to discuss ideas and it seems their next steps involve simplifying and automating the total body mapping for skin cancer screening. While we still haven’t narrowed down our project this could be a super interesting avenue for further research (More details coming soon 🙂
Later in the week, we had another project pitched to us which included combining a couple of projects to optimize the biopsy process in the hospitals’ mobile units. These projects include a 3D-printed microscope developed by Baylor and a 3D-printed processing station for biopsy samples. This was also a very interesting project that has a ton of promise not only here in Brazil but in places like Africa where there is a lack of pathologists. Essentially this project would allow on-site biopsies to be processed and imaged right there and there instead of the current standard which can take anywhere fro 10 days to 50 days. This week has definitely given us a lot to think about!
We also took some time to get to know the city of Barretos otherwise known as the rodeo capital of the world. We got the chance to see the space where 1.2 million people from all around the world are expected to arrive in about 2 months. While there wasn’t anything going on we walked around and got to visit the Rodeo Museum right on the property. However what I was most excited for was the giant Cowboy statue that welcomes you into the Arena. I can definitely see myself coming back to witness the rodeo in its full glory.
We finally ended the week off with a hunt for the best cappuccino in the city. The verdict is still out but I will keep you all posted with the current rankings!
- IRCAD Cafe
- Cafe Camilo
- Bona Vita Cafe
