Today, was an eventful first day. We had multiple successes at both Hospital Infantil de Juan Pablo and INCAN (an adult cancer hospital). At both hospitals we were first briefed on the extent of their healthcare services and the impressively large number of patients they treat. Furthermore, we were informed that many patients pay little to no fees during their visits; these hospitals function on donated equipment, funding, and dedicated staff. Specifically at INCAN, the doctors work (almost pro bono) for the hospital. As a result, the hospital is busiest in the morning before the doctors return to their private practice. However, love of medicine and their fellow neighbors keeps them engaged in treating the less fortunate. We will be spotlighting some of the major accomplishments today later in the post, but first.... FOOD!
We had a wonderful breakfast and lunch at the hotel and hospital (respectively), but it was dinner that took the cake or should we say pad thai. Tres Elefantes was muy delicioso (excuse the Spanglish). It was a restaurant that served Thai, Indian, and Cantonese food. The main take away was the sharing of our meals in a family style manner. This allowed us to try many of the wonderful dishes and eat until we physically could not consume anymore.
Now the most important part, our projects! Today featured an enormous range of devices; we worked with del Valle students and faculty on everything thing from infusion pumps and anesthesia machines to ultrasound printers and infant warmers (or as Nick calls them, baby heaters). To our excitement, we experienced a great deal of progress on most of our devices. We leave you tonight with a highlight of those successes, commentated by those who helped achieve them.
Candace and Ari: Ultrasound Printer
Honestly, who knew headphones were so versatile? At INCAN,
we were faced with a Sony Ultrasound printer problem. Unfortunately, the print
button had been giving the radiologist problems. We were able to see another
working ultrasound printer with an external button that plugged into the back
of the printer. Ari and I brainstormed with Miguel and Alejandro to devise a
new plan for an external button. Being the music fiends we were, we realized
that the input jack of the external button looked vaguely similar to our
headphones. On a whim, we decided to plug in my apple headphones to the back of
the ultrasound printer. VOILA! We had ultrasound images. With this new
information, we found an audio jack on a scavenger hunt through Novex and
rewired a new button.
Seiver and Sheng-Yau: Infusion Pump
This afternoon while at INCAN we worked on a Woo Young Medical Infusion Pump which was not functioning correctly because all buttons resulted in a ‘HOLD’ signal. After going upstairs in the hospital to see a functioning unit, myself, Sheng-Yau, Diego, and, Marlon believed that the device needed a hard reset. After taking apart the device we found that all it needed was the hard resent and then the device was returned to working form. It was very exciting because initially we were not sure that we would be able to fix the device after an initial appraisal of the internal circuitry it did not appear that we would be able to fix the device. This made it especially
exciting when a hard reset did work!!
Austin: Microtome
The best part of my day was working with Edwin, an electrical engineering student from Universidad del Valle. I was consistently grateful for the del Valle students’ technical skill and friendliness. It was great getting to make a new friend, learn about another culture, and get a tremendous amount of help on the equipment at the same time. At INCAN, me, Edwin, and Sophie installed a microtome head
that was donated from a generous medical supply company in the States. This part allowed this machine to work with the types of samples they used every day. A technician in the pathology department was able to use the new part, and, upon seeing it, the director told us, “This was
worth the whole trip.”
No comments:
Post a Comment