Georgia and I are 25 meetings, six days, and two pineapples into our time at Hospital de Amor. We have spent the past three days talking with doctors and touring facilities to learn more about the hospital, its programs, and potential collaborative projects with doctors.
Carolina, Georgia, and Thiago of AME discussing the facility’s educational materials.
While two months is a long time, unfortunately it is not long enough to see all of these projects through. However, Georgia and I have selected a shared project and our own personal project to complete for the hospital before our departure.
My personal project is with Dr. Wilson of the nuclear medicine department. The issue at hand involves nuclear solutions that are contained in a lead canister, which clinicians invert to draw a syringe. They then check and double check the amount drawn using a nuclear dose chamber.
The monitor reflecting nuclear material measurements in the dose chamber.
Drawing 100 syringes a day increases radioactive risk for the clinician and strains their muscles. (Dr. Wilson handed me the lead canister to emphasize this point and trust me, it’s very heavy). The task is to develop a syringe pump for the nuclear solution that takes into account remaining radioactivity (measured in millicurie), the material’s half-life, and time after the draw for patient administration.
Ideas for possible solutions began to flood my mind but before diving into research and design, I wanted to get a stronger understanding of available materials. Carolina led me to meet with a clinical engineer whose role in the hospital is to troubleshoot any and all broken equipment. “Any tool the hospital has will be here,” she explained to me. The engineer walked us through onsite materials and said if I needed any parts that I didn’t see there, they will order it.
“Some parts cost more than others, so how much more is too expensive?” I asked Carolina. Keeping costs low is a common constraint for engineering projects, so much so that it’s often a given. In the United States, I have an understanding of what parts are considered expensive and what are considered cheap. In Barretos, however, I have no idea. Thus, I’ve added the following line to my mental project statement: while minimizing cost based on the hospital’s budget without compromising the efficacy of the device.
On Friday morning, Georgia and I will propose our personal projects for approval to Dr. Edmundo, the director of the hospital. Between now and then, there will be a lot of research and follow-up emails. With the Wi-Fi password and our desk assignments, it is time to get to work!