Bom dia!

 

My first full week in Barretos has come to a close and it has been a whirlwind. Paula and I arrived in Barretos on Sunday evening. After a total travel time of 21 hours from my home in Los Angeles to Barretos, Brazil I was very happy to have made it to our apartment Bela Vista. After buying some groceries and getting settled I was ready to start on Monday to see and learn about the great work that Hospital de Amor does.

 

Our first couple of days in the Hospital de Amor were mostly spent touring the different facilities and wards of the hospital. We were invited to see everything including the research labs/animal testing units, the children’s cancer hospital, medical school, prosthetics factory, and the main cancer hospital which connects them all. Everyone was so welcoming and willing to share the great work that they are doing to better the lives of these families who live throughout Brazil and have come here to receive treatment.

In totality I found the prosthetics lab to be the most interesting space. I was unaware of the number of measurements and steps which are required to produce one prosthetic. It is these large number of steps which also mean that often times patients who have lost limbs and have recurring cancer may never see their prosthetic completed due to recurrence complications. I also found the prosthetics lab to be interesting as they serve patients of all ages who have sadly lost limbs due to excessive cancer growths. As such, I have been considering means to help expedite the prosthetics fitting process while at the same time not compromising the quality of the measurements. Perhaps with greater research and background knowledge, I will be able to contribute in such a way that can help expedite and improve the prosthetics fitting process.

 

In addition to brainstorming for my own personal project while in Barretos, Paula and I were able to talk to doctors about some of the projects we brought from Rice. We were able to meet with doctors about the WounderWoman vacuum wound sealer and the ACE: Anal Cancer Examination Model.

 

With the WounderWoman project, our main goal is to improve upon the actual functioning of the device as Dr. Vinicius Vasquez was not able to get the prototype he received from the previous team to work. Paula and I will be looking into the circuitry and pump mechanism to see if we can improve upon the suction created so that greater force can be applied. We would also like to lengthen the battery life and perhaps add on a plug so that the device can be plugged into an outlet during more lengthy treatments in one location.

 

With the ACE: Anal Cancer Examination Model we received feedback from Dr. Luis Romagnolo that ACE may be better used as a model for hemorrhoids than for cancer. He said cancer is often complicated to model and can be found within a variety of locations within the anal canal. Hemroids, on the other hand, are usually found within one region. Therefore per Dr. Luis’s request, we will be adjusting the model to represent hemorrhoids at different stages. He said that the model would be great for training doctoral students and testing them on the different stages to see how well they can recognize different forms of required treatment.

Looking forward there is much to do in our time here in Barretos. With the following week, Paula and I aim to have new hemorrhoid inserts prepared for the ACE model and a better grasp of what needs to be adjusted in the WounderWoman device. I also personally hope that through our additional meetings with doctors this week that I will better be able to determine what personal project I would like to work on while here. So, as the sun sets on my first week in Barretos I look forward to seeing what is to come and how I will be able to contribute to the treatment of these patients.