Day 3 brought a balance of work and play into our routine, as we spent the first half of the day listening to fascinating bioengineering lectures and the second half exploring the Guggenheim Museum.  In the morning, the Bilbao professor that we are connected with, Saioa Herrero, talked about her research with Hospital Gorliz. Over the past 7 years, Dr. Herrero developed a balance machine meant to correct the unsteady balance of a stroke patient. The device consists of a platform, with three sensors around the perimeter, which track a person’s force in each direction. These sensors are crucial to determine how off balance a person is, and how they maintain their balance. It was fascinating looking at the data from this device and learning that people mainly use their knees and hips to center themselves. I am really excited to visit the Hospital Gorliz tomorrow and see this technology in action! 

The second lecture was led by Professor Borovetz, who first talked about the University of Pittsburgh and then his research within the school. I was really fascinated by his invention of the Pediaflow, a pediatric ventricular device that was the size of a double a battery and could be implanted into kids as small as 5 kilos. He explained that this technology was designed to rehabilitate the heart, ultimately strengthening it does not need extra assistance. I loved how the focus of the presentations today was rehabilitation science, and how the researchers are constantly working with and communicating with their patients!