Today we took the metro to Gorliz hospital this morning, I feel like a local with how comfortable I am on the metro. After we arrived at the very end of the metro line we took a bus to the hospital. My first impressions were that this was in fact a hotel and not a hospital. From the breathtaking scenery and the white building with blue accents, the hospital has an amazing location. One fun fact I learned today was that there is a scene from Game of Thrones that was shot at this exact hospital! Besides loving the outside I found the hospital itself very impressive.
Inside the hospital we were fortunate enough to visit every area in the hospital, as it is mainly a rehabilitation hospital where patients stay for about 30-45 days and then continue their regime through an outpatient care program. From a more medical side we visited rooms with breathtaking views of the water and a beautiful balcony, the x-ray room, and the pharmacy. Also we were able to see the outpatient center for children who receive treatment only through the outpatient program.
On the more technical side we were able to see the Oreka-Balance project prototype and was actually able to see it in action. My first impressions was that the platform was much higher of the ground than I thought it would be, and honestly was much larger in scale than I thought. I really enjoyed seeing the graphing technology working when someone was demonstrating how the device worked. I believe that this technology will be useful in the future and hearing how the team has worked with 5 patients so far and 3 more next week really allows me to understand the timeline for creating a clinical trial.
The last area we saw in the hospital was what I would call the treatment area. In this area I was able to see many nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists work with actual patients and see how medical devices aid the rehabilitation process. I was even able to try one out called the Galieo. This machine basically stimulated the muscles in the patients legs, to persevere the function of muscles in patients who have trouble walking or have little to no usage of their lower body. When I stepped on this machine it felt like pins and needles almost throughout my entire legs and somewhat into my back depending on how much I bent my legs. So even though this is one of the more basic devices it has the ability to help many patients. However, I think my favorite machine was bascially an assisted treadmill that helps patients change their gait and walk the “proper way”. This device adressed the problem of overcompensation for a bad leg, bad hip, bad knee etc., leading to a limp or improprer walking. So this machine basically forces the legs to walk in the correct way and then tries to re-wire the brain somewhat that the way the pateint is walking on the treadmill is the correct way. This approach in forcing the brain to re-learn how to walk is so fascinating to me because it honeslty shows how much mentaility impacts the healing of a person.
I think that this visit to the hospital was one of my favorites of the trip so far, because I got to see so many real world applications of medical devices and practices in acton. The visit allowed me to see that medical devices made by research groups actually are used in practice and can change a patients life for the better. Making me feel proud to a biomedical engineering major, it also doesn’t hurt that the view from the hospital was absolutely breathtaking.
We then ended the day with seeing “El Alma En Un Tango”, an opera in the Arriaga theater. The theater was breathtaking and so intricate I was glad I was able to see it. The opera itself was very good and was in awe of how good all the musicians were. Speaking of musicians, Saioa from our trip was a performer in the group and it was so nice seeing her preform. I was in awe of her talent from a technical perceptive before and hearing her sing was truly impressive. I had never been to an opera before so I was glad this was my first experience!
