Today was our 9th day in Bilbao! After our usual early morning breakfast, we walked to the newer building of the School of Engineering. We spent the first part of the morning in the lab learning about a different research team that is developing special wheelchairs with sensors that collect data on the pressure placement in the patient. They showed us the different types of data they collected and did a short demonstration with placing their weight differently in the chair. We then transitioned into preparing our minds for creativity within our projects. We started with some fun activities like drawing ourselves now and what we think will be in 10 years to get ready to brainstorm for our projects. We were split into 4 groups and given a topic; mitigating falls, bedsores, patient transfer, and dignity during deification. Our task was to participate in some role playing of certain hospital scenarios regarding to your topic. My topic was mitigating falls. After each scenario, we reflected what we didn’t expect and how we could invent something that could improve the issue in some way. We then entered the brainstorming phase of the project. Me and my group came up with a three level bed rail system that had a mattress with pressure sensors that could automatically rise when the bed detected the patient about to fall. We started by drawing out our idea and then transitioned into making a small prototype. After all the groups finished constructed their prototype, we presented them. Once we presented, the rest of the students would ask questions and provide some constructive criticism. One thing others noticed about our idea was that it would be hard to differentiate between when the patient would be moving positions during sleep and when the patient might be falling.
After lunch, we walked in the pouring rain to Fine Arts Museum to look at some contemporary art. We learned a lot about Denise Scott Brown and her work in analyzing the architecture of the Las Vegas strip. She noticed that all of the attractive parts of buildings on the strip were facing the road and that it was meant to be seen in a car. Overall today was an amazing, thought provoking day. I loved how we got to simulate the process of developing a new medical device with my peers! I can’t believe we only have 3 days left.
