We began our second Monday in Spain by visiting a research group in the engineering school at the university. Their work focuses on utilizing sensors to understand when and how a patient is at risk of losing their balance and falling off wheelchairs, and further customizations to better accommodate patients. They were also working on an app to help record angles of movement, and it was really cool to see how the phone was able to recognize people in frame.
After that, we broke into our groups to do our patient scenario workshop project. My group was assigned to design a prototype for safer and more efficient patient transport. One of the common problems in hospitals is transferring patients to other beds safely, both for the patients and the staff. We acted out the scenarios to better understand how both the patients and nurses feel when transferring, and recognize what struggles exist. We realized that using a stiff board would help ensure patient stability compared to just using a bedsheet. However, the movement of physically lifting the patient can put a lot of strain on healthcare workers, especially if it’s a task they perform for an extended period of time. With this in mind, we designed a stiff board that helps roll the patient from one bed to another. The mechanism is similar to a desk drawer or the rolling tables in airport security. The board is made up of two separate sheets, with wheels-like cylinders in between them. These sit on rails like how the wheels for drawers do. This design also includes a head-neck support and straps to ensure that the patient’s body remains still, especially to preserve position for spinal cord injury patients. The straps also make sure that a patients arms or legs don’t get in the way of the nurses which could cause potential harm to both parties involved in the transfer. It was really exciting to work with my team on this design project, and we even got to make a prototype out of clay!
After our workshop we continued our day by visiting a fine arts museum. There we got to see a lot of contemporary art. My favorite piece was one made up of only vertical brushstrokes, but an honorable mention goes to the 3-dimensional crocheted artwork. Following our visit to the museum the whole group went and did some shopping together, and it was lovely to spend some extra time with the whole group. We finished off our night with dinner and it was a lovely end to our day!
