Today’s activities started off with a lecture on balance and the different things that can inhibit balance. Examples of this include neurological problems, vestibular problems, or muscular problems. We then talked about different devices that have been created to help people regain balance depending on the cause of their loss of balance. One example of…
Category: Plus3 Spain
Day 9- Workshop day!
Today we started the day at the School of Engineering, where we visited one of the research groups working in the labs. They gave us a presentation about a wheelchair they were developing that used sensors to track a patient’s center of mass. It was really interesting to see how engineering and healthcare can work…
Bilbao Day 9: Mitgating Patient Falls and Real Art
The temperate air and cool breeze felt refreshing on our walk over to the Bilbao School of Engineering in the morning. Saioa met us at the front of the school as we walked upstairs to the bioengineering lab. In a brief demonstration, two students showed us their current projects, which were a forearm crutch and…
Day ten in Bilbao!
Today was another great day in Bilbao! We started off by learning about the balance machine at the university! It was very interesting to learn about the three factors to balance, visual, auditory, and vestibular. It was also interesting to learn about base of support, center of mass, and center of pressure. We learned about…
Balance(ing) Life in Bilbao
We had an interesting start to our day by listening to an engineering professor discuss his research and development of the Balance device. This project is about designing a platform system that can be used to help diagnose balance problems. It is similar to the Oreka-Balance machine, but instead of one connected platform, its two…
Day nine in Bilbao!
Today was another fun day in Bilbao! We started off by doing our workshop! My team was tasked with creating a method to increase dignity during defecation for hospital patients who need to use a bedpan or diaper. We decided to redesign a bed for hospice patients that is mostly hands-off for the nurses. The…
Day 9: Design Workshop and Museum!!
Today was another fantastic day in Bilbao! We started off the day early with a great breakfast from the hotel, and then headed over to the engineering school where we first met with a research group in the biomedical engineering laboratory to talk about the various devices that they were developing, in particular a mobile…
Day 9: Workshopping & Appreciating
To start day 9 in Bilbao, we visited a research lab at the University of the Basque Country’s School of Engineering. Here, they focus on sensor devices instead of the assistance devices that we have seen so far. One of their current designs is a crutch than can detect that in the event someone falls,…
Day 9: Workshop and Museum!
Today was one of the most interactive and collaborative days we’ve had so far in Bilbao! In the morning, we headed to the engineering school where we learned about a research project involving smart wheelchairs designed to monitor pressure distribution and patient positioning. The team demonstrated how the sensors respond to shifts in body weight…
Balance Workshop and Stadium Tour
We spent most of our day completing a workshop about balance. Throughout this program we have been learning about the Oreka-Balance project that our guest professors Saioa and Mikel have been working on. This project’s goal is to create a device that quantitatively measures a patient’s balance. They created a platform with force sensors that…
Marvelous Monday: Design Project Edition
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…
Day 9- The Sore System
We started off our day at the School of Engineering. We were in the biomedical engineering laboratory and learned from a research group their research in wheel chairs and sensors. We learned about the research they were doing in developing sensors to detect pressure in wheel chairs. It was cool to be able to hear…
Bilbao Day 9: The Workshop
Today focused on problem-solving and collaboration, especially in relation to healthcare and patient care. We started the day with a workshop where we were given different problems that can occur in hospitals, such as patients getting injured while trying to stand up or developing bed sores from staying in one position too long. Working in…
Day 9 in Bilbao!!
Today we went right to the school of engineering and was there for a good chunk of time. We started in the lab listening to another research team about their project. A wheelchair with sensors, that tracks the center of mass of the patient and provides that information to the doctors. We got a quick…
Day 9: Developing New Devices
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…
Bilbao Day 9: Design and Development
Today, we headed over to the School of Engineering right after breakfast. We visited a research group to learn about different types of wheelchairs and how they can be better suited for patients needing long-term care. The specific wheelchair we looked at had pressure sensors designed to help prevent falls by tracking the patient’s center…
Day 8: Flea Market, Flowers, & Funicular. Fun!
What a fun day in Bilbao! We started off our day with a visit to a cafe that specializes in the famous Bilbao dessert of churros and chocolate. I unfortunately did not partake, but my smoothie was great instead! We then took a stroll to a nearby plaza where a small market was taking place…
Day 8: It’s Time to Create!
Today we started our the day in the bioengineering lab of the engineering school where two of Saioa’s research partners presented a wheelchair designed with sensors to detect patients balance while in the chair and determine how there weight is distributed and if or how a fall out of the chair occurs. The design typically…
Day 7 in Heaven!
Today we started out our mother’s day morning by grabbing churros and chocolate with Saioa. They were huge (and very delicious of course)! Then we headed into town to stop by a few flea markets. The first one was small and had lots of artistic jewelry and graphic shirts which were very cool. We then…
Bilbao Day 8: The Funicular
Today was more relaxed and focused on exploring different parts of Bilbao and experiencing more of the local culture. We started the morning by trying churros with chocolate, which was different from the version commonly found in the United States. The churros were not coated in sugar and were much less sweet, which paired well…