Week 2: Forging Ahead

Greetings again! 

Week two of my SRP was quite a whirlwind!

 This week marked the end of the daily-meeting craziness of the FRC Robotics Build Season (finished on Tuesday). It came down to the wire but in the end the Bit Buckets rallied and the robot (see CAD at left) looked pretty fine. We still have work to do for the team—some of the systems need quite a bit of fine tuning, awards need to be submitted, a practice robot must be build, the drivers need practice—so we will still be having meetings 3-4 times a week. But I digress... 




In terms of my SRP this week was VERY exciting because it marked the beginning of my internship at the University Medical Center. There I am working with an interdisciplinary group called iCAMP, which is led by the great Dr. Najafi and focuses on using bio-instrumentation based on advanced wired/wireless capabilities to help patients suffering from a slue of problems including chronic pain, frailty, osteoarthritis, wounds, sports injuries and diabetes. The atmosphere there is extremely collaborative with surgeons, engineers and clinicians all working together on dozens of projects simultaneously. While I will be working predominantly on the Orpyx study, I will also be involved in a number of different projects to get a sense for ALL the work that goes on there. My work there will complement my work with the Pascua Yaqui diabetes program in giving me a sense for the clinical/investigative side to disease prevention.  

The Orpyx study is so named for the device it is testing—a smart shoe designed by the Canadian company Orpyx Medical Technologies. This shoe is designed to help diabetic patients suffering with peripheral neuropathy from developing dangerous and painful foot ulcers. For a little background: peripheral neuropathy is a problem that arises in about 70% of diabetes cases and involves the loss of sensation in the extremities. Individuals with reduced sensation in their feet are more likely to exert excessive pressure on their feet because they do not feel the pain such pressure causes. As a result, patients with peripheral neuropathy are prone to developing calluses and ulcers that can ultimately lead to amputation. Treating ulcers is extremely expensive and constitutes a majority of the cost of treating diabetes on a national scale. The Orpyx device hopes to help this problem by providing patients with feedback about the pressure they are putting on their feet. The actual device consists of two parts: 1. a pressure sensitive insole, and 2. a smart watch that wirelessly receives pressure data from the insole. The idea is that when pressure reaches a certain dangerous threshold for a certain amount of time (about 15 minutes) it notifies the user via the smart watch. The watch then stores the information on how many warnings the user received over time and how quickly the user offloaded foot pressure. I am interested in whether the preventative nature of such wearable devices has the potential to radically reduce the incidences of ulcers and consequently save on health care costs. 

This week I also delved into work on a number of other projects including one investigating the effects of an exercise program in dialysis patients and one looking at gait analysis in diabetes patients with peripheral neuropathy. I did a lot of literature review for both projects and wrote up a report for each study. After that I did data analysis work for the gait study. This work is giving me a good sense of how the process of a clinical study works. 

Shout-outs: Before I end here I would like to give a few quick shout-outs to things that helped make this week awesome. First, thanks to the Tucson Sun Link (street car) which I have been riding everyday to work. It is wonderful. Especially when combined with reading (re-reading in this case) Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. I learned that one of my favorite humans on the planet, Dr. Oliver Sacks was diagnosed with terminal cancer this week and am consequently rereading all the books I have of his. He is such a remarkable man and has added so much awesomeness to this universe. Because of this, my second shout-out goes out to Dr. Sacks. I am so grateful he exists. Lastly while I do not play video games, I do often find their scores to be very good work music. This week the soundtrack to Civilization 5 allowed played through a majority of my work day. :) 


Note: As I am very busy I did not go into as extreme detail as possible with regard to the studies. If you are confused or want me to elaborate on any aspect of my work, let me know and I will be more than happy to discuss further.