Month: June 2023

Weeks 2 & 3: Almost to Prototyping!

Posted on by Diya Gupta

Hi everyone, it’s Diya again with a blog!

Wow, the second and third weeks of my internship have already finished. Time seems to be moving so fast perhaps because every single day, working 9-5, has actually been so fun. I genuinely have been looking forward to every new day at work as the progress we have been making on our projects is so exciting and I’m learning so much!

So during the beginning of our second week, I actually joined the SEED team working on the gastric suction project in addition to my breast cancer screening training model project. My teammates for this project are Mina, Parnika, and Precious. Thus our team name is Team PuMPeD! The gastric suction project was previously a capstone engineering design project by Team BellyTubbies. Our goal for this project in the summer was to simplify and strengthen the electronics of the current prototype and design a better form factor for the device. 

Here are the work updates on both projects:

  1. Breast Cancer Screening Training Model: We wrapped a lot of important context research these two weeks and are almost done with our design criteria (need to get them checked with Dr. Taylor before finalizing). After a meeting with our clients from MD Anderson, we decided to work on the CBE screening training model rather than the diagnostic biopsy training model. The clinicians recommended that this model was probably a slightly higher priority for them based on the current needs in target countries. We also decided to have weekly in person meetings with our clinician mentors which would allow Phillip and I to go into their MD Anderson office and show them the models we’ve worked on that week. This would allow them to physically feel the mock tissue of our models and give us feedback. Because how the breast feels is hard to quantify, we resolved as a team that the most effective means of prototyping and iterating would be to get regular in person feedback from the clinicians. Thus we’ve also been working on learning Rhino to create a 3D printed mold for the breast and researching materials we can use to create our initial prototypes. We’ve placed some materials orders and these should be arriving early next week so that we can begin initial prototyping based on our current ideas. Our first in person meeting with the clinicians is on the coming Wednesday!
  2. Improved Gastric Suction Device: Because I joined the SEED team one week later, I initially just worked on catching up on a lot of the reading and documentation for the project. After we got the previous team’s prototype from Dr. Nejad, we also worked on reassembling the circuitry and tubing in order to better understand the mechanics and electronics of how the device works. This was a really fun learning experience as we got to really “get our hands dirty” working with Arduinos and thinking through the fluid transport logic. After this, we had a big group brainstorming session and began morphing and screening our ideas. Hopefully early next week we can place some materials orders and get to prototyping!

In addition to working on projects, this week also had some other exciting events! As we concluded our orientation for our internship, the Malawi and Tanzania interns took off to their respective countries early this week. All of us showed up to the BRC Monday morning to send off the Malawi interns who were flying out first. We discussed sending each other pictures on updates from work and daily life from the 3 different countries the 7 of us are in this summer. Additionally, some fellow interns from Nigeria actually flew in on Wednesday, so it was very nice to have lunch with them and hear a little about their lives and take them on a campus tour. I’m excited to learn more about them and their experiences and to share mine! Hopefully we can continue to have lunch with them as this gives us some time to interact with them outside of work as well. 

Finally, I want to talk about the networking lunch that took place this past Thursday. My table really had some wonderful discussions and I came out of that lunch feeling quite inspired. I learned about the paths that several of the guests took to get to working in Bioengineering or Global Health. This was super interesting to me as these are the fields I am thinking of pursuing as of right now. It also made me realize how unique and special Rice 360 and Nest 360 are and made me feel very grateful for being at Rice and for the opportunity to be an intern with them. As a result of the orientation discussions and this lunch I am sure that I want to work in the field of global health to some degree, both as an undergrad and even sometime in the future. As a result of my two projects – one more Bioengineering and one quite Electrical Engineering, I’ve also realized that I want to take a couple of electrical engineering classes to learn how to do basic circuitry and electronics. In summary, hearing about the field of global health from so many amazing and accomplished professors, mentors, and guests has been very inspiring so far. 

Until next week! – Diya 

Week 1: New Beginnings

Posted on by Philip DuBose

Hey everybody!
 
My name is Philip DuBose, a rising senior at Jones College majoring in Cognitive Sciences and minoring in Global Health Technologies. I am very grateful to be working as a part of Rice360’s Houston-based internship team this summer!  As such, I’d like to extend a special welcome to my Rice360 blog! 
 
I’ve read a lot of these blog posts in the past, and it seems the consensus is that the first week moves quicker than you expect. My experience, without a doubt, has been no exception. This first week was a crash course into exploring global health and the engineering design process. We’ve had a lot of fun, yet truly meaningful collaborations with the SEED interns, as well as some of our colleagues from abroad that will be joining us in Houston in the next couple of weeks! I say truly meaningful as in every single one of these meetings, we were able to form something beautiful: a connection.
 
This is one of the main reasons why I feel drawn to the field of Global Health. To not just attempt to solve a problem, but instead truly understand, empathize, and care for each other in the face of adversity is such a powerful thing. That was the mission in each of these meetings, and it felt as though everyone was on the same page. Even in this first week, I have gained so much perspective! I’m excited to gain even more as this journey continues.
 
As for the project this summer, my teammate Diya Gupta (please go check out her blog too!) and I are going to be working together on a breast cancer training model. For the direction of this training model, in all honesty, we are somewhat caught between two options. One is a low-cost breast cancer screening model that trains clinicians on how to perform clinical breast examinations (CBEs). The second is a breast cancer biopsy model that would train clinicians to perform core needle biopsies with the assistance of ultrasound. We’ve been hard at work researching both potential projects, and in turn, this generated a lot of questions. Almost too many to count! We’ve met about 3 times with our internship lead Dr. Ashley Taylor, and once more with another vital member of the Rice360 team, Dr. Meaghan Bond. While by all means, we would like to jump into this project, what matters more is that we have the right foundation and understanding of the problem at hand. This being the case, this upcoming week we are planning on meeting a group of clinicians at MD Anderson, as well as a few of our Rice360 colleagues to ask some questions to better define our need.
 
I never imagined I’d be working side by side with doctors –not this early on in my life, at the very least. Are the nerves there? Absolutely. But I’m choosing to place more of my energy on preparing to learn and get this project started!
 
I’m so excited to embark on this new journey. Thank you all for tuning in and I hope you’ll stay around for the next blog post!

First Week: Meeting New People, Workshops, & Projects!

Posted on by Diya Gupta

Hello! My name is Diya Gupta and I am a rising sophomore majoring in Bioengineering and minoring in Data Science! I’m also from Brown College. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting updates, experiences, and reflections while working as a summer Rice360 intern! I’m super excited and grateful for the opportunity to work on global health related engineering design projects with an amazing team of people! 

Before diving into my blog, I’d like to tell you a little more about myself. I’m from Seattle, Washington, and my family is originally from Maharashtra, India. Apart from classes, I’m a dancer on Rice Rasikas (classical Indian dance team), and very involved with Rice’s South Asian Society. I’m also a Peer Academic Advisor and a part of clubs like Biokind Analytics and Rice Medical Design. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, grown, and learned through my freshman year at Rice, and I can’t wait for what this summer and future years hold!

After much anticipation and excitement for the past month since school ended, this was finally the first week of our internship! The internship proceeded with an amazing start as I got to know an amazing team of intern colleagues and mentors, participated in several meaningful workshops and discussions, and got introduced to my projects for the summer. On our first day, Dr. Ashley Taylor initiated discussion on what each of our goals and values were. In reflection this was such a meaningful conversation that allowed me to verbalize what I valued most and made me feel more grounded and accountable towards my motivations and reasons for being an intern at Rice360. Even as I got my projects through the rest of the week, I kept in mind the values and goals I discussed to frame my approach to the tasks for the week. There were also several other important workshops during the week on situational awareness and protocols in other countries, ethics in global health, cultural humility and understanding, and historical perspectives. Dr. Taylor, along with other mentors, shared some of their personal stories and experiences with these subjects when they were working outside the US which really helped me unpack and ponder what global health, and this internship, meant to both me and other people in different settings. 

On the second day of the internship, we were introduced to our projects! Along with my teammate, Phillip DuBose (go check his blog too!), I’ll be working with clinicians at MD Anderson to build a breast cancer screening and/or diagnosis training model. Previously, MD Anderson, the WHO, and Rice 360 have worked extensively to expand access to cervical cancer screening through the LUCIA training model. However, access to breast cancer screening and diagnosis in low-income countries such as Mozambique remains extremely limited, leading to numerous preventable instances of undiagnosed and later stage breast cancer. Thus, access to screening and diagnosis is a top priority for our clinical mentors at MD Anderson. Furthermore, as per our research this week, we found that the WHO has also just very recently launched a Global Breast Cancer initiative this year. There is a clear need and push for expanding access to breast cancer screening and diagnosis Phillip and I are very excited to work on this summer. However as we learned about this tremendous need and impactful project idea, we also had many, many questions for many different people. We met with Dr. Meaghan Bond at Rice360 to discuss the work of Team Breast Test, who had worked on a similar project in 2018 and with Dr. Taylor to clarify the project scope and the purpose, target, and goals of the model. From these meetings, we collected that there were two main ways we could go about this:

  1. Model 1: Provides training for breast cancer screening through clinical breast examination. The benign and malignant breasts should look and feel right for appropriate training. This model should also account for benign lesions/tumors. 
  2. Model 2: Provides training for breast cancer diagnosis through ultrasound guided core needle biopsy. The lesions and tissue in this model need to look right inside on the ultrasound. This model should account for the gradual removal/deterioration of the model through practicing the core needle biopsy on it. 

However, we have crucial questions about both these models that we need to discuss with the clinicians at MD Anderson before proceeding with either model. Thus, in the next week we will be focusing on meeting several mentors such as the clinicians, Rice360 fellows who worked on the LUCIA model, and other colleagues at Rice360 in order to better define and address the needs of our target population. Furthermore, we will work on flushing out our Design Context Review and starting work on making Design Criteria for the engineering project.

Excited for another week and diving deeper into our project!

Until next week,

Diya