Author: mayasingh95
End of Week Reflection
Wow! This class has been a whirlwind! As we were creating our final project, I was able to actually take a second and think about our design process. I think creating our presentation forced us to convey the steps we took to reach our “final” prototype to our audience which in turn helped us solidify and recognize the process even though it flew by so quickly. It has been so rewarding to be able to work with an actual patient and hear about their everyday struggles and then try to create a device to help them. I think it was so useful to have the opportunity to then show the patient the product we created, get their feedback and then make alterations that they suggested that we hadn’t even thought about to begin with. It shows how valuable an outside opinion really is, and the fact that the opinion is that of an actual patient is the icing on the cake.
As far as the personal health project goes, I hope that my partner is able to recognize the times that he is most likely to go to the gym and then use some of the motivation strategies we tried out to actually then get to the gym! In a perfect world, I would have loved to try different motivation strategies and also conduct many more trials of each strategy to really solidify what works best for him. Thanks for an awesome class, everyone!
Middle of Week 2 Update
We are continuing to make good progress on our patient health project! The iterative design process has really been coming to life the past few days. It is interesting to see how many small alterations to a prototype can result in a very different second version. A key component to our design is scaling it down which has been tricky but we are doing our best. The most exciting part for me so far was actually the first prototype where we saw the device actually work for the first time! It was crazy to see the idea that we developed conceptually was able to come to life physically.
The personal health project is also coming along well, although with the J-term class getting busier it has been harder to implement changes into my partner’s pre-existing habits. I personally have tried his suggestions to alter my workout routine and the first time around it didn’t work very well but the second time around I found my workout was much more intense and efficient. Hopefully, I can continue his suggestions even after J-term ends.
Start of Week 2 Progress
I am currently live blogging from our patient health project meeting! We are making quite a bit of progress and have been conducting tests for data collection. Our first task was to see if insulin is conductive. We were able to successfully determine that insulin IS conductive and is quite a bit more conductive than the skin. This will help us detect a gradient of conductivity when insulin begins pooling on the skin when tunneling occurs. We made sure to test the insulin on parts of the body/skin that are commonly used as insertion sites. We even began trying to create simulations of the tunneling phenomenon by injecting the cannula of the insertion site into silicone and hot glue (ethylene-vinyl acetate). The silicone worked fairly well, but the hot glue was simply too hard when it dried to accept the cannula. This is just the beginning for us!
Additionally , I’m glad to report that my first motivation method for my partner for the Personal Health Project was successful. We agreed to go to the gym after class together and we both followed through on our commitment and went! We went at the time that I deemed most appropriate according to the preliminary motivation data (afternoon). Tomorrow I will try a different motivation method and see how he responds to that.
-Maya
Days 2 and 3 Reflection
We are off to a great start with our personal health projects! My partner has been very willing to provide me with his schedule and his motivation to go to the gym throughout the day. This data will hopefully give me some insight into the times which he is most likely to go to the gym during the day. Additionally, I found that creating a “Journey Map” of his day also gave me some qualitative data as to how he is generally feeling at different points in the day. I think my task is a bit tricky because motivation is something that is pretty internal, but, hopefully finding the time that he is most motivated and suggesting he go to the gym at that time will optimize his willingness and schedule. I am also considering geographic location during the day because the closer you are to the gym the easier it is to go. Especially during the semester, if my partner’s last class is in the E-School and he is willing to pack gym clothes he can simply go to the AFC right after class (I often do that and find it very convenient).
The patient health project is also going very well! We were able to observe our patient doing physical activity/exercise and saw how their condition effected their ability to participate. We spoke with the patient for quite a bit of time learning more about their personal experiences with the condition and how treatments and technologies for the condition are far from perfect. We even got some insight into some of the social movements that are occurring in which the patients are taking innovation into their own hands because the technology for treatment is not evolving fast enough in industry. There is some very interesting stuff out there!
-Maya
Day 1 Reflection and Moving Forward
After meeting our patients today, I am super excited for what the next couple weeks will bring. I was particularly impressed by how all of the patients were not only willing to open up to us about their lives, but also were in such great spirits while doing so. The amount of new information I learned from them was so much and so interesting, to the point where it was almost overwhelming. Tonight, I plan to do some research to clarify some things our patients mentioned (devices, blood sugar readings, A1C levels) to understand their lives a little better. I will also try to learn more about our patient’s disease which will help me ask more specific questions and give me some knowledge to reference moving forward. I feel like once we formulate some thoughtful questions for our patient and get a better idea of their everyday lifestyle we will be able to zoom in on a specific issue we’d like to tackle. Additionally, I went to the gym today and recorded my typical exercise routine as my partner for the personal health project requested, so that we can create a more structured workout regiment for me.
-Maya
BME Design 