Sarah, Catherine and I came to Malawi with a lot of different medical device prototypes and ideas. Some of them were products of global health and senior design classes that need feedback for further modifications. A lot of space in our suitcases was occupied by parts of theoretical designs that we anticipated prototyping with our Poly friends during our internship. We also carried a significant amount of general prototyping materials, so that if we discovered any particular opportunities for completely new designs, we would have what we needed to build our ideas.
On our very first day in the lab, Christina, Andrew, Francis and Charles had a ton of great feedback about the prototypes we already had built. One of the first devices we demonstrated was a heating system for the bCPAP device. The bCPAP is used for patients who are premature and have difficulty keeping their lungs open to breathe. The device uses positive pressure to deliver air to the patient’s lungs, but the air is not warm which can be a problem as patients this fragile also often have trouble with thermoregulation. The device we showed to the Poly interns was designed by Sarah and some other students at Rice this past semester. A large nylon sleeve containing resistance wires is snapped around the bCPAP tubing, and is attached at one end to a small circuit box. With the flip of a switch on the circuit box, the resistance wires in the sleeve heat up, and the air in the bCPAP tubing is also heated. By the time the air in the tubing reaches the patient, it has been warmed to body temperature. A temperature sensor at the patient end of the tubing acts as a feedback system to ensure that the device is maintaining body temperature and not overheating the patient.
Andrew explaining a modification to the bCPAP circuit
Immediately after Sarah explained to us the specifications of the heater, the Poly interns had a number of ideas for improvements. The first one was an additional safety component of the circuit, which restricted the total possible amount of voltage that the resistance wires would receive. This ensured that even during a power surge or a short in the circuit, the patient would not be exposed to extreme heat. The second was a method of adapting the wall power in Malawi to a level that the circuit would be able to handle. This would reduce the cost of the device and make it more adaptable by eliminating the need for a special power cord. Instead, any power cord with the right connection to the circuit box and a plug that fits in a Malawian outlet can be used. To be honest, a lot of the electrical engineering components of this internship so far have been a little bit out of my realm of expertise. I’m lucky that Christina, Francis, Andrew and Sarah- the electrical engineers on the team- are so willing to slow down and help to explain things to me. I have been receiving an excellent education so far in circuit design and function, which is something I’m sure will come in handy in the future.
The things I’ve learned in the past week aren’t just restricted to prototyping and circuits. I have worked on a number of different engineering teams during my time at Rice, and I have experienced exposure to a new culture before, but this trip is the first time for be to do both in tandem. Our intern team can be much more creative in our ideas for modifications to devices or future design projects because of our different backgrounds. And working together as partners with the Poly students has given me so much more insight into Malawian life and culture. Working with fellow students allows us to use shared experiences such as life in college or our passion for engineering as a platform on which we can understand one another, and with this foundation we have a much better perspective about how our personal and cultural differences define us. I have high expectations for the next two months ahead of me, and I hope that by the end of them I can bring back with me a real understanding of the lives of my new friends.