Project Portfolio
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Partner Meeting Notes
Meeting with Niki Saxena on 04/10/2018
Converting from inches to feet to etc
The absolute necessities
Has to measure a child
Accuracy
Current is +/- half inch
This is not good enough
Research standards of FDA standards for measuring height
What are best practices
Consistency
Relatively independent of a child's position
Heels to wall is hard
Independent of nurse
regarding getting kids to stand in the right position
Nurse may be too small to measure
Repetitive uses should show same numbers
Efficiency
<15 seconds would be great
<5 seconds would be amazing
Price
Has to be cheap
<$200
Space conscious design
Dream-world capabilities
Voice enabled measurer - “siri measure”
Ability to share that data - SMS - Electronic Health Record
Pull in other data sources
What does the height mean for the child
Can the child ride rides at disney land
Do they need a booster seat
Predictive capabilities
Percentile of population
How tall they will be
Dot imaging idea:
The device will not have to be in the hallway, but it would be difficult to put it somewhere else
Meet from 9-11am saturday?
Plan on checking in with her in two week blocks
Wants idea of prototype by 5/10
Wants dress rehearsal around memorial day weekend
Pediatric wellness group
801 Brewster Ave #175
Idea #1
04/11/2018
Our original project idea involved creating a computer imaging app that was able to take a picture and/or video of a patient and figure out the person’s maximum height based off of a series of calculations. I really liked this idea because I think it would be very accurate and enable the doctors to capture a specific moment in time if the patient would only stand for a few seconds.
Reason for failure:
One reason that this couldn’t work is that the budget would not be able to support the tablet/phone and tri pod needed to make this work. Also, our partner wants to have at least two measuring stations in the pediatrics center that would allow for more efficiency. Another reason is that the current measuring stations, which are the best locations to measure patients at, are located in very narrow hallways that would not allow for a camera to capture the full image of a person.
Pediatrics Center Visit
04/14/2018
Over the first weekend of working on this project. My group and I visited Niki Saxena at the Pediatric Wellness Group center. Niki took us on a tour of the office, introducing us to some of the staff and giving us a better Idea of the challenge of our project. Many of or previous ideas for the project were put to rest after seeing some of the challenges we had to overcome. For starters, the pediatrics center currently has two stadiometers which means that whatever we make has to be half a as cheap as we had originally hoped since our budget is relatively small. Another, problem that was brought to our attention was that one of the stadiometers is located right at the entrance of where people enter the exam rooms. This means that there is a lot of foot traffic, making not much room for a large device, or something with cords that would get in the way of nurses and patients. Another problem is that the stadiometers are in the narrow hallways which would make any idea involving imaging, in which you would have to have a camera at a distance, would be difficult, if not impossible. Niki also warned us that the center is a children's pediatric center and the aesthetic of whatever we make has to be generally pleasing. Therefore, something like a grid mounted on the wall would be undesirable. Overall the visit was very informative and really gave my group and me a good idea of what we needed to accomplish.
After we were able to see the majority of the pediatrics center we sat down and did some brainstorming about what our options were. After some thought and discussion we were able to find a type of sensor that uses ultra sonic sound signals to detect the distance between the two sensors. For now, this is our favorite idea. The project would include the coding of and arduino that is linked with the two sensors to give a reading of distance. Additionally we would have the two sensors attached to an ankle brace and a hat which would therefore give us the patients height. This idea is relatively cheap and I think it would give us the accurate measurement that we are looking for.
We plan to meet with Niki on Tuesday April 17th to present this idea to her and make sure it is something that she thinks would suit their needs.
Team Contract
Rules that Team has Agreed to and Signed
ENGR 110 CBED - Team Contract
Team: JP Alvarez, Patrick Kirk, Alice Matsuda, Randol Spaulding and Rafael Bravo
Community Partner: Dr. Nikki Saxena at PWG
Goals - What are our team goals for this project? What do we want to accomplish? What skills do we want to develop or refine?
Have something tangible that works, to a certain extent, by the end
Further understand how to deal with the wants and needs of a customer, especially in pediatrics
Advance skills in imaging, computer engineering, etc. (depending on the design)
Expectations - What do we expect of one another in regard to quality of work, attendance at meetings, participation, frequency of communication, etc.?
Meet once to twice every week (depending on workload)
Set workload accordingly to each member’s skill set and share workload equally.
Communication among group members will be done through Slack.
Get assignments of jobs done and back to the group on time
Policies & Procedures - What rules can we agree on to help us meet our goals and expectations? How will decisions be made? How will you save evidence of each member's contributions to the project and ensure all members have access to all team documents?
Use Slack to communicate: inform the group if someone will be absent to a meeting.
Decisions will be made as a team: ideas can be expressed through Slack to ensure everyone can view it.
Contributions can be seen in Slack or through logs in google docs and particular files.
Set weekly goals and individual assignments on our Wednesday meetings for the coming week. Get assignments done by Saturday night and get feedback from group members on Sunday. Do any reviews on Monday before updating the e-folios or any other assignments to be turned in on Tuesday before 2:15.
Consequences - How will we address non-performance in regard to these goals, expectations, policies and procedures?
If you miss a meeting without contacting anyone then you have to bring pizza to the next meeting
We will generally foster an attitude of respect towards each other and if it is obvious that someone is repeatedly slacking off it will be made clear in their peer review.
Idea #2
04/15/18
Our second big idea was to create a system of ultrasonic sensors that can detect the distance from each other and triangulate the height of a patients. We would have one sensor on the patient’s head, and one on their ankle to get the distance.
Reason for failure:
After some research it turns out that ultra-sonic sensors cannot detect the distance from one another but rather, the distance to an object. Also, the ultrasonic waves would not be able to travel through the patient to get the distance because sound bounces off of objects. Finally, this idea failed because, in order to stay under budget, we would have to use wiring between all the sensors and our partner thought this might be a bit of a hassle. One of our objectives for the project was to make a technology that could measure a patient in at least less than 15 seconds. I believe the wires and the process of strapping on an ankle brace and head sensor would take too long.
Project Paper Intro
04/23/18
A stadiometer is an important medical tool, especially in a pediatric medical office. One of the problems with using the stadiometer to measure the height of children is the limited attention span of the children themselves. They are often fidgety and uncooperative according to representatives of the Pediatric Wellness Group, and it would be useful to reduce the current time of the measuring process to 15 seconds. Another difficulty with current stadiometers is the margin of error which ranges from 1 inch taller or shorter. We are tasked with reducing the time needed to use a stadiometer while improving current accuracy.
Although there is a broad spectrum of properties for this new stadiometer, an interview with the partner has helped narrow the spectrum. The stadiometer is to be digital since it has to be able to convert feet, inches, meters, and centimeters. Furthermore, the prototype has to have a feature that compares the measured height with the average height of the patient’s same age group; it also is to calculate the patient’s growth span. Additionally, since the device has to be functional independent of the nurse’s training on the device, a mechanical option is overruled. Moreover, the stadiometer is to be precise (measurement remains the same through repeated uses), and accurate to the patient’s height. Due to these qualities, the group has been pondering the use of an imaging system or distance sensors.
Currently there are three main types of stadiometers: ultrasound, laser, and mechanical. An average mechanical stadiometer with a digital screen costs around $200, one with wireless and data storage capacities is more in the realm of $1000, a significant change in price. With our budget being $200 and the information from paragraph above, a mechanical stadiometer with these properties is not viable. As for the laser based stadiometer, it proved to be too inaccurate for the project as the measurements, although precise, were consistently more than 1 inch below the actual height of the patient measured. The last option, ultrasound, is very appealing; it is capable of measuring the height of a patient in one second with a .2 inch margin of error. Moreover, this stadiometer costs around $150, well within the budget of our group. The only downside of this option is that it relies on the patient standing straight, and the nurse holding the device perfectly parallel to the ground; both of these procedures are unacceptable for the client.
Sources:
NA. “Digital Stadiometers”. QuickMedical. ND. https://www.quickmedical.com/digital_stadiometers.html
Mayol, S; Garcia, V; Johnston, C. “Examining the utility of a laser device for measuring height in free-living adults and children”. National Center For Biotechnology Information. 2015
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4563948/
Project Paper Intro
04/23/18
A stadiometer is an important medical tool, especially in a pediatric medical office. One of the problems with using the stadiometer to measure the height of children is the limited attention span of the children themselves. They are often fidgety and uncooperative according to representatives of the Pediatric Wellness Group, and it would be useful to reduce the current time of the measuring process to 15 seconds. Another difficulty with current stadiometers is the margin of error which ranges from 1 inch taller or shorter. We are tasked with reducing the time needed to use a stadiometer while improving current accuracy.
Although there is a broad spectrum of properties for this new stadiometer, an interview with the partner has helped narrow the spectrum. The stadiometer is to be digital since it has to be able to convert feet, inches, meters, and centimeters. Furthermore, the prototype has to have a feature that compares the measured height with the average height of the patient’s same age group; it also is to calculate the patient’s growth span. Additionally, since the device has to be functional independent of the nurse’s training on the device, a mechanical option is overruled. Moreover, the stadiometer is to be precise (measurement remains the same through repeated uses), and accurate to the patient’s height. Due to these qualities, the group has been pondering the use of an imaging system or distance sensors.
Currently there are three main types of stadiometers: ultrasound, laser, and mechanical. An average mechanical stadiometer with a digital screen costs around $200, one with wireless and data storage capacities is more in the realm of $1000, a significant change in price. With our budget being $200 and the information from paragraph above, a mechanical stadiometer with these properties is not viable. As for the laser based stadiometer, it proved to be too inaccurate for the project as the measurements, although precise, were consistently more than 1 inch below the actual height of the patient measured. The last option, ultrasound, is very appealing; it is capable of measuring the height of a patient in one second with a .2 inch margin of error. Moreover, this stadiometer costs around $150, well within the budget of our group. The only downside of this option is that it relies on the patient standing straight, and the nurse holding the device perfectly parallel to the ground; both of these procedures are unacceptable for the client.
Sources:
NA. “Digital Stadiometers”. QuickMedical. ND. https://www.quickmedical.com/digital_stadiometers.html
Mayol, S; Garcia, V; Johnston, C. “Examining the utility of a laser device for measuring height in free-living adults and children”. National Center For Biotechnology Information. 2015
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4563948/
Reflection
5/7/2018
The Pediatric Wellness Group (PWG) goal is to offer pediatric care that incorporates traditional practice methods with educational and supportive care services beyond the clinic and therefore nurture a positive change through not only physical but also emotional, intellectual and social health. Dr. Saxena and the medical group are the primary care provider of children from birth to 18 years old in the Bay Area. This team of healthcare providers are responsible for the wellbeing of this young population and they are also expected to be the ones who will identify health related issues of their patients that may impact on their future. They are the first ones to see and diagnose these young patients.
Early detection of any health related issue can increase the chances of recovery and cure for patients. Therefore the ability to assess the growth and the development of a child is an important part of the consultation routine and it can help the doctor offer strategies for their patients and their families to achieve a healthy life.
Health care costs increase puts constraints on healthcare facilities and it can cause a decrease in the quality time between patient and healthcare provider during consultation. If the doctor can have more time with his/her patients he/she can investigate more about the patient, get to know them better and create a stronger bond leading to better diagnoses.
Others?
A stadiometer is an important medical tool, especially in a pediatric medical office. Monitoring height development in children can allow physicians to detect and quantify factors and predictions of health outcomes, for example obesity. One of the problems with using the stadiometer to measure the height of children is the limited attention span of the children themselves. They are often fidgety and uncooperative according to representatives of the Pediatric Wellness Group, and it would be useful to reduce the current time of the measuring process to 15 seconds. Another difficulty with current stadiometers is the margin of error which ranges from 1/4 inch taller or shorter. The Pediatric Wellness Group needs an innovative approach to accurately measure the height of children from 2 to 18 years old because the process can be time costly and inefficient. We are tasked with reducing the time needed to use a stadiometer while improving current accuracy.
Our design should improve the quality of consultations and the improve the relationship between patient and healthcare provider because it will effectively take height measurements allowing more time to be spend and focused on the patient.
The compactness of this design could allow the facility to have one in each consultation room, providing more privacy to the patients. It will take less space which can potentially free the hallway for a more safe and smooth traffic of patients and care providers. It will be affordable as well, therefore not limiting the clinic to have only two stations for height measurement.
The designed stadiometer should be easy to handle and to use regardless of the ability of the healthcare provider to manipulate the device. For instance, if the patient is taller than the nurse it can become hard to measure and read the patient’s height. In this case, with our device the patient can hold it on their heads without the nurse assistance and the device will take the measurement automatically. Or if the nurse does not have much experience yet, the digital reading should avoid having to learn how to read the measurement in the two existent stadiometers and the faster capture should make the interaction between children and care providers more comfortable and less time consuming especially if children are having a hard time that day and are uncooperative with staff.
The design should improve safety by avoiding accidental falls and prevent hitting children in their heads for example. This instrument that we hope to build will work with more accuracy and precision and it will better serve healthcare providers in giving more detailed diagnosis to their patients.
Group Progress
5/13/2018
My group has made a good amount of progress this past week and I think we are keeping up well with the Gantt Chart goals we have created. We have discussed the technical aspects of the code and we have received the parts to start constructing the device. This week I hope we will be able to start testing a prototype because we are presenting our ideas to Niki this week and we are due to present an actual prototype to her in the coming weeks. We are pressed for time however I think we will all be able to get done what is needed to be done. Below is an accumulation of pictures involved in our current project/ideas.
This picture is a sketch of what our product will look like and somewhat shows how it is going to work
This is a picture of the device we used to decide how long we should make the bar. I believe we will continue to incorporate this adjustable bar throughout the prototyping process.
This is a picture of the work we have done with the arduino mega and the ultrasonic sensors. Rafael Bravo has been doing most of the work with the Arduino.
Project Presentation
5/15/2018
This week my group was able to present our idea to the class and Niki Saxena. I believe our presentation went well and we were able to give a good sense of what our plans are for the rest of the quarter. After the presentation Niki was very impressed by the idea and is very excited to see a prototype. To see the slides for our presentation see the link below.
Reflection #2
5/21/2018
This week our group worked on our second reflection of the quarter, commenting on the role that our project could/may serve in society today. Since the beginning of our project we have known that the idea of our project holds an important role in society. Having the ability to accurately measure and record a patients height is very important for pediatrics centers and families across the nation. To read our full reflection on the importance that we believe our project holds in society please see the button below.
Final Report
06/04/2018
There were many interesting and unexpected turns that this project took throughout the quarter. Overall I think we created the backbone for a product with a lot of potential, however, I do wish we had time to take it further. See the final report below for extensive details on our project.