Students offer pediatric surgeons a helping hand

In a surgery suite, it’s all hands on deck to give the patient the best care possible. However, using an endoscope, a tube with a light and camera attached to it, can sometimes take away some of that mobility, a problem a team of seniors in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University worked to solve with their final capstone project.

During procedures, a surgeon will use an endoscope to get better views of the surgery site. Currently, the surgeon or a technician will hold it, taking away a set of hands from the surgery itself. The capstone team developed a holder that can keep the endoscope absolutely still during the process.

Current holders are cumbersome or expensive, barriers that lead to surgeons just going back to holding the tool themselves. The team of five students prototype not only is easy to use but also is more accessible within a hospital’s budget.

Their sponsor was Dr. Deepak Mehta, pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon with Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Throughout the process of meeting with Mehta over the last two semesters, the team had to take big ideas from him and develop a tangible engineering concept and design. Translating the doctor’s needs into engineering concepts was an interesting challenge, said Madeline Franke. 

“It was really cool to speak both ‘languages,’” said Franke, who plans to go to medical school after graduation. “I feel like I’m really prepared to be able to work with engineers and to have that more technical mindset and know what things are possible and what things are just asking too much. As a doctor, I want to speak to engineers with the knowledge of what they can do and what’s possible.”

After months of designing and prototyping, the final product was an aluminum arm that can clamp and lock to both the surgery table and the endoscope, with a ball and joint arm that can move easily to help the surgeon get the scope where they need it. Camille Felgenhauer said she has new respect for the smaller details of a larger project.

“This project is on the smaller scale since we are just catering to our surgeon, but the bigger impact of this is it’s going to cut down on procedures and it’s going to allow him to work on more patients at the end of the day and help those kids that need it,” Felgenhauer said. “It’s those small details that make the bigger picture worth it.”

Bailyn Piecewicz said she prefers the two-semester project to previous shorter timelines.

“You get to know each other and your strengths and weaknesses more and then you know how to delegate the tasks more efficiently,” she said. “Plus, because you have a longer period to work on the project, you get to see it develop more. The end product is hopefully a lot better than if it was in a shorter time frame. A semester can make a world of difference.”

The team also recognized their device will hopefully lead to easier integration and translation in the workplace. As a manual device, Imaad Vaid said the cost is much lower than some current electronic devices and does not require a specialized technician.

“The nurses or technicians can set it up and the doctor can come in and immediately start using it,” Vaid said. “Sterilization will be easier as well because we’ve designed it so it won’t need to be (steam sterilized).”

Nearing the end of their capstone, the students said they can see ways working on the project has impacted them and can be applied to their lives post-graduation. Quentin Bartkowiak, who is pursuing employment in industry, said working in a productive team dynamic has prepared him for team environments in the future.

“We’ve learned how to be more efficient and how to use each other for their skills and what each other brings specifically to the team,” Bartkowiak said. “Working as a team, it will help me grow in my work experience and my career just by learning to work with people, whether we have a great team like this or teams that aren’t so functional.”

In addition, teams have received training in remote team operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As teams finish up their projects, they have risen to the challenge of remote work,” said Jim Machek, professor of practice and instructor of the capstone course. “Our designs and production are being completed as scheduled.”

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