Week 4

At the beginning of week 4, the team finalized the project scope— to detect real-time post-

surgical leakage to reduce risks of complications in patients and to allow physicians to take care

of leakage-related issues promptly.

The team met with Dr. Chet Hammill again on Friday, to further discuss the project in depth.

The team, supported by Dr. Hammill, now better understand the basic knowledge about the

drainage system currently used in clinical trials, and identified potential limitations that could

be improved in the future. The limitations and potential improvements are documented in the table.

Week 3

Week 3: Problem Identification

The team met Dr. Chet Hammill, a general surgeon at Washington University School of

Medicine, and Jeff Chininis, a research engineer, to learn about a variety of clinical problems

and to brainstorm solutions. We are interested in tackling a major post-surgery problem, the

enzyme leakage following the Whipple procedure, with multiple approaches including but not

limited to detecting and inhibiting leakages. Dr. Hammill also brought up a potential sub-project

on assessing if the patient would be a good candidate for the Whipple procedure based on the

MRI markers.

such as making improvements on the feeding tube that are currently used in the procedure.

Because the limited the scope of the proposed project, the team is looking for new potential

projects or directions to improve the post-op situation with Dr. Hammil.

After thoughtful consideration and discussion, the team came up with a new problem in the

field of post-surgery— leakage detection using a pH sensor. By incorporating sensors in the

stent, enzyme leakage could be identified in its early stage, and thus the severity of the

complication can be dramatically reduced.