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.