Student Selected for a Day at Oxford University Biomedical Engineering Institute
Polly Chambers, currently in Year 11, successfully applied to attend an open day at Oxford University to see the latest innovations in biomedical technology.
On Thursday 13th March, Polly Chambers spent the day at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Oxford University. This was an open day but only available to 100 students nationwide and Polly (Year 11) successfully applied for a place. ‘It was a great day’, she said. ‘We had lectures and demonstrations that showed how physics and biology work together in the medical field’.
The first novel technology discussed was using ultrasound and microbubbles to disrupt the biofilm produced by bacteria in infections, particularly synovial joint infections. This disruption allows for antibiotics to penetrate the biofilm and kill the bacteria and may help with the ever increasing problem of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. ‘We also looked at the use of AI’ Polly enthuses. ‘ We all looked at images of tissues with and without tumours and had to spot which images showed cancerous growths. This was then compared to AI being used to spot the cancerous scans and it was very accurate. This will be used more and more in the future’.
There were lots more biomedical procedures and technologies demonstrated and discussed but the one that Polly found the most intriguing was the robotic glove to help those with hand injuries. ‘I had to put on a glove with lots of electronic sensors on it’. The demonstrator then moved his hand near my gloved hand and my hand moved to mimic his movement- without me doing anything. It was a bit surreal!’
‘This was a fantastic opportunity for Polly’ remarks Dr Bune ‘She was selected to attend this amazing event when there was a high level of competition and we are very proud of her’.
More details of some of the technologies discussed can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-04752-y https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/artificial-intelli https://jneuroengrehab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12984-018-0391-x
