Friday, February 3, 2017

Surgeon, I Am Not

A couple of weeks ago, I was presented with the opprtunity to follow (and learn) the Computer Graphics and Computer Vision Research Group at my work place to attend a half day workshop at the UiTM Sungai Buloh Campus (Medical and Dentistry). We were looking forward to meet up with our collaborators, Prof. Dr. Zamrin Dimon and his team of surgeons, and also our partners from the Industrial Design Department, Faculty of Design and Architecture UPM to see where three fields (medical, design and computer science) and merge together to benefit others. 

I am grateful that senior colleagues in my department are always generous in extending the invitation to us juniors (in age) researchers. This workshop were focused on brainstorming mock prototypes for cardiac surgery. Indeed, I had a great time that afternoon learning something new, although if I'm honest I did get slightly heavy headed towards the end of the evening (the air felt thick in the room as we progressed - too much neurons being fired simultaneously from all partcipants, maybe. Plus the combination of hot coffee and the disastrous trip home was enough to give anyone a two days worth of headache.

Nonetheless, if I contributed nothing else that afternoon, at least my appreciation for doctors and surgeons in particular, has gone up several notches too. The session made me understand a bit more about the problems they face daily with some of the current medical devices they are using (which we are invited to solve - thus, the purpose of this workshop). Me being a scaredy cat, turned down their invitation to see how the devices work first hand, in an operating theatre, on a living patient, had to be turned down by me. Youtube is enough for me to look at heart bypass surgeries, thank you very much :D


















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