I've recently came to the realization that I need to come up with an easier way to explain to people what exactly I will be working on in Master thesis. Apparently not everyone is familiar with terms such as EEG, TMS, epilepsy, etc... I'm used to speaking in the Biomedical world and on topics that everyone usually understands, but now that my work is more specific, I guess I need to come up with easier words, accessible to everyone, including those in my area.
Lots of Portuguese students choose the Netherlands and U. Twente to study, specifically Biomedical Engineering. It's an interesting aspect to analyze because I wasn't expecting this...maybe there is some logic behind it? Although, why would we leave a perfectly well adjusted climate to live in a country (even if just for 6 months) that can have rain, snow and sun multiple times in the same day? :P The university is definitely at the forefront when it comes to biomedical technology and other areas of engineering as well... I think we will continue to hear about U. Twente in many years to come.
On Friday I had the opportunity to assist in a experimental measurement with TMS-EEG. Even though it's routine for my advisor (who is a PhD student), I found it kind of fascinating. I got to see how a 64 channel EEG works, part of my job was even to insert gel into some of the electrodes and bring down the resistance to under 5kOhm. This might sound boring but I enjoyed myself. I already knew how the robot and everything related to it works (after the 'dry run' on Thursday)... An extra part was giving the TMS pulses :P After a while you kind of get tired of counting to 3 or 4 seconds and the fact that you have to be standing...but oh well.
Oh and yeah, today I cycled all the way to the city!! Hadn't done that yet. It's actually pretty close and can be done from where I live in 20 minutes, which is not so bad. On the way there, this morning, I took these pictures:
Before arriving at my second workplace, I stopped to open a bank account. I will be expecting my card very soon, which will make my payments in this country soooooo much easier :) Can't wait! Below it the Stationsplein:
One of the fun parts about today was the opportunity to observe the acquisition of several clinical EEGs. I saw one being done on a baby, in order to determine existence of epilepsy, and another for a woman who is undergoing surgery tomorrow near the carotid and they needed to know if everything was working within expected. I have to say, the baby broke my heart when the technician was applying the cap and the gel, he did not know what was going on and what someone was doing to his head... Something else I saw, which I found extremely interesting was the use of ultrasounds to see the arteries and veins in the neck... I was literally with my mouth hanging open when I saw what they could do and see with it.
