{"id":2628,"date":"2023-06-27T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/?p=2628"},"modified":"2023-08-15T18:11:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T18:11:41","slug":"bringing-vsi-imaging-to-the-amazon-of-peru-chapter-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/06\/27\/bringing-vsi-imaging-to-the-amazon-of-peru-chapter-8\/","title":{"rendered":"BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 8)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night was interesting.\u00a0 As evening fell, we had noticed intermittent flashes in the distant sky, although we heard no thunder.\u00a0 Maybe this was heat lightening<\/a> or a far-off, passing storm.\u00a0 We found out at 10:53pm \u2013 or at least that\u2019s when I became aware.\u00a0 As mentioned previously, here in Angoteros<\/a> the power goes out routinely at 10:00pm, leaving you two options. Trying to function in complete darkness, or going to sleep.\u00a0 I chose the latter, but could not get to sleep initially as the air was thick and clammy. You could almost feel its weight as it enters your lungs.\u00a0 I may have fallen asleep around 10:30 pm, but at 10:53 pm I awakened to a tremendous raging noise.\u00a0 It sounded almost like an angry ocean. Torrents of rain hammered down on our metal roof and those of our neighbors.\u00a0 After about 15 minutes, I realized I could not sleep through such furious and relentless percussion, so I pulled out my trusty green foam noise-reducing ear plugs.\u00a0 Once again I was very pleased I\u2019d brought those along.\u00a0 Eventually I fell asleep.\u00a0 I am not sure why I woke again at 2:21 am, but I am very glad I did.\u00a0 Outside my window, there were countless fireflies darting about \u2013 well worth losing a little sleep for such a beautiful sight<\/p>\n

In the morning I awoke before the others and decided to get in a workout in my makeshift gym.\u00a0 I am feeling mostly recovered from my fever the other day, and even a little exercise goes a long way to making me feel better.<\/p>\n

As Brian<\/a>, Leslie<\/a> and I walked down to breakfast, we discussed our training plans for the day.\u00a0 The next picture show the steps leading up into our \u201cmeal house\u201d, where shoes are left at the door. \u00a0And another picture shows Leslie at the top of the steps, inside \u2013 what a different world.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>We had started to realize that our hosts were being overly generous with our meal portions, and decided to politely let them know.\u00a0 While understanding their hospitable intentions, it is clearly over and above what their average meal would be.\u00a0 So, after Leslie<\/a> talked with Lizabetta, Geordano\u2019s wife (see last week\u2019s blog<\/a>) the next two meals were smaller and more in line with our normal diet.\u00a0 In this picture you see the breakfast plate is still large in front of Leslie \u2013 while Jens looks on.\u00a0 You have to love the \u201cpicture window\u201d which is simply an opening to the outside air.<\/p>\n

The training today began with a hands-on session.\u00a0 That morning we had only four students, the four who will be responsible for performing the VSI scans<\/a> locally.\u00a0 I took two students and Brian<\/a> took two.\u00a0 Leslie<\/a> served as a floater to translate when our mixed version of communication was not working.\u00a0 In my training group, I had Bryan and Jens.\u00a0 When I was unable to communicate well in Spanish, I would typically default to Italian words, and then if that was unsuccessful, English.\u00a0 As a last resort, I would use hand motions.\u00a0 Jens said that most of the time he could understand my \u201cItalia-Spanglish\u201d.\u00a0 I was glad \u2013 I was not always certain that I understood what I was saying myself.<\/p>\n

In the morning we trained the students on the right upper quadrant VSI protocol<\/a>, and in the afternoon, we switched to the obstetrics protocol. Franciet, the doctor who will be leaving in a few months, the town\u2019s dentist, and a few other technical people came to participate as well.\u00a0 For this training session, two pregnant women volunteered to be scanned.\u00a0 As with the morning session, we used only the transducers unattached to ultrasound systems to train everyone in the sweeps required in the protocol.\u00a0 At this point, our mission is to develop their consistency in the scanning motions.\u00a0 The next day, our plan is to connect the transducers to the ultrasound system, and the ultrasound system to the \u201cmedical box\u201d designed by Medical Innovation Technologies\u2026to put all of the pieces together.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

My group had some characters in it, so we laughed a fair amount throughout the day.\u00a0 It was nice to see that they could still have fun while working hard.\u00a0 The training ended around 6:00 pm, and we each proceeded to our rooms to catch up on our \u201creal world\u201d obligations and answer the many accumulating emails.\u00a0 It turns out there is no internet coverage in my room \u2013 but one room over, Brian<\/a> and Leslie<\/a> have fairly good coverage, albeit slow.\u00a0 I bring my computer and\/or phone over when I need to be connected online.<\/p>\n

While walking back to the clinic after lunch, we discovered another tiendita in \u201ctown.\u201d\u00a0 It shows that as the saying goes \u201cMarketing is everything, and everything is marketing.\u201d\u2026even in the jungle.\u00a0 I think you may notice that the inside of the store looks nothing like the advertisements.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Now, here are a few pics that may not be for the faint of heart.\u00a0 Bugs grow enormously large in the tropics.\u00a0 Inevitably, their life cycle ends, and the floors are littered with many carcasses.\u00a0 Here are a few pics showing some of the floor mortuary exhibits \u2013 often with my finger next to the victim as a size reference.\u00a0 This moth is the largest I have ever seen in my life by easily a factor of four.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>To change pace and get you to stop thinking of oversized vermin \u2013 here is a picture of a banana tree just outside the maternity house.<\/p>\n

<\/a>As the day winded down, we went for a quick dinner of hard-boiled eggs and a boiled plantain.\u00a0 The plantain prepared this way is not sweet and tastes more like a relatively bland potato.<\/p>\n

We got back to our rooms around 8:45 pm, working hectically on our laptops during the last seventy-five minutes of electricity and internet for the day.\u00a0 Of course, the time is coming quickly when they\u2019ll pull the plug on us \u2013 and our day will literally run out of power and light.<\/p>\n

Below are hyperlinks to the prior blogs on Bringing VSI Imaging to the Amazon of Peru:<\/p>\n

BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Intro\/Chapter 1)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 2)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 3)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 4)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 5)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 6)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
BRINGING VSI IMAGING to the AMAZON of PERU (Chapter 7)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
<\/p>\n

Frank Miele, MSEE , President of Pegasus Lectures, Inc.<\/a> Frank graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College<\/a> with a triple major in physics, mathematics, and engineering. While at Dartmouth, he was a Proctor Scholar and received citations for academic excellence in comparative literature, atomic physics and quantum mechanics, and real analysis. Frank was a research and design engineer and project leader, designing ultrasound equipment and electronics for more than ten years at Hewlett Packard Company<\/a>. As a designer of ultrasound, he has lectured across the country to sonographers, physicians, engineers and students on myriad topics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night was interesting.\u00a0 As evening fell, we had noticed intermittent flashes in the distant sky, although we heard no thunder.\u00a0 Maybe this was heat lightening or a far-off, passing storm.\u00a0 We found out at 10:53pm \u2013 or at least … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2628"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2732,"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions\/2732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pegasuslectures.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}