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The Mauritian scientist who’s helping doctors hit your vein first time, every time

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The Mauritian scientist who's helping doctors hit your vein first time, every time
 Nik Bappoo was named WA’s Student Scientist of the Year at the Premier’s Science Awards

Mauritian Nik Bapoo, a biomedical engineer and PhD candidate Nikhilesh Bapoo, has developed a mobile phone-sized device that doctors and nurses place against a patient’s arm to find the vein.

Cannulation – inserting a drip to draw blood or deliver medication – is one of the most common procedures in hospitals.

But the first attempt at cannulation fails about 40% of the time. For children and chemotherapy patients, the failure rate is up to 70%, 

It’s a problem that Nikhilesh Bappoo aims to solve, according to the Australian publication, Particle.

The Mauritian scientist who's helping doctors hit your vein first time, every time
Nik Bappoo grew up in Mauritius

Nik, who was a few months ago named WA’s Student Scientist of the Year at the Premier’s Science Awards, is an expert in how blood flows through the body.

He’s also the co-founder and chief technology officer of VeinTech, a startup that aims to help clinicians hit the vein first time, every time.

The company has developed a mobile phone-sized device that doctors and nurses place against a patient’s arm to find the vein.

“It’s an ultrasound-based technology,” Nik told Particle, “so it continuously emits sound waves and receives those sound waves back.

“We’ve developed some [artificial intelligence tools] to process those signals … and then display those signals in a way that’s understandable by anyone.”

The Mauritian scientist who's helping doctors hit your vein first time, every time

“[We’ve] made it ‘ultrasound for dummies’ in a way,” he told freelance journalist Michelle Wheeler. “I could pick it up and find a vein.”

Access to healthcare

Growing up in Mauritius, Nik told Particle he saw firsthand how a lack of access to healthcare, technology and education impacted his loved ones.

After moving to Australia, Nik still saw unmet clinical needs and barriers to access, particularly while volunteering in rural Western Australia.

These observations have driven him to use his passion for science, engineering and medicine to reduce those inequalities.

Much of Nik’s research has been simulating blood flow in the placenta and understanding causes of aneurysms.

Source: Particle, WA Government

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The information and opinions expressed in our published works are those of authors/sources believed to be reliable. NewsMoris makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information expressed.