Engineering in Medical Sciences

Last week was mostly spent outside of the base. Even if you do nothing, being outstation, is itself relaxing. No need to check with colleagues about the health and happiness (plant’s health and boss’s happiness😋 which are interdependent). The atmosphere in Bhubaneswar was cloudy and humid. I had to hop between two hospitals to get the opinion of specialist doctors. In recent times, frequent hospital visits have forced me to remember the basics of Zoology (The last time I was closest to a Zoology book was when Mr. Vajpayee was Indian Prime Minister, twin towers of World Trade Center were rising proudly above the New York Skyline and 11^th September was just any other normal date). 

After studying chemical engineering (especially fluid dynamics / mass transfer / transport phenomena), I am able to connect the basic fundamentals of engineering in the workings of the human body. I remember, in 7^th or 8^th Semester during the mid-term exam, the transport phenomena professor had asked a question where we had to find after how much time a tablet will mix with body fluids in the intestines. Most of us had answered wrongly, but we were given marks for correct approach. The circulating system in our body works like a complex piping network. Most important part being heart, the lungs and the kidneys apart from the blood vessels which supplies blood to various part of the body. The heart acts as a positive displacement pump, pumping fluid across the network. The kidneys functions as a filter, which filters the blood to remove impurities and pass them to the urine. The lungs are where the carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and oxygen is enriched (application of mass transfer). Imagine, you have a clogged artery or a vein; it’s like a choked pipe line or a pipe with pinched valve. Due to the restriction in the blood vessel flow will be low, hence to some part of the body less flow will go. This is sensed by the neurons present and they signal the heart (through Brain) to pump blood more vigorously (application of Process Control). This will increase the discharge pressure of the pump and blood vessels will carry blood at the higher pressure. This, in common language, we call high BP. Now since, blood pressure is high, the kidneys functions at a higher pressure. Upstream pressure of the filters (kidneys) is high with same downstream pressure. Hence, some amount of materials which should have been retained in blood is discharged to urine in kidneys. Tests results of protein in the urine indicate performance of kidneys. High blood pressure may be a cause of under performance of kidneys but not the sole reason. The blood pressure in the vessels of the eyes are also high, which increase the size of the nerves and your eyesight may be affected. If any chokage of the blood vessel is found, (for which the heart is pressure is high), a stent is provided inside the artery / vein to increase the cross sectional area or a bypass of the clogged area is provided so that blood flows without restriction. This will ease the load on the heart and failure chances are minimized. Other methods to lower blood pressure are to give medication, which relaxes the muscle of the blood vessels so that blood flow is easy. That’s how the BP medicines work. Now a day’s whenever I come across a new medical term, I Google it and read. I am happy how an exposure to engineering fundamentals has helped me understand medical science better.

The day before coming back, I had few hours to kill. I was confused between Planetarium and Museum. A little analysis of pros and cons finally landed me in Pathani Samanta Chandrashekhar Planetorium near Achary Vihar in Bhubaneswar. The last visit to a planetarium was in June 2005 with Surya. We had visited the Birla Planetarium in Kolkata. The 30 minutes show showed concepts of big bang, our solar system, black holes, galaxies, nebulas etc.

Sometimes, I wonder, how as a civilization we have made immense progress in the field of science and technology. In some areas we are going up to the nano particles level, while in others, we are measuring distance in light years. The visit to the planetarium gives you a different perspective on life. All our happiness, sorrows, worry, concern, in fact everything, is just limited to planet earth. Whatever has happened in history, all the great men and not so significant men who were ever born were born in this planet. Our planet is just a small dot in the whole universe and if you compare our life time (65-70 years), is less than a blink of eye in the galactic scale. Let’s appreciate the fact and enjoy the impermanence of our happiness, sorrows, worry, concern as well as our lives.

The Joy of planting a tree

Monsoon is here again. Although it’s raining sporadically here and the rain is not as incessant as it used to be in our childhood, but still it’s a happy respite from the heat and humidity. With the arrivals of the rain, the farmers will get busy tilling and cultivating their land. The whole process of preparing the field, sowing seeds / planting crops, weeding out, applying fertilizers, harvesting, post harvest processing will take around 4-5 months for paddy. When you see the whole process and realize the amount of hard work and dedication it requires growing and harvesting a crop, then only you will appreciate the food we eat and will hesitate to waste it. Having spent my childhood in a rural surrounding, I always loved the whole process of paddy cultivation. A paddy field was in front of my house. Before planting the crop the field is just a patch of mud. Few days after the plantation it will turn light green and within a month the hue will change to dark green. In early Autumn, you will find kashatandi (a grass with white flowers) on the edges of the field which will give you illusion of white clouds on the ground. After 3-4 months the color of the paddy field will change to light brown during the time of cultivation. Monsoons not only bring rains but also signify the start of life all around. On any random walk, you may find a tree newly sprouting leaves or a seed starting to germinate. The earliest memory of monsoons for me was looking at a corn seed germinating from the ground near my home.

Corn sapling (image source: Google)

The sight of sprouts coming out of a seed, and then developing into leaves and gradually to a self sufficient tree always fascinated me since childhood. After I moved to a ground floor five years ago, the same passion for trees resurfaced. I planted 3 mango trees, one litchi, and one guava in my back yard apart from other seasonal vegetables. In the front lawn, two bakul trees were planted (in the hope that it will provide shed for car parking during lunch break...for someone else and some other day). Few guava, mangoes and gulmohar trees have been planted in office. On Rathyatra day last week, we had planted around 70 nos. of neem and mango trees in a nearby temple. Last time I was travelling to Bhubaneswar, I bought some jamun. I had saved some seeds for trying to germinate seeds. After about 15 days of planting the seeds, sprouts have started coming out. They will need a little bit more nurturing before they can be planted independently somewhere.

The jamun seeds sprouting in my back yard.

Of course, I will not be around here to enjoy the fruits, someone else will. But are we not enjoying fruits, planted by someone else in some other place. 

Moreover, the joy of watching a seed turning into a tree and supporting life on its own is itself very rewarding. Happy monsoon and go out to plant and adopt a tree.

(I will keep updating status of the jamun sapling from time to time)

Update on 02-Sep-2018:

the saplings were planted in individual polythene bags . Each bag had a mix of soil, manure and a little sand to help water drainage. total of  20 saplings. 14 in black bag and 6 in plastic ones. 

Update on 9th January 2019

Growing up healthily... Planning to move to a sunny area

Update on 04th July 2019