Translator: Mingyu Cui Reviewer: Denise RQ
Innovating has never been easier than it is today.
Most of what makes our world so different from the world our parents lived in,
are things like Facebook and Google
that were created in either a garage or a dorm room
by an imaginative entrepreneur.
The solution to virtually any problem is in the same room as you,
or at least a keyboard click away.
My personal story of innovation began a few summers ago when I was 16,
volunteering at a local hospital, as a companion to patients on dialysis,
a common way of filtering blood when the kidneys fail.
So our kidneys are the organs responsible for filtering blood,
removing all toxins and waste to produce one liter of urine per day.
So we do this every day, all day, without even thinking about it.
So when kidneys fail, or when a kidney function decreases,
patients must find an alternative solution to replace their dying kidneys.
So the two options that are existing today are a kidney transplant - a new kidney -
or to use dialysis,
which is an external machine that will filter the blood
and bring it back to the body when it's entirely purified.
So my time spent as a companion to patients on dialysis
is when I realized the true potential of innovative thinking - saving lives.
As someone who dreams of becoming a doctor,
I naturally became fascinated by this three-times-a-week treatment.
So I started reading up on this subject,
and it became immediately clear
that there is a worldwide lack of access to dialysis and a huge need for it.
I was in disbelief upon finding out
that 90% of patients living in India and Pakistan,
who need the treatment to survive, simply have no access to it.
Or that from 2002 to 2012, in a region of Nicaragua,
46% of all deaths in the male population were due to kidney disease.
There is a huge problem here.
So I thought to myself, "Why isn't enough being done to help?
What if I give it a shot?"
So after a long research phase,
I decided to invest the time and energy in the development
of a simple and highly affordable hemodialysis machine
specifically designed for developing countries,
something that still today isn't on the market.
So, keeping in mind that cost is the main barrier
to the widespread use of dialysis machines in the world,
I made it my personal mission to design a dialysis machine
at a fraction of the cost of a typical one which costs 25,000 dollars.
So I'm sure as you can imagine,
getting this project started was extremely overwhelming at first.
So I purchased tons of product online from manufacturers all over the world,
and now had to find a way to assemble all these components
to end up with a fully functional medical device.
I was working from my basement.
I had very little background knowledge in anything related to dialysis or technology
being a high school student in secondary V.
So I spent hours reading textbooks and researching online,
trying to wrap my head around the complex process of blood filtration.
Every waking moment, outside the school, when I wasn't busy studying,
was spent on some aspect or another of this dialysis machine.
So pretty much overnight, I became
the engineer, the designer, the innovator, the computer programmer,
all at the same time.
It was fascinating, because I'd spent my day in school
learning subjects like all of you are learning.
And then I come home
and try to wrap my head around these complex university level subjects,
which was very interesting.
But just like the innovations in technologies
that started in garages and dorm rooms in the past,
my project really picked up momentum and took on the life of its own.
So nearly 300 hours of hands-on work later,
my first prototype was built
and ready to be presented at a science fair.
And its value: just 500 dollars.
So that's nearly 1/60th of the cost of a typical dialysis machine.
So with this clear goal in mind, I set out to design prototype number 2.
And at last I had the opportunity
to test it out with human blood in a real lab.
So Héma-Québec, our blood donation organization,
offered me a one-week internship
to really test out the prototype in as many ways as possible,
do as many simulations that would resemble a typical dialysis situation.
I worked with this team of researchers who put their work on hold for the week
to really allow me to test out everything that I need to test out with my device.
So here's some footage from the internship.
This is actual blood running through my device.
It was incredible to see it for the first time.
So here you see the blood bag.
It's the blood from eight donors, so it's four liters.
So the blood will come in through one side of it, as you can see,
and then it will pass through a peristaltic pump
which will push the tubings so that the blood can enter the filter.
Once blood exits the filter, it's completely purified,
and all that's left to do is remove the air bubbles,
so that the blood can safely return to the patient.
On the other side, there is a completely separate circuit
which is the dialysate circuit.
So dialysate is a liquid that is prescribed by the doctor
which is going to contain the adequate concentration of electrolytes
depending on the patient's quality of filtration.
So basically,
the dialysate will come into the filter, and the blood will, also.
And here's a zoom-in on the filter.
So you can see,
the blood is going to enter through tens of thousands of very fine membranes.
And on the outside, there's dialysate.
So blood is bathing in dialysate,
so all the toxins can get removed from the blood,
and the patient can have clean blood again.
Here is also the mechanism.
So knowing that the device can filter
because the dialysate and the filter are both prescribed by the doctor,
I went into the internship knowing that it would work.
I just had to really make sure
that the mechanism of the prototype works properly.
So this is the first prototype's circuit board,
and how it works is that we were going to have various components
that will work using an Arduino.
So maybe you've worked with an Arduino before.
It's used in robotic projects a lot.
So basically, it requires a computer code, which is read by this microcontroller,
and the message is then passed on to the electrical circuit,
for all the safety mechanisms and everything to work properly.
So clearly, I have a long way to go before getting past the prototype stage,
but every good initiative needs a first step.
Think about it.
My inspiration didn't spring
from past medical projects or feats of engineering.
It came from spending time with patients on dialysis.
I'm not a doctor, or an engineer.
I'm a student like all of you,
lucky enough to have access to the technology and innovation
that allow us to take on those roles and overcome any obstacle.
I've been lucky enough to have quite a bit of recognition with my project.
It's been incredible.
And about 30 people from around the world, mostly in the Middle East,
have approached me personally, asking to purchase this prototype
which, as you can see, is not ready to be used on people,
for themselves or for a loved one.
All of you can be innovators, too, of course,
in whatever your passion is.
And just imagine if all of us put our heads together
and brought innovations or our own pursuits;
what a difference that can make!
Together we can learn, create, and build a better and more compassionate world.
Our future starts today.
What can you innovate on?
Thank you.
(Applause)