Research Scientist/Engineer Assistant

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

About The Position

The Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine has an outstanding opportunity for a Research Scientist/Engineer Assistant to join their team. Medical equipment alarms suffer from poor design, producing “alarm fatigue” and jeopardizing patient safety. Commercial transport aircraft have undergone decades of refinement, resulting in highly optimized centralized alarm systems designed to direct pilots' attention to problems that require immediate attention while minimizing distraction. We are applying this knowledge to the creation of a prototype centralized anesthesia alarm system, incorporating data from diverse anesthesia machines and patient monitors The Gavia lab in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine builds hardware and software to improve perioperative care and safety. Medical equipment alarms suffer from poor design, producing “alarm fatigue” and jeopardizing patient safety. Commercial transport aircraft have undergone decades of refinement, resulting in highly optimized centralized alarm systems designed to direct pilots' attention to problems that require immediate attention while minimizing distraction. The research project aims to apply this knowledge to the creation of a prototype centralized anesthesia alarm system, incorporating data from diverse anesthesia machines and patient monitors, to reduce the cacophony of noisy equipment that beeps in different and unhelpful ways in the operating room. The Research Scientist/Engineer (RSE) Assistant will be funded to work on this project for the duration of this grant. The RSE Assistant will join the Gavia lab which consists of Drs. T. Andrew Bowdle, Srdjan Jelacic, and Kelly Michaelsen and 3 research study assistants. This would be an outstanding opportunity for a biomedical or electrical engineering recent grad (or soon-to-be), especially for someone who is considering graduate school or medical school but is looking for experience to determine which pathway to take. The RSE Assistant would be a co-author on resulting publications and may have opportunities to present results at conferences.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in biomedical or electrical engineering, or any engineering-related field; less than one year of relevant experience
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
Familiarity with electrical systems and software designs
Ability to work with a team of clinicians and engineers
Flexibility, curiosity, and motivation to succeed

Nice To Haves

Programming experience in MATLAB, LabVIEW, and/or Python

Responsibilities

Research and prototype centralized anesthesia alarm system: The RSE Assistant will be responsible (under close supervision) for building a hardware system that includes lights, sound, and a display screen.
Integrate existing device output streams (such as the anesthesia machine and patient monitors) to a central location.
Integration, analysis, and testing: Integration and analysis of physiologic patient data (heart rate, blood pressure, etc) in creating specific and adjustable alarm outputs (sounds and lights and feedback on the display screen).
Assist in defining various alarm states with corresponding lights and sounds.
Ensure the hardware system will accurately display alarms relating to the status of a patient in the operating room.
Extensive testing of the hardware system to ensure appropriate performance in a range of scenarios.