I
was born two months early, spending
the first month of my life in the hospital.
The doctors told my mother that I would
probably have physical and cognitive delays.
Bringing me home, my mom decided I would
never be treated any differently because others
told her something couldn’t be done about the
challenges I could face in the future. As I grew,
she never once held back, not when I needed
speech therapy at age 3, nor when she was told
that I was eight months behind my peers in 4th
grade. No matter the obstacles that were put
in front of me, she persevered and kept moving
forward. She always played puzzle games with
me and challenged me with riddles. I didn’t
know it at the time, but these riddles and games
like Myst and The Room helped me learn to look
at the big picture while simultaneously seeing
the smallest obscure details. My mother’s
perseverance taught me that no matter what,
there is always a way.
Later in my childhood, I got pneumonia.
It was terrible, and unfortunately, I was
misdiagnosed because I barely had symptoms.
On our first trip to the hospital, I was sent
home with antibiotic ear drops. Days later we
returned, and my mother pushed the point with
my doctor. Once I was finally diagnosed with
pneumonia, which was almost a week after I
got sick, they didn’t know the type. Generally,
most people are diagnostically assumed to
have bacterial pneumonia and given antibiotics;
they gave me three different types over eight
days. My fever just wouldn’t quit, and on the
eighth day, I was scheduled to be admitted to
the hospital. Thankfully my fever finally broke
just beforehand, and I spent the next month
recovering. We never did determine what type of
pneumonia I had.
AN IDEA IS BORN
Pneumonia had a profound effect on my life, and
I began to wonder if I would have gotten sicker
had it not been for my mother’s unrelenting
persistence. Getting sick also helped plant a
seed. I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head
that there has to be an easier way to help people
determine the type of pneumonia someone has.
I had wondered about this for four years, and
now, working on my 8th grade science fair, I
thought I finally might have a chance to crack it.
To start, I began speaking to my aunt and
uncle, who are both doctors. Initially, I simply
wanted to identify the type of pneumonia faster,
without having to rely on a blood test, x-rays,
sputum samples, bronchial lavage, or the
industry gold standard: gas chromatography
mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Could I develop
something like a breathalyzer for disease?
My aunt and uncle referred me to a
pulmonologist colleague of theirs who had just
so happened to be part of a study conducted
on detecting invasive aspergillus, or fungal
pneumonia, through patients’ breath. The study
focused on identifying the metabolic signatures
of the disease using a GC/MS, and interestingly
the chemical compounds associated were all
monoterpenes/terpenes. These are derived
from plant essential oils, which was perfect!
This meant I could use safe, easily accessible
substances such as citrus oil (limonene) and
nutmeg oil (camphene) for my testing, and
overcome the challenges of using potentially
harmful cultures of fungal pneumonia and
acquiring the aid of someone who is authorized
to deal with such samples.
THE NOSE KNOWS
I remembered reading, through my research,
how dogs could detect cancer by scent. The
idea of scent then led me to electronic noses, or
E-Noses. There have been a few studies done on
other diseases like renal disease, which affects
the kidneys, and diabetes. The studies focused
on making a handheld device with a large
enough sensory array to detect those diseases
on the breath. One study used a Raspberry Pi,
and it gave me hope. Maybe I could build my own
E-Nose to detect fungal pneumonia, and even
better, maybe I could make my E-Nose wireless.
I spent almost five long months doing
I JUST COULDN’T GET THE IDEA
OUT OF MY HEAD THAT THERE
HAS TO BE AN EASIER WAY.
17
make.co
Heather Kodama (aka Mom)
A
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