Teen’s Invention Promises Help for Mastectomy Patients
From: IEEE InSight - 06/12/2015
By: Helen Horwitz

What began as a daughter's casual comment to her mother on a cold winter day
could soon yield two happy outcomes: providing pain relief to post-mastectomy
patients, and a possible prize in the Google Science Fair.

Last December, as India Glennon, age 13, and her mother, IEEE Member Carol
Glennon, fought bitter temperatures while out shopping near their San
Francisco-area town, Glennon uncharacteristically complained of the intense
pain that the cold had triggered in her chest wall. Since undergoing a
bilateral mastectomy in 2008, and several more operations since then, she has
endured the torturous condition. It is typical following this type of
surgery, and cold temperatures greatly magnify the pain. Like other
post-mastectomy patients, Glennon uses a heating pad or hot water bottle at
home to obtain soothing warmth - but when on the go, it’s impractical.

"I knew she had to be in a lot of pain, because my mom almost never
complains," says India. "Then the idea just came to me, and I asked her, 'Why
can't you put heaters in your jacket?'"

A solution was born - and in just the right family, because both mother and
daughter are admitted electronic tinkerers. "It's in my genes," says Carol
Glennon. "My aunt was an expert seamstress, and I learned from her that if I
wanted something, I could make it."

Read the entire article at:
http://insight.ieeeusa.org/insight/content/ieeeusa/126571

Links:
Adafruit
https://www.adafruit.com/

2015 Google Science Fair
https://www.googlesciencefair.com