Sydney Pedersen recently came up with a simple idea that could help make chemotherapy less traumatic for young patients. Her idea was inspired by her own sister, reports South Washington County Bulletin.
She remembers wondering one night if there was a way to make the treatment process easier for her sister, who had a “port†implanted in her chest. Doctors stuck needles through Paige’s skin and into the port to test her blood and give her chemotherapy drugs. To do so, Paige always had to remove her shirt, which made the scary, painful process more upsetting
So Sydney developed “The Port Shirt,†which has a removable patch on the left side of the front of the shirt. The idea is to remove just the patch to access the port in the chest, “instead of taking off her shirt all the time,†Sydney said.
The invention caught people’s attention. It was a top pick at her school and one of only 100 projects statewide to be featured at a Youth Invention Fair at the Mall of America.
Photo by Andres Rueda