Free Have-a-Go Healthcare Science Zone

Science Festival - Extraordinary Everyday page graphic

All the family can have a go with technology and try their hand at surgical and medical skills in the Free Have-a-Go Healthcare Science Zone.

It will be open on Saturday June 8th and 9th from 9.30am - 4pm and features a wide array of activities including:

Advanced Airway Management - taking a look inside the airways with Consultants from our Department of Critical Care.

Science and Medicine Meet Design Innovation - see for yourselves the increble 3D printer and learn how it helps clinicians to develop new devices.

How do people communicate when they have lost the power of speech? Visit our Speech and Lanaguage Therapists and learn about head controlled communication and more.

Our Biophotonics Unit is a world leader for its pioneering techniques for the detection and diagnosis of early disease using light. Find out more about the increible powers of light with Dr Catherine Kendall and colleagues.

In Reaching for the Retina, Professor Andy McNaught and colleagues will give you a look inside a special camera which takes images of the retina and more.

Health 'scare' headlines are the topic of Face the Facts - Find the Evidence - showing how you can separate fact from fiction.

Moodometer is a descrete portable mood idary for smartphones, developed by colleagues at 2gether NHS Foundation Trust - come and see how an app can help monitor your emotional wellbeing!

Truly increaible technology helps ear surgeons to learn how to operate on the tinest parts of the ear and on this stand  - VirtualEar Surgery and the Micrscopic World of Hearing - you will be able to try your hand at virtual reality training for doctors, and see ear implants and models up close.

Telehealthcare allows distance tracking of medical conditions and is bringing a revolution in the way that some patients monitor and manage their own conditions from home. Visitors to the telehealth stand will be able to talk to NHS colleagues and experts from Tunstall who will be on hand to demonstrate the equipment.

Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) is a new investigation whereby structures can be identified that would otherwise be invisible and is used to sample, for example, lymph nodes. You will be able to find objects using the EBUS linear and miniprobe phantoms - come and have a go!

Dr Mark James, Consultant Obstetrician and Research Registrar Christine Burden will show you around a Laparascopic Virtual Reality machine - simulator training for surgeons.

The Age in an Instant area will allow you to experience some of the effects of ageing, and as ours is an ageing population the lessons are valuable and insightful. Try on the simmi specs to see for yourself how cataract limits your visit - then you'll be set a challege - send a text or put on some lipstick! It sounds easier than it is!

Our cafe will be open to everyone and children and adults alike will enjoy having a go on the Giant Operation Game and the Food Play Mat  and you won't be able to miss the huge inflatable colon - outside the front of the building!

Remember - the Have-A-Go Healthcare Science Zone at Sandford Education Centre (opposite the Lido, next door to the Fire Station) Keynsham Road, Cheltenham, is FREE and all ages are welcome.