Abstract
A novel approach for a patient transportation aid for emergency medical services bases on a wheel hub stair-climbing mechanism, which currently requires a manual adjustment relative to the stair edges. In this paper, an approach for an automation is presented which utilizes two distance sensors to characterize stairs and determine the relative position to them. A controller can then adjust the system’s position automatically. A user supervision concept copes with sensor inaccuracies or errors, resulting in a semi-automatic process. Within a formative usability study (
Zusammenfassung
Eine neuartige Patiententransporthilfe für den Rettungsdienst basiert auf einem Radstern-Treppensteigmechanismus, welcher aktuell eine manuelle Ausrichtung an Treppenkanten erfordert. In diesem Paper wird ein Automatisierungsansatz vorgestellt, welcher mit zwei eindimensionalen Entfernungssensoren Treppen erkennen, charakterisieren und die relative Position zur Treppe bestimmen kann. Darauf aufbauend kann ein Regler die Position des Systems automatisch justieren. Zusätzlich sorgt ein Überwachungskonzept für den Nutzer dafür, dass mögliche sensorische Ungenauigkeiten oder Fehler manuell ausgeglichen werden können, wodurch sich ein semi-automatischer Prozess ergibt. Im Rahmen einer ersten interaktionszentrierten formativen Gebrauchstauglichkeitsstudie (
Funding source: European Regional Development Fund
Award Identifier / Grant number: EFRE-0800382
Funding statement: This work was conducted in the context of the SEBARES project, which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (EFRE-0800382).
About the authors
Mark Verjans M. Sc. was a research associate at the chair of medical engineering at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen and focussed on mechatronic systems for medical applications in particular for patient transport.
Lovis Phlippen M. Sc. is a research associate at the chair of medical engineering at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen and works on patient transport systems.
Zongshuo Li, M. Sc. was a masters student and student assistance at the chair of medical engineering at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen.
Philipp Schleer M. Sc. is a research associate at the chair of medical engineering at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen. Main fields of research include Human-Machine Interaction and Surgical Robotics.
Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Radermacher is head of the chair of medical engineering at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen. Main fields of activity include computerassisted therapy and mechatronic, biomechanics and man-machine-interaction.
Acknowledgment
We gratefully thank the partners in the context of this project SurgiTAIX AG (Max Kinzius), the Stollenwerk & Cie. GmbH and the Rescue Services of the District of Düren for their contributions.
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