AIDL's projects in the Healthcare domain are described below.
Last Updated: April 22, 2014
Duration: January 2011 - March 2014
Critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) require constant specialized observation by a number of clinicians (nurses, respiratory therapists, doctors) at a given time. To make decisions and plan treatments, these clinicians need to observe, combine and understand a wide range of information from various devices located at the bedsides of multiple patients. The problems with existing technology are: a) fixed location of monitoring devices at the bedside; b) information overload from too many devices, each with its own display; c) no integration and interaction between devices; d) displays which do not show information in a way that is easy to understand; and e) lack of historical information to support understanding of data and clinical decision making.
To develop the Monitoring Messenger device we have completed a detailed analysis of the work-flow in a pediatric ICU. Based on the results of this analysis we have developed mock-ups of the device. Now we will improve and finalize the device with the direct involvement of healthcare providers.
The novelty of our project is in its use of a formal design approach and transferring technology developed for the OR into the ICU.
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Duration: November 2012 - Present
With the rising number of hip and knee replacement surgeries, more patients are requiring rehabilitation to accelerate the healing process. Rehabilitation clinics are led by physiotherapists who prescribe and customize workout programs based on a clinical assessment of the patient’s progress. These assessments are performed by visual observation, patient questionnaires and goniometry, which can measure range of motion of only a single joint while the patient is at rest. However, even when carefully performed, human errors and biases are likely to occur due to the inherent element of subjectivity in these methods.
To address this concern, an Automatic Rehabilitation System (ARS) is being developed to provide the physiotherapist with quantitative patient data using human motion tracking technologies. Our lab tackles the issue of how to display this information effectively while minimizing the added complexity so that physiotherapists can better assess patient recovery. To this end, evaluations of early prototypes have been conducted with patients and physiotherapists at St. Joseph’s Health Centre (Guelph, ON). This project is in conjunction with the Adaptive Systems Laboratory (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Cardon Rehabilitation & Medical Equipment Ltd.
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Duration: Completed February 2014
Research indicates that behavior change interventions can assist a patient's performance with respect to their health, and empower them to take a proactive role in their well-being. The objective of this research was to identify features that make remote health-monitoring systems more effective. To that end, a persuasive design approach was used to design a prototype application that encourages patients to consult their home monitoring devices appropriately. An exploratory user study was conducted to evaluate the participants’ opinions about the developed prototype, their preferences, as well as their concerns regarding the different components of the mockup.
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Duration: Completed September 2013
This research was about developing an effective user interface for a decision support tool for mobile devices, aimed at presenting emergency department waiting-time information to the patient population. The prototype received very positive feedback from a variety of stakeholders, the head of the Emergency Department, and the trained nurses. A user study was also conducted to evaluate the usability of the system.
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Duration: 2006 - 2008
The project provided guidance to improve the labelling of injectable pharmaceutical containers. Existing labels for injectable pharmaceutical containers, specifically ampoules and vials, were evaluated against the Health Canada regulations and the standard developed by the CSA International. A FMEA was performed on the label reading process to identify potential human errors in the process and prioritise their criticality. Based on the results of FMEA, improved label designs will be developed and evaluated via user testing.
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Duration: 2004 - 2006
This project developed a mobile decision support tool for cardiac care nursing coordinators doing telephone triage. The support included patient care algorithms, research evidence, electronic record keeping, advanced display ideas, and a mobile drug database. A two month field trial of the support tool showed it was readily adopted, gave useful advice, and supported the triage task well.
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Duration: 2002 - 2005
The mobile EID (mEID) diabetes management project involved the design and development of a mobile application to help diabetics better visualize elements of their condition, thus improving understanding and management. Variables such as blood glucose and plasma were identified at each level of the Abstraction Hierarchy in the Work Domain Analysis (WDA). The information requirements extracted from the WDA were subsequently used to design the mobile information displays for the application. A usability evaluation of the application revealed that users performed more efficiently with modified task-based mEID displays vs. mEID displays alone.
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