Today’s healthcare industry has become increasingly reliant on technology and medical software. While medical software has come a long way in recent years, it can still cause difficulty or confusion for many of its users. In addition, the wide variety of people using the software tools (doctors, nurses, patients, administrative staff, people with disabilities, etc.) makes it even more important for the design of a great user experience (UX, an acronym for user experience) in medical software. In this article, we will discuss tips for building great UX into medical software for the healthcare industry, along with UX research methods that can achieve big results.

Medical Software Accessibility & UI Testing

A wide variety of users can interact with medical software: of different roles (doctors, nurses, patients, etc.), different abilities (visually or hearing impaired), and different demographics (young vs. elderly patients). For each of these types of users, medical software must be able to serve their needs, and allow each of those users to achieve their goals efficiently. As an example, an elderly patient with poor vision should be able to use a mobile application on their phone to check the results of their lab tests. In this case, the UI (user interface) of the application should make use of strong contrast and large fonts so that they can use the software. Some basic accessibility testing would reveal whether this was an issue by testing if a high-contrast mode or larger font size was easily accessible. However, this is just one instance of many. How can those designing medical software for the healthcare industry ensure that their user experience is not only up to par, but a cut above the rest?

Research has shown how good UX impacts overall user satisfaction, boosts success rates (allowing users to complete tasks and achieve their goals efficiently), while avoiding headaches caused by poor design. In critical medical situations, a good, intuitive interface on a medical device can literally save lives.

Medical Software UX: Healthcare Personas

In healthcare, a wide variety of use cases and applications exist for medical software. Some of these include medical records, medical education, mental health, practice management, sports, wellness and nutrition, pharmacy, medical billing, telemedicine, and medical devices among others. For this reason, detailed planning and persona research should be done to determine who exactly will be using the software. Personas can describe typical users of the software in an abstract manner, along with common tasks and goals they might achieve by using the software. This in turn can help guide design and make sure that common tasks are easily achievable, rather than buried in a menu somewhere that’s hard for them to find. Further, personas can guide design by describing users’ goals, tasks, capabilities, fears, and other factors that will help designers empathize with users and support their needs.

Healthcare Applications: Mobile Apps, Software UX

A contextual inquiry can help support the design of users in addition to persona research. Examining users and their behavior, in a typical setting where the software is actually used, will help designers better understand users and design for their needs. Besides the large variety of users already discussed, these users may be using the software from a medical office, an operating room, an ambulance, or from their homes. In addition, they may be using a mobile device, laptop, PC or tablet to access the software. By researching users in their actual environments of use, UX researchers can gauge how well they perform while doing typical tasks (as well as tasks that involve critical safety) to highlight areas of concern that need attention or redesign.

Common Medical Software UX Research

Overall, a wide gamut of software exists in the medical industry, and each type of use case has its own requirements for design. Reaching out to a usability research firm specializing in healthcare is a great way to get feedback on early-stage designs, prototypes, or fully-developed software and gauge its user experience. Following are some common types of UX inquiries done in the healthcare industry for medical software.

1. Contextual Inquiry / Human Interaction Points

As previously described, this type of research examines the use of medical software in its actual environment, in situations where the software is actually used. Situated Research specializes in this type of research, which aims to reduce bias from testing users in a lab or other unnatural environment. Contextual inquiry helps to add context to user behavior and support the design of software tools that are less error prone, easier to use, and intuitive.

2. Task Analysis

A task analysis helps when designing medical software to support the needs of users, such as doctors or patients, by diving into the complex tasks that they wish to accomplish. For instance, carefully watching the process of a doctor trying to take notes during a patient interview can help highlight design flaws, issues, or other significant areas that need design attention or refinement.

3. Focus Groups and Interviews

Focus groups (groups of representative users) and interviews (one-on-one questioning) can help in several ways when designing medical software and gauging its overall fit within healthcare. Early in the design process, these methods can help gather information on what needs are currently not met by existing tools, and specific features might better suit users’ needs. Later on, feedback on a prototype might be gathered during a focus group or set of interviews to better refine a product.

4. Expert Review / Heuristic Evaluation

An expert review can be conducted early or late in the design process, and involves an expert in usability doing a thorough test of the software to find both successes and failures of its design. Both the UX and UI are examined, looking at how easily information can be interpreted by users (UI) and how easily common tasks are completed (UX). Heuristics serve as a guide for the researcher, framing different components of the software to examine. For instance, one heuristic examines error prevention, such as how well users are able to avoid a mistake and recover if errors occur. Other heuristics examine the design consistency of the software, the flexibility of the design for achieving tasks, and whether the system design helps users recover from their mistakes. (Bonus points if a help system exists; more bonus points for intuitive design when users can fix their own mistakes!)

5. Information Architecture

Expert researchers can help design medical software by examining the way the software is structured from an information standpoint: looking at things like menu navigation, screen / page layout, and how difficult it is to locate common things that are used. To do this, things like labeling and organization are examined, as well as whether categories are mutually exclusive. Users should not be confused on what to click in a menu, as in cases where meaning is not properly conveyed by the choices. Methods such as card sorting can help to logically sort out information into categories that make sense.

6. Visual Design (UI) and Branding Audit

As shown in Figure 1, visual design should be carefully examined to ensure meaning is properly inferred by users while minimizing error. This audit can also examine iconography (icons in the software) to be sure that meaning is interpreted by users to the highest degree possible. Everyone has seen icons in software that are confusing, where users have ‘no idea’ what will happen when they click / press on them. These types of visual cues are examined during visual UI testing.

In the above example from UXPA, a sample glucose meter shows how medical devices can be recalled from poor visual design cues. In this case, a user glancing at the screen could incorrectly interpret the glucose reading as 22mmol/L rather than 2.2mmol/L, and think their glucose levels are 10x higher than the actual reading. A poorly emphasized decimal point in the visual design of the medical device caused it to be recalled: a very costly consequence of not thoroughly testing the device.

A range of UX activities exist to help examine the software interface (UI), from a basic visual design audit to interactive prototypes. Some of these include designing wireframes, which are simple, abstract versions of a software interface (highlighting information layout on the page / screen), and color psychology (making use of colors that add meaning by conveying the correct nature of the information).

Color psychology can also be examined during a brand audit, where branding and marketing are examined to see whether the software interface properly utilizes colors, brand language, and typography (fonts and styles) of the corporate branding to ensure good marketing efforts. Both formative and summative research can be done to test designs during development (formative) and following development as a report (summative).

7. Platform Testing and QA

Comprehensive testing of the medical software and its platform should be done before it is released to ensure both quality assurance (QA) and help eliminate problems that may arise down the road. Beyond QA, speed tests should be done to ensure that software and medical devices perform as expected, in the field, or situations where it will be used. For instance, if a mobile app is unresponsive while trying to download data over a slow connection, unintended consequences may occur. These situations should be examined, tested, and accounted for in order to provide a seamless user experience. Cross-platform testing across iOS and Android apps (for mobile applications) and desktops, tablets, or custom medical devices with embedded software should be done as well.

Besides testing, help systems, instruction manuals, customer support systems and instructional graphics should be examined to ensure that users have the support they need when problems arise. As mentioned, bonus points for those software systems that are intelligently designed to detect when users make mistakes and help them correct course, and for systems with intuitive design that help prevent mistakes in the first place.

Summary

As the healthcare industry becomes more reliant on technology and medical software, it becomes more important to incorporate usability research and testing into the design process. With a wide gamut of users (doctors, patients, administrative staff, etc.) and a wide variety of applications (medical records, education, billing, practice management, patient monitoring, etc.) in medical software, it becomes that much more important to craft a design strategy that maximizes its user experience. Whether a patient needs to check their lab diagnostics, or a medical device needs to provide life-saving information, well-designed software can literally save lives.

Research has proven that UX contributes to user satisfaction, successful products, and increased market share. These key metrics are especially important in the healthcare industry, so reach out today to discuss the best research strategy for your product.

Author: Matt Sharritt, Ph.D. (President, Situated Research)

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The sky is falling! Social media is the new scapegoat of the month. Headlines claim it is ruining our relationships, dismantling our society, destroying our very lives! In particular, the most frequent victims are presumed to be teenagers. Sometimes the accused culprit is not social media, but the phones that make it so accessible. Is it true? Only time will tell … but in the ’50s, the demon was comic books; in the ’60s, rock and roll; and in the ’80s, video games. My mother was convinced that my love of comic books and science fiction was going to rot my brain. Now, of course, these things are mainstream and no longer the sole domain of teens. But there’s always a new thing for people to worry about or blame for the decline and fall of civilization.

I’m particularly sensitized to that criticism of video games. I designed and programmed my first computer game in college in 1976 – in fact, inspired by that very love of science fiction I had as a child. When I graduated in 1980, my first job out of college was entering the then-infant video game industry. I’ve never left. So when pundits blamed games for destroying society, even causing teen violence and rebellion, I took it personally. I’ve always felt that video games can be magical, marvelous entertainment. I hoped that one day they’d be seen as not just safe, but actually good for us. That day is finally here.

Virtual treatment, real results

For many years now, researchers and doctors have gradually built up solid scientifically verified evidence that existing games can improve the lives of the people who play them. At the same time, increasing numbers of games have been created with the idea of ‘boosting health’ as a direct goal.

Fast action games like Call of Duty have been found to improve visual perception and the ability to make correct decisions quickly. Other research has shown promise in using a game to treat the underlying causes of depression. It’s possible that games may be able to diagnose the onset of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and perhaps even slow their progression.

Games have shown promise in the realm of physical fitness, too. Starting 20 years ago, the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution was credited with getting a lot of passive couch potatoes up, moving, and losing weight, and it’s still spawning sequels. Games on mobile phones like Zombies, Run! and Pokémon Go have encouraged players to get out and move in the world, and many track their exercise and calorie expenditure as they do so. VR holds promise here too, with the chance to get your exercise by racing the Tour de France on your exercise bike, or by flying like a bird. There are even current ventures bringing gameplay to gym class and possibly making dodgeball fun even for nerds!

Doctors with joysticks

It turns out that doctors in training, like most people these days, are often avid game players. That has presented a great opportunity for using them as part of their medical education. Although games have yet to replace classes, they’ve been shown to help laparoscopic surgeons reduce errors by 37 percent while increasing their speed by 27 percent when used as warm-up exercises. When you consider that athletes, musicians, dancers, and others who need to do precision work with their muscles all limber up before their tasks, it makes sense that the right kind of practice helps surgeons, too.

Other companies are rushing to use VR to train anesthesiologists or to give caregivers a first-hand sense of how their patients with macular degeneration see the world. The VR simulations aren’t all games, but the vast majority of VR engineers are coming from the games industry.

Prescribing play

Perhaps the most exciting application of games in the modern world are the ways in which doctors are using games to treat their patients. Realistic war games have helped soldiers recover from PTSD by simulating the experiences that trigger their problem, a method to gradually desensitize them to reduce their symptoms long term. Other games have been used in similar ways in conjunction with therapy to treat phobias like fear of heights, flying, and spiders. And currently, virtual reality games have shown great promise in pain relief for acute pain, reducing or even eliminating the need for narcotics when changing the dressings on burn victims. VR is also showing promise in helping stroke victims recover control over their movement, and in relieving the perception of pain in “phantom limbs” experienced by amputation patients.

Last September saw the FDA approval of a mobile phone app to be used (in conjunction with therapy) to treat addiction. The developers call their app a “Prescription Digital Therapeutic” and, although it’s not a game, it’s a big step to have software approved to treat something as serious as Substance Abuse Disorder.

But a real game designed to be an active treatment for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) was not far behind. By December, the FDA gave preliminary clearance to a video game made by a team consisting of both game developers and neuroscientists from UCSF. In a large controlled trial of children and teens diagnosed with ADHD, the group who used the game showed significant improvement compared to a control group. The team hopes that soon it will become the first game to win FDA approval on the same terms as a prescription drug. In style, the game is part racing game, part Pokémon Snap, but with many unique twists to improve attention and focus.

We are moving into a future where games train our doctors, monitor our health, and treat our illnesses. It may seem a bit outrageous now, but if comic books led me into a career making video games and often become the basis of mainstream movies, why can’t video games inspire the next generation of doctors and become the basis of medical treatment? Video games are intimately connected to learning, attention, and the brain. It isn’t an accident that they are also proving to be useful to our mental and physical health. Maybe they’ll even be able to reverse my dreaded comic book brain rot!

This is part of a series of columns written by developers speaking at the Game Developers Conference in March.

Noah Falstein is a freelance game designer and producer, and was one of the first 10 employees at LucasArts Entertainment and Dreamworks Interactive. Last year he left Google after serving four years as their Chief Game Designer.

Written by: Noah Falstein, via Rolling Stone
Posted by: Situated Research

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Many usability problems are quickly being addressed and fixed: for example, a recent post by Nielsen-Norman Group discussed the primary call to action (apply button) displayed below the fold, requiring users with typical screens to have to scroll down to find the apply button. As can be seen in the above screenshot, this problem has been addressed. However, the overall user-experience of shopping for health insurance is still flawed – with basic pricing information being difficult to find, and changing information as users go through the registration process. The new HealthCare.gov website highlights the difference between usability and user-experience: while usability could use improvement, the overall experience of the website is quite complicated, hindering users from shopping for insurance coverage.

The HealthCare.gov homepage has a well-designed wireframe, with clear labels and an easy to understand navigation structure. There are clear calls to action, encouraging users to apply for coverage (the ‘Apply Online’ and ‘Apply by Phone’ buttons). For users looking to explore coverage options before applying, the ‘See Plans Now’ button, circled above, helps users to see plan options before registering. However, once plan options come up, more information to discriminate amongst plans is not available:

While the site states repeatedly that costs vary depending on factors such as income level, more information on the plans could be made available under each option. As shown above, 47 options were available, with little to discriminate between plans other than price.

Application Process

The initial screen for applying looks like the following:

While the above screen is simple, with a clear call to action (clicking ‘Get Started’), the icons representing the application process are not clear. While it appears that a three step process is involved, the icons do not convey meaning to the user as to what is involved. Following, users are asked to create an account:

As shown, the account creation screen is simple (creating a username and password), but the security process complicates things. Instructions on creating a username and password require special characters for increased security, which can frustrate the registration process. Password characters are hidden as dots, making it more difficult for users to see what they are typing for a password. The process indicator (lower-left dots) are not clear at communicating where exactly the user is at while registering, either.

Over-Blown Security Wrecks User Experience

We had a test user run through the application process on HealthCare.gov, and their experience highlights problems with the website’s heightened security requirements, as well as delays from the site being unavailable or too slow:

The entire application process took about 55 minutes, longer than what I would anticipate for filling out a simple application. Why? I was asked many security questions to ensure my identity. I was first asked to make an account, which required me to answer 10 security questions. It was scary to know the amount of information they knew about me. One of the questions was, ” What was the name of the dog that you bought pet insurance for in 2010?” How would they know that? Other questions asked about information on my taxes and credit report.

Once my identity was checked I then watched the wheel of death spin and spin with a message saying that they would email me a link in order to move forward. I went to my email where I waited for about 30 minutes before I received my special link.

Once I clicked on the link I was brought back to the website and asked to login. After logging in I was then asked several more security questions in order to ensure my identity yet again. This time I was asked to set up security questions. Normally on a website security questions that you set up are suggested to you as they were here. However the types of questions set up were much more detailed then I would have liked. As an example one question was,” What is your parents current mailing address?” Another question I could set up was,” What is the VIN number to your car?” I am sure if I ever could not log into my account and the VIN question came up I would not be able to remember the answer.

I then was able to fill out the application, which took me through my personal information, tax history, current income level, and what I expect my future income to be. The application process was then completed, so I had thought. I was then asked to review my application.

During the reviewing process you were supposed to be allowed to correct any information on the application. I made several attempts to change my address. I would click on the EDIT button and it would take me to a different section of the application. I spent about 5 minutes trying the edit process but never managed to change my address. I would be brought to a different section of the application and I would have to continue from that point on filling out the entire application again.

Security is paramount on a government website handling personal information and health records; however, the amount of verification seems to hurt the user experience. As discussed, users must create an account to obtain accurate pricing information and to shop health insurance plans. Users can see a list of plan names for their area with typical pricing, but pricing is inaccurate until an application has been filled out (based upon income and other factors).

Our test user above was emailed after the application was filed, and told that they had to wait to see coverage plans until further investigation could be completed. Our user expected to be ‘rewarded’ with useful information after completing the long application process. The early stages of application on HealthCare.gov look simple, and encourage users to begin an application; however, the reality is a long process with difficulties that waste users’ time and a delayed gratification of shopping for coverage.

Technical Problems and Error Messages

As stated in the news, HealthCare.gov frequently stalled or the system went down for our test users. Below is an example, with a ridiculous ‘reference ID’ code to phone in to customer service:

While surprising for such an important website launch, heavy traffic from initial use might be partially to blame, as is the lack of testing before the site was live. From a usability standpoint, improving user workflows through the site could also yield performance increases, reducing demand on precious system resources that are being shared by so many users seeking coverage before the mandatory deadline.

We cannot imagine the costs being incurred by the number of employees required to handle the phone calls and customer service. As the saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure‘, which certainly applies to usability research and careful planning of a website this large and important.

If you have used HealthCare.gov, please tell us about your experience by leaving a comment below.

Written & Posted by: Situated Research

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“It’s a privilege to be a part of this project as we explore how this exciting new technology might be incorporated into the everyday care of our patients,” said Dr.Christopher Kaeding, the physician who performed the surgery and director of sports medicine at Ohio State.  “To be honest, once we got into the surgery, I often forgot the device was there. It just seemed very intuitive and fit seamlessly.”

Google Glass has a frame similar to traditional glasses, but instead of lenses, there is a small glass block that sits above the right eye.  On that glass is a computer screen that, with a simple voice command, allows users to pull up information as they would on any other computer.  Attached to the front of the device is a camera that offers a point-of-view image and the ability to take both photos and videos while the device is worn.

During this procedure at the medical center’s University East facility, Kaeding wore the device as he performed ACL surgery on Paula Kobalka, 47, from Westerville, Ohio, who hurt her knee playing softball.  As he performed her operation at a facility on the east side of Columbus, Google Glass showed his vantage point via the internet to audiences miles away.

Across town, one of Kaeding’s Ohio State colleagues, Dr. Robert Magnussen, watched the surgery his office, while on the main campus, several students at The Ohio State University College of Medicine watched on their laptops.

“To have the opportunity to be a medical student and share in this technology is really exciting,” said Ryan Blackwell, a second-year medical student who watched the surgery remotely.   “This could have huge implications, not only from the medical education perspective, but because a doctor can use this technology remotely, it could spread patient care all over the world in places that we don’t have it already.”

“As an academic medical center, we’re very excited about the opportunities this device could provide for education,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, chief innovation officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “But beyond, that, it could be a game-changer for the doctor during the surgery itself.”

Experts have theorized that during surgery doctors could use voice commands to instantly call up x-ray or MRI images of their patient, pathology reports or reference materials.  They could collaborate live and face-to-face with colleagues via the internet, anywhere in the world.

“It puts you right there, real time,” said Marsh, who is also the executive director of the Center for Personalized Health Care at Ohio State. “Not only might you be able to call up any kind of information you need or to get the help you need, but it’s the ability to do it immediately that’s so exciting,” he said.  “Now, we just have to start using it. Like many technologies, it needs to be evaluated in different situations to find out where the greatest value is and how it can impact the lives of our patients in a positive way.”

Only 1,000 people in the United States have been chosen to test Google Glass as part of Google’s Explorer Program. Dr. Ismail Nabeel, an assistant professor of general internal medicine at Ohio State applied and was chosen. He then partnered with Kaeding to perform this groundbreaking surgery and to help test technology that could change the way we see medicine in the future.

Broadcast quality video and high-definition photos available for download: http://bit.ly/16jXc6c

Written by: The Ohio State University (via Presence); for details about the first international Google Glass surgery, in June 2013, see Clinica Cemtro; for a report about early reactions from those testing Glass see NPR

Image: Dr. Christopher Kaeding, an orthopedic surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is shown wearing Google Glass

Posted by: Situated Research

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In the video, Corning predicted large scale desktop touchscreen displays, bigger video screens, and dynamic billboards. And while much of the video is still in the future, the OLED TV’s shown by LG at this year’s CES do seem to bring the video to life.

Despite the fact that most of what was in the video still hasn’t come to reality, Corning apparently isn’t one to stand still. Just under a year after A Day of Glass was released, Corning released A Day of Glass 2.

The vision is even more heady, with nearly every surface you can see turning out to be an interactive glass screen. Windows, car dashboards, tables. There’s even a large wall in a forest (which is actually a cool concept when you watch the video.) Which parts are reality, which are close, and which are still far, far off?

Corning has an answer for those questions as well. Along with A Day Made of Glass 2, it released a second video (shown above), with a narrator to help explain the technologies and devices. As a tech enthusiast, I personally found it even more interesting than the basic video.

There was one aspect though which wasn’t explained, or even really touched on. During the video conferencing that the Dad was having with another hospital, the second doctor would move in relation to the readouts on the wall, as if he was really standing behind the glass. On a display with today’s technology, he and the readouts would be fixed, because the screen cannot tell where the user’s perspective is.

However, Microsoft is working on that problem. The Verge got a look into Microsoft’s Edison Lab back in December, and posted a lengthy video.

One of the things that Microsoft is working on is a smart wall, which would be able to tell where the user is standing, and change everything to match that person’s perspective.

With the technology that they and others are developing, Corning’s vision might not be as far away as we think. And hopefully a year from now, Corning will show us another glimpse into the future with A Day Made of Glass 3.

Written by: Andy Mercer, TekGoblin; video by Corning (via Presence)
Posted by: Situated Research

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Medibotics’ U.S. patent 7,980,141 for Motion Recognition Clothing (MRC) has been approved. MRC is an innovative technology for translating body motion into computer-readable signals that could power the next generation of full-body game controllers. The market for translating body motion into computer-readable signals is already very large. For example, over 10 million units of an existing camera-based full-body game controller system have been sold. With further development, MRC could be used for a variety of applications including not only computer gaming, but also virtual reality in general, sports training, medical therapy, virtual exercise, weight management, and telerobotics.

Motion Recognition Clothing (MRC) integrates air-filled or fluid-filled tubes into clothing that longitudinally spans multiple body joints and then uses changes in the pressures within these tubes, as they bend, to measure the motion of these body joints. Multiple tubes can span each joint. The results capture human posture and motion. Although MRC is not yet a commercially-available product, preliminary prototyping results are promising. Medibotics has tested different tube diameters, wall thicknesses, durometers, and materials (eg. latex, silicone, EPDM, polyurethane) and found that non-linear functions of changes in tube pressures are highly correlated with changes in the angles of the human joints that the tubes span. Medibotics also measured the dynamic gait of a knee in motion during a 1-MPH walk, 2-MPH walk, 5-MPH run, and 6-MPH run. They achieved gait results that are similar to those in the biomechanics literature.

The use of Motion Recognition Clothing (MRC) technology for full-body game control could have several advantages over current camera-based full-body game control technology. For example, when used with a mobile transmitter, MRC can be portable. MRC could be used almost anywhere… jogging outdoors, playing golf, and even swimming. MRC does not require that users to remain in front of a stationary camera. MRC can also be used with multiple users who interact and overlap. MRC does not require a direct line-of-sight between users and a camera. Also, MRC can measure small-scale body motion, such as that of fingers, in a manner that is not possible with camera-based systems that only recognize large-scale skeletal configurations. In general, MRC can have advantages over other competing motion recognition technologies in terms of: freedom of motion; ambulatory use; washable clothing; freedom from occlusion; real time use; lower cost; body safety; durability; and high/low motion scale. However, one motion recognition sub-market in which MRC would not likely compete is in high-end “Motion Capture” systems used for animating figures in motion pictures (such as Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings”). Film makers spend a lot for high-precision systems with multiple cameras and facial motion recognition technology. It is unlikely that MRC would provide the level of facial motion precision required by this sub-market.

There remain several challenges in the further development and commercialization of MRC. Although MRC may work well for close-fitting clothing, it may work less well with loose-fitting clothing whose location over joints shifts as a person moves. This may be addressed by incorporating multiple tubes around joints and using pattern recognition software to identify shifts in clothing location. Another challenge for MRC is calibrating measurements to ensure accuracy for different people (and potentially each time the same person takes it off and puts it on). Another challenge is maintaining measurement accuracy while making tube size smaller so that the clothing is non-obtrusive. These challenges are not insurmountable, but they will require more work in order to launch MRC as a successful commercial product. Medibotics welcomes inquiries from manufacturers and investors in the fields of computer gaming, sports training, medical technology, and/or telerobotics who may be interested in partnering with Medibotics in the next stage of product development for Motion Recognition Clothing.

Medibotics LLC is an innovative Minnesota-based technology company with an intellectual property portfolio that includes: ambulatory human motion recognition technology (including Motion Recognition Clothing); wearable technology for energy generation from human motion; flexible human-to-computer interface devices (including Blob Mouse), and sound-masking devices and systems for enhancing sleep (including HushBand). The CEO of Medibotics is Robert A. Connor, Ph.D., an inventor on over 40 patents and patent applications.

Media Contact: Robert Connor, Medibotics LLC, 612-339-1442, info@Medibotics.com

Posted by: Situated Research

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The sight of a surgeon playing “Grand Theft Auto” in the operating room might raise eyebrows, but it’s one example of how consumer technology is being repurposed to advance the practice of medicine.

Rising medical costs — bloated by expensive, complicated machines — are wrecking the nation’s economic health, while off-the-shelf consumer gadgets keep getting cheaper and more powerful. So the health care industry has discovered it can tap into the innovative wonders of an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 or an Android smartphone app.

Dr. Tom Lendvay, assistant professor of urology at the University of Washington, has studied whether warming up on a virtual reality simulator can improve a surgeon’s performance on the operating table, and he now plans to study whether video games could also put a surgeon in the zone.

Lendvay’s simulator mimics the da Vinci surgical robot that many surgeons now use to perform laparoscopic surgery. Warming up reduces errors, Lendvay thinks, by jump-starting the centers of a surgeon’s brain responsible for memory, spatial relations and motor skills — all critical for using the surgical robot.

The problem with simulators is that they’re too expensive to put outside every operating room. An Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 is not. That’s why Lendvay wants to know whether a session of “Mortal Kombat” or some other game is a worthy alternative to warming up on a simulator.

“If you can pay for a video game versus $100,000 for a simulator,” Lendvay said, “that’s all you need to know.”

Another cost-saving adaptation of gaming technology helps Dr. Brian Ross train medical students. Ross is executive director of the Institute for Simulation and Interprofessional Studies (ISIS) at the UW. The institute uses simulation technologies to teach medical skills, as well as to deliver instruction in fields such as business, bioengineering and computer science.

The challenge for Ross and other medical faculty is that the UW is the only medical school in a five-state region — Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. That has made the UW a leader in practicing telemedicine because many students spend much of medical school at hospitals in their home states.

Because the hardware and software necessary to interact electronically with students is expensive, Ross set out to find a cheaper alternative. He found it when he noticed his son sitting in front of his Xbox wearing a headset that enabled him to banter with the other players participating in an online game.

By adding a camera to one console at each end, Ross realized he could turn two Xboxes into a video conferencing system that costs several hundred dollars instead of several thousand dollars for licensing, equipment and tech support. Ross used the system to show a group of students in Boise how to install a breathing tube, and has been using it for other training sessions ever since.

Ross wants to take his Xbox adaptation beyond video conferencing. He hopes to find a game engine developer or two that would be interested in creating virtual medical environments, such as emergency rooms, where students and doctors in different locations could train online through avatars — i.e., digital characters — representing each user.

Kinect’s motion sensors — which enable Xbox users to control the actions of their characters through their own movements and gestures — could turn a virtual emergency room into a “very realistic” learning environment, Ross said.

Launched by Microsoft last year, Kinect is generating as much buzz in the world of medicine as it is among gamers. Search the internet for examples of Kinect being hacked in the name of medical science, and a long list of adaptations appears.

“It’s a really great product where there’s a lot of opportunities to do a lot of things,” says Howard Chizeck, an electrical engineering professor in the UW’s Biorobotics Lab. “It’s a very enabling device. It’s the right thing at the right time.”

A hospital in Toronto, for example, is using Kinect to allow surgeons to make hand gestures to control imaging systems while they operate. This eliminates the need for surgeons to leave the sterile field around the operating table whenever they want to pull up images from an MRI or CT scan. The time they save reduces costly delays.

The UW Biorobotics Laboratory is tinkering with Kinect to solve a different problem. When using surgical robots, surgeons are unable to feel what they’re suturing or cutting. They are guided solely by two-dimensional images on a monitor.

Because surgeons can’t feel what they’re doing, they run a greater risk of damaging surrounding tissue. While it’s possible to put sensors at the tip of a surgical robot’s instruments, Chizeck said, they are expensive and difficult to keep sterile.

Kinect’s motion sensor technology provides a way to create three-dimensional models of patients that can be engineered to provide resistance feedback through the controls that guide the surgical instruments. Fredrik Ryden, a graduate student, is working with Chizeck and another electrical engineering professor, Blake Hannaford, to advance this approach.

Any such system that ultimately makes it to the operating room may or may not integrate Kinect’s technology, but it will be based on research Kinect supported.

“Kinect gives us a really low-cost test bed for developing and testing the idea,” Chizeck said.

Dr. David Loren is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the UW. One of the most important skills he must teach his students is how to interpret and process what they hear on a stethoscope. Before school starts this fall, Loren will have a new tool at his disposal — an electronic stethoscope that uses an Android cellphone app to allow people wearing Bluetooth headsets to listen to the same sounds as the stethoscope’s user.

“Students will hear what I hear at the same time I hear it, and I can talk about it with them in real time,” he said. “It allows me to share not just what I’m hearing, but what I’m thinking.”

The advantages of the new stethoscope extend beyond teaching students. In many cases, more than one doctor is involved in caring for the same patient, but they aren’t in the same location. Now, everyone can listen to the same thing at the same time, which could improve the decision-making process.

“To me,” Loren said, “it’s a quantum leap.”

Written by: Brad Broberg, TechFlash (via Presence)
Posted by: Situated Research

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