Smart Hospital Room for Individuals with Limited Mobility

Kimberly E. NewmanORISE Fellow

Functional Performance and Device Use LaboratoryFood and Drug Administration

Acknowledgement

• CAPT Karen Siegel (Lab Leader, Functional Performance and Device Use, FDA)

• Dr. Michael Blei (Chief of Rehabilitation, Denver Health Medical Center)

• Frank Agyei-Ntim and Tonia Osadebe (alumni, University of Denver)

• Elisa Hobbs (Discovery Learning Apprentice, CU Boulder)

Goal

Remove barriers to communication and control of a standard hospital room for individuals with limited

mobility using off-the-shelf devices

Outline

• Problem Statement• Regulatory Background• Proposed Solution• Preliminary Results• Next Steps

Problem Statement• Individuals with upper extremity limitation are

unable to operate the standard hospital room interface.

• Specific health conditions where this system would be beneficial:

• Polytrauma• Parkinson’s disease• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)• cervical spinal cord injury

Americans with Disabilities Act

• Medical care facilities. Medical care facilities that are subject to this section shall comply with the provisions of the 2010 Standards applicable to medical care facilities, including, but not limited to, sections 223 and 805.

• In addition, medical care facilities that do not specialize in the treatment of conditions that affect mobility shall disperse the accessible patient bedrooms required by section 223.2.1 of the 2010 Standards in a manner that is proportionate by type of medical specialty.

• http://www.ada.gov/2010ADAstandards_index.htm

Accessible Design• Chapter 4 of the ADA covers how compliance

requirements in medical facilities can be implemented.• An equivalent requirement is found in the description of

elevator controls in section 407.

New ADAAG DOJ Standards for Accessible Design International Building Code

407.2.1 Call Controls. Where elevator call buttons or keypads are provided, they shall comply with 407.2.1 and 309.4. Call buttons shall be raised or flush.

4.27.4 Operation. Controls and operating mechanisms shall be operable with one hand and shall not require tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist. The force required to activate controls shall be no greater than 5 lbf (22.2 N).

ANSI 407.2.1 Call Controls. Where elevator call buttons or keypads are provided, they shall comply with Sections 407.2.1 and 309.4. Call buttons shall be raised or flush. Objects beneath hall call buttons shall protrude 1 inch (25 mm) maximum.

Assistive Technology

• There are several specialized options available for user interfaces and smart rooms on the Abledata website [www.abledata.com]

• One issue with these solutions is they are not widely sold so are very expensive for adoption.

• Off-the-shelf solutions are an option to reduce the cost for implementation.

Domain of Interest

• Replace the pushbutton interface with a tablet computer platform.

• Implement alternative user interfaces to select devices in room and communicate with care providers.

• Provides access for individuals with upper extremity limitations.

Proposed Solution

Test Case with Off-the-Shelf Remote Room Interface

IR

Internet based Messaging software

Individual Hospital Room

Nursing station

Current Progress• Purchased components

for evaluation and initial test case.

• Testing room control interface to TV and fan.

• Evaluating bluetooth for light control.

• Configuring programming platform for facial detection.

Next Steps for System Development• Quantify threshold for remote control link to

maintain connectivity with TV and fan.• Develop customized button control for A2DP

interface to bluetooth power cord.• Incorporate the ability to press buttons on the

smart phone/tablet using a camera controlled mouse interface.

• Develop customized communication system with nursing station.

Long Term Plans

•Perform pilot evaluation with healthy individuals for preliminary evaluation of solution.•Update user interface based on feedback.•Evaluate system in a hospital environment by individuals with limited mobility.

Summary• Described gap in access for individuals with

limited mobility.• Listed relevant components of the American with

Disabilities Act• Discussed an approach using off-the-shelf

computing platforms to address the problem.• Showed preliminary results and plans for future

development.

Questions?

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