Experimental study on legibility of typographic information of ventilator interface

Abstract

This study aims to reduce errors made by medical personnel that are caused by poorly read information on ventilator interfaces by determining the factors that enhance the legibility of typographic information, including the font size, font type, and character case, and determining whether personal protective equipment (PPE) has any impact on legibility. The rate of accuracy, response time (for making decisions and carrying out actions), and cognitive processing/efficiency through eye movement indicators (diameter of pupil (an index of cognitive effort) and average fixation time (index of level of engagement)) are used to measure the legibility. It is found that the font type and case have a significant impact on the legibility of the information. The Arial font is more legible than the Times New Roman font, and lowercase letters are more legible than uppercase letters. The PPE has no significant influence on the legibility. The font size has a significant effect on the response time, but not on the rate of accuracy, average fixation time and diameter of the pupil. The response time is greatly reduced with a font size of 20 pt. Therefore, a ventilator interface with information parameters that use a 20 pt Arial font with lowercase letters can offer greater legibility. The experimental results provide guidance for designing the typographic information of ventilator interfaces.