Abstract
We present the collected findings of a user-centred approach for developing a tele-operated robot for remote echocardiography examinations. During the three-year development of the robot, we involved users in all development stages of the robot, to increase the usability of the system for the doctors. For requirement compilation, we conducted a literature review, observed two traditional examinations, arranged focus groups with doctors and patients, and conducted two online surveys. During the development of the robot, we regularly involved doctors in usability tests to receive feedback from them on the user interface for the robot and on the robot’s hardware. For evaluation of the robot, we conducted two eye tracking studies. In the first study, doctors executed a traditional echocardiography examination. In the second study, the doctors conducted a remote examination with our robot. The results of the studies show that all doctors were able to successfully complete a correct ultrasonography examination with the tele-operated robot. In comparison to a traditional examination, the doctors on average only need a short amount of additional time to successfully examine a patient when using our remote echocardiography robot. The results also show that the doctors fixate considerably more often, but with shorter fixation times, on the USG screen in the traditional examination compared to the remote examination. We found further that some of the user-centred design methods we applied had to be adjusted to the clinical context and the hectic schedule of the doctors. Overall, our experience and results suggest that the usage of user-centred design methodology is well suited for developing medical robots and leads to a usable product that meets the end users’ needs.
Highlights
IntroductionThe World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly assesses the number of people working in the healthcare sector (doctors, nurses, other healthcare personnel) for all countries that publish numbers about employment in the healthcare sector
The World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly assesses the number of people working in the healthcare sector for all countries that publish numbers about employment in the healthcare sector
As safety is of utmost importance in medical devices, we studied whether the doctors consider the tele-operated ultrasonography examination as safe for the patient
Summary
The World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly assesses the number of people working in the healthcare sector (doctors, nurses, other healthcare personnel) for all countries that publish numbers about employment in the healthcare sector. The usage of tele-operated robots for remote examinations is one way to guarantee better access to health specialists for people living in underdeveloped and rural areas. Boman et al [8] showed that the use of robot-assisted remote echocardiographic examination drastically reduces the time to diagnosis in rural areas. The results of the study showed that the total process time from when the patient first contacted the doctor to when a correct diagnosis was issued was significantly reduced from 114 days to 26.5 days when using remote examination for consultation. The process time was reduced so drastically, because in a traditional consultation, patients first report to their primary healthcare centre and based on their condition, have to travel to secondary/tertiary centres for further examinations.
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