A robotic assistant that takes care of patients in the public healthcare system

AROH
Robotic Hospital Assistant

Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (Cinvestav) &
Centro de Investigaciones de Diseño Industrial
Industrial Design Thesis Worker
Mexico | 2014

Contribution: design research, railings design, infographics, ergonomic sampling and analysis, renders, video animation, 3D CAD SolidWorks, prototype manufacturing, and bachelor thesis.

80% of hospital beds in the public healthcare system in Mexico have more than 24 years of use. Besides, the system has an overwhelming demand for services due to the size of the country's population. Thus, the number of nurses cannot cover the number of patients in hospital beds efficiently. AROH is a robotic bed with artificial intelligence. It acts as a secondary medical staff for patients' monitoring and recovery.

Extensive research for medical devices

The project split into two groups working in parallel. Cinvestav engineers were in charge of the mechanisms, and CIDI's team the aesthetic design, ergonomics, and interaction. Through a Human-Centred Design approach, we performed extensive research activities, such as:

Field research at "Hospital Juárez de México".
Desk research related to pressure ulcers.
In-depth interviews with hospital nurses and physicians.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) safety standards study.
Carry out an anthropometric sampling of the Mexican population.

AROH Design

In the public healthcare system in Mexico, patients share rooms, keeping privacy had a crucial role in the design. For this reason, the railings aim to generate a shelter space for patients in recovery. Furthermore, the lower railings integration with the footboard allows medical staff to access easier the patient for transfers and check-ups.

Twelve different positions

AROH can perform twelve medical positions controlled by two independent systems on the screen or railings. Besides, It has a mesh sensor on the mattress linked to a computer to determine the device movements based on patients' real-time status to prevent pressure ulcers.