Background
In 2015, at least 20.000 registered patients suffered from foot ulcers in the Netherlands. These wounds commonly take two to five months to heal and come with a loss of mobility and a decrease in overall quality of life. For 15% of patients, amputation is necessary. These patients often receive nursing care at home and are often elderly, with an average age of 71. To aid nurses and patients in this slow and strenuous process our project at RAM Utwente is developing a device that will be able to scan foot wounds and monitor their healing progress. Its aim is to decrease the workload for nurses, increase the reliability and range of observations, and identify possible risk factors earlier.
Challenge
A user interface must be developed so that patients and nurses can interact with the device to get the information and functionality they need. The interface should be easy to use, as usability is an important factor in the adoption of the device. Additionally, the device should be able to communicate with the hospital if clinical care is needed as well as fulfill the (inter)national requirements for medical devices. I will be conducting interviews with various groups of people, making prototypes, and conducting user testing to make this happen.
Research Question
How can we design a UI for a robotic wound monitoring stand, keeping in mind the needs and abilities of the patients, nurses and clinicians?