School of Engineering, Lebanese International University, Beqaa, Lebanon.
Galien Medical Services Company, Hazmiyeh, Lebanon.
J Healthc Eng. 2020 Aug 10;2020:7963497. doi: 10.1155/2020/7963497. eCollection 2020.
Robotic intravenous poles are automated supportive instrument that needs to be triggered by patients to hold medications and needed supplies. Healthcare engineering of robotic intravenous poles is advancing in order to improve the quality of health services to patients worldwide. Existing intravenous poles in the market were supportive to patients, yet they constrained their movement, consumed the time of both the patient and the nurse, and they were expensive in regard to what they offer. Although robotic poles overcame some of the movement limitations of the commercial/market poles, they were partially automated and did not offer additional technological features. The aim of our work was to develop a fully automated Biomedical Intravenous Pole Robot (BMIVPOT) to resolve the aforementioned limitations and to offer new technological features to intravenous poles, thereby promoting the health services. Several sensors and build-up materials were empirically chosen to be cost-effective and fulfill our needs. The new prototype was divided into three steps: simulated prototype, real implementation of the prototype, and testing and evaluation. Simulation results showed the best qualitative way to fit all the specifications in the robotic system, such as the shape, sensors, and connections in order to provide the proper functionality of the system. Experimental and real results provided the manufactured parts, implemented sensors, and the final robot. Testing the tracking and the flow sensor performances were provided. Evaluation of our Biomedical Intravenous Pole Robot with alternatives showed that our robot outperforms the other poles in many aspects including the features it offers, the percentage of interventions it comprised, the reliability, and cost-effectiveness. The overall percentage of features offered by our Biomedical Intravenous Pole Robot was 60% higher than that offered by peer research poles and 80% higher than that of the market poles. In addition, the average percentage of integration of interventions (architecture, sensor, wireless, tracking, and mechanical) in the Biomedical Intravenous Pole Robot was at least 56% higher than that of the alternative poles. According to the results, Biomedical Intravenous Pole Robot offers a cost-effective price as compared to the others. As a future prospect, we intend to add more features to this prototype in order to enhance it, such as vital signs detection, and improve the tracking system.
机器人静脉输液杆是一种自动化的支撑器械，需要患者触发才能固定药物和所需用品。为了提高全球患者的医疗服务质量，机器人静脉输液杆的医疗工程学正在不断发展。现有的市场上的静脉输液杆虽然对患者有一定的支撑作用，但限制了他们的活动，耗费了患者和护士的时间，而且价格昂贵。虽然机器人输液杆克服了一些商业/市场输液杆的运动限制，但它们是部分自动化的，并且没有提供额外的技术功能。我们的工作目标是开发一种完全自动化的生物医学静脉输液杆机器人（BMIVPOT），以解决上述限制，并为静脉输液杆提供新的技术功能，从而促进医疗服务。我们选择了一些传感器和构建材料来降低成本并满足我们的需求。新原型分为三个步骤：模拟原型、原型的实际实现和测试和评估。模拟结果显示了最适合的定性方式来满足机器人系统中的所有规格，例如形状、传感器和连接，以提供系统的适当功能。实验和实际结果提供了制造部件、实施的传感器和最终机器人。提供了跟踪和流量传感器性能的测试。通过与替代方案评估我们的生物医学静脉输液杆机器人，结果表明，我们的机器人在许多方面都优于其他输液杆，包括提供的功能、包括的干预百分比、可靠性和成本效益。我们的生物医学静脉输液杆机器人提供的功能总体百分比比同类研究输液杆高出 60%，比市场输液杆高出 80%。此外，生物医学静脉输液杆机器人中干预措施（架构、传感器、无线、跟踪和机械）的集成平均百分比至少比替代输液杆高出 56%。根据结果，与其他产品相比，生物医学静脉输液杆机器人的价格具有成本效益。作为未来的展望，我们打算在这个原型中添加更多的功能，以增强它，例如生命体征检测，并改进跟踪系统。
