PVSio-web: a tool for rapid prototyping device user interfaces in PVS

We present PVSio-web which extends the simulation component of the PVS proof system with functionalities for rapid prototyping device user interfaces. The tool presents itself as a classic image-editing environment with functionalities such as area selection and hyperlink creation, thus reducing the barriers that prevent non-experts in formal methods from using PVS. Designers load a picture of the layout of the device user interface under development, specify interactive areas over the layout, and link them to a PVS specification. They can then explore the behaviour of the formal user interface specification through point-and-click interactions. The architecture of the tool is general, and can be used as the basis for extending other verification tools. A demonstration of the capabilities of PVSio-web is presented through an example based on a commercial medical device user interface. Our ultimate aim is to promote and facilitate the use of formal verification tools when developing device user interfaces

A Generic User Interface Architecture for Analyzing Use Hazards in Infusion Pump Software

This paper presents a generic infusion pump user interface (GIP-UI) architecture that intends to capture the common characteristics and functionalities of interactive software incorporated in broad classes of infusion pumps. It is designed to facilitate the identification of use hazards and their causes in infusion pump designs. This architecture constitutes our first effort at establishing a model-based risk analysis methodology that helps manufacturers identify and mitigate use hazards in their products at early stages of the development life-cycle. The applicability of the GIP-UI architecture has been confirmed in a hazard analysis focusing on the number entry software of existing infusion pumps, in which the GIP-UI architecture is used to identify a substantial set of user interface design errors that may contribute to use hazards found in infusion pump incidents

Review of the Augmented Reality Systems for Shoulder Rehabilitation

Literature shows an increasing interest for the development of augmented reality (AR) applications in several fields, including rehabilitation. Current studies show the need for new rehabilitation tools for upper extremity, since traditional interventions are less effective than in other body regions. This review aims at: Studying to what extent AR applications are used in shoulder rehabilitation, examining wearable/non-wearable technologies employed, and investigating the evidence supporting AR effectiveness. Nine AR systems were identified and analyzed in terms of: Tracking methods, visualization technologies, integrated feedback, rehabilitation setting, and clinical evaluation. Our findings show that all these systems utilize vision-based registration, mainly with wearable marker-based tracking, and spatial displays. No system uses head-mounted displays, and only one system (11%) integrates a wearable interface (for tactile feedback). Three systems (33%) provide only visual feedback; 66% present visual-audio feedback, and only 33% of these provide visual-audio feedback, 22% visual-audio with biofeedback, and 11% visual-audio with haptic feedback. Moreover, several systems (44%) are designed primarily for home settings. Three systems (33%) have been successfully evaluated in clinical trials with more than 10 patients, showing advantages over traditional rehabilitation methods. Further clinical studies are needed to generalize the obtained findings, supporting the effectiveness of the AR applications

Design of Folded Dipole with Double U Shaped Slot UHF RFID Tag Using Genetic Algorithm Optimization for Healthcare Sensing Applications

A novel folded dipole with double U slots RFID Tag antenna for wearable RFID sensing applications is designed and studied. The compact tag structure consists of folded dipole and two U slots shapes for miniaturization of antenna radiating part as well as to enhance its radiation performance in UHF band. A Genetic Algorithm optimization technique has been utilized with HFSS software for optimization of the proposed tag dimensions, in order to achieve better return loss and good realized-gain. The proposed epidermal tag was placed at very close proximity of human skin, which represents the big challenge due to the high losses of human tissues that could strongly degrade the radiation efficiency of the tag. By means of detailed simulations and numerical study our novel RFID tag placed on human torso presents good gain and well matching impedance across the operational bandwidth

Safety first: combining task models of medical devices with numeracy skills and technical competence

We propose that by more closely aligning interdisciplinary work in (a) numeracy education for medication dosage calculations and (b) model-driven design for medical devices that are used for delivery of medication we may help address the incident-rate in incorrect medication calculations and delivery, given that such devices commonly require the user to engage with numerical information via a digital interface. We demonstrate the use of task models as a way of supporting safe, effective and efficient delivery of medication to the patient, taking as our example the use of infusion and syringe pumps in Nursing. This work indicates a new way of facilitating knowledge transfer between numeracy education and medical device design and usage, using task models. We aim to support medical professionals’ and students’ numeracy education as well as to inform the design of medical devices based on a better understanding of the use and potential errors of medication delivery by trained professionals

Usability standards meet scenario-based design: Challenges and opportunities.

The focus of this paper is on the challenges and opportunities presented by developing scenarios of use for interactive medical devices. Scenarios are integral to the international standard for usability engineering of medical devices (IEC 62366:2007), and are also applied to the development of health software (draft standard IEC 82304-1). The 62366 standard lays out a process for mitigating risk during normal use (i.e. use as per the instructions, or accepted medical practice). However, this begs the question of whether "real use" (that which occurs in practice) matches "normal use". In this paper, we present an overview of the product lifecycle and how it impacts on the type of scenario that can be practically applied. We report on the development and testing of a set of scenarios intended to inform the design of infusion pumps based on "real use". The scenarios were validated by researchers and practitioners experienced in clinical practice, and their utility was assessed by developers and practitioners representing different stages of the product lifecycle. These evaluations highlighted previously unreported challenges and opportunities for the use of scenarios in this context. Challenges include: integrating scenario-based design with usability engineering practice; covering the breadth of uses of infusion devices; and managing contradictory evidence. Opportunities included scenario use beyond design to guide marketing, to inform purchasing and as resources for training staff. This study exemplifies one empirically grounded approach to communicating and negotiating the realities of practice

Quantitative Evaluation of the Microsoft Kinect for Use in an Upper Extremity Virtual Rehabilitation Environment

To be presented at the International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (ICVR), Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A., August 26-29, 2013.Low cost depth sensors could potentially allow for home-based care and rehabilitation using virtual systems. Currently, no publicly available and peer-reviewed assessment has been made on the accuracy of joint position data determined by the Microsoft KinectTM for assessment of upper extremity movements. We devised and validated clinically-based angle classifications for random arm movements in 3D-space, specifically, the shoulder joint flexion/extension angle, shoulder joint abduction/adduction angle, and 3-dimensional shoulder joint angle of 19 subjects at a distance of 2.0m using an eight camera Vicon Motion Capture system. Results show an average absolute error of these angle measurements not exceeding 10.0%

How external and internal resources influence user action: the case of infusion devices

Human error can have potentially devastating consequences in contexts such as healthcare, but there is a rarely a simple dichotomy between errors and correct behaviour. Furthermore, there has been little consideration of how the activities of users (erroneous and otherwise) relate to the conceptual fit between user and device, despite the fact that healthcare technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent and complex. In this article, we present a study in which nurses’ conceptions of infusion device practice were elicited to identify misfits. By focusing on key concepts that users work with when setting up infusions and the extent to which the system supports them, our analysis highlights how actions are influenced by the different resources available to users including: the device itself; supporting artefacts; the conceptual understanding of the user; and the community of practice the user is part of. The findings reveal the ways in which users are resourceful in their day-to-day activities and also suggest potential vulnerabilities within the wider system that could threaten patient safety. Our approach is able to make previously under-explored aspects of practice visible, thus enabling insight into how users act and why

Design Ltd.: Renovated Myths for the Development of Socially Embedded Technologies

This paper argues that traditional and mainstream mythologies, which have been continually told within the Information Technology domain among designers and advocators of conceptual modelling since the 1960s in different fields of computing sciences, could now be renovated or substituted in the mould of more recent discourses about performativity, complexity and end-user creativity that have been constructed across different fields in the meanwhile. In the paper, it is submitted that these discourses could motivate IT professionals in undertaking alternative approaches toward the co-construction of socio-technical systems, i.e., social settings where humans cooperate to reach common goals by means of mediating computational tools. The authors advocate further discussion about and consolidation of some concepts in design research, design practice and more generally Information Technology (IT) development, like those of: task-artifact entanglement, universatility (sic) of End-User Development (EUD) environments, bricolant/bricoleur end-user, logic of bricolage, maieuta-designers (sic), and laissez-faire method to socio-technical construction. Points backing these and similar concepts are made to promote further discussion on the need to rethink the main assumptions underlying IT design and development some fifty years later the coming of age of software and modern IT in the organizational domain.Comment: This is the peer-unreviewed of a manuscript that is to appear in D. Randall, K. Schmidt, & V. Wulf (Eds.), Designing Socially Embedded Technologies: A European Challenge (2013, forthcoming) with the title "Building Socially Embedded Technologies: Implications on Design" within an EUSSET editorial initiative (www.eusset.eu/