The Emerging Role of Robotics in Personal Health Care: Bringing Smart Health Care Home

Affordable, accessible health care is in short supply in the U.S., due to the rapidly aging population; robotics can provide a solution to this problem. This project developed user requirements for a personal health care robot. From interviews with robotics professionals and focus groups with caregivers and the elderly, the team gained an understanding of potential users’ desired functionalities and acceptance of robots. The team developed a taxonomy to characterize robots’ interaction with users. The requirements generated by the studies were used in conjunction with this taxonomy to recommend a robot for use in personal health care. An in-home monitoring system was found to have the greatest potential to benefit the health care industry and the target demographic

Precision Air Curtain Technology for a Dual Purpose Cell Culture Incubator-Biosafety Cabinet Enclosure

There is a need for an environmental chamber in the cellular and tissue engineering fields that combines the characteristics of a cell culture incubator and a biosafety cabinet for long-term maintenance of viable cell populations for complex cellular printing applications and live cell imaging under sterile culture conditions. A novel air curtain technology was developed and its effectiveness was evaluated. The design was selected for its low cost. Its ability to maintain appropriate conditions and prevent permeability of CO2 forced through the air curtain from outside was experimentally quantified. Our results indicate that the air curtain was able to maintain CO2 levels and prevent permeation. The temperature and humidity levels dropped equally to the controls

The Emerging Role of Robotics in Home Health Care

The demand for health care continues to exceed the supply of affordable, accessible care due in large part to the rapidly aging baby boomer population. The advancing field of robotics can provide an effective solution to this problem. This study aimed to develop a set of user requirements for a personal home health care robot. To generate these requirements, we conducted nine interviews with robotics professionals and three different focus groups with current and future caregivers and the elderly. Using this data we identified prominent and desired functionalities of robots, as well as what may influence their acceptance into the home setting. Our findings indicate that monitoring robots have the biggest acceptance potential among elderly and caregivers

Aneurysm permeability following coil embolization: packing density and coil distribution

BACKGROUND: Rates of durable aneurysm occlusion following coil embolization vary widely, and a better understanding of coil mass mechanics is desired. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of packing density and coil uniformity on aneurysm permeability. METHODS: Aneurysm models were coiled using either Guglielmi detachable coils or Target coils. The permeability was assessed by taking the ratio of microspheres passing through the coil mass to those in the working fluid. Aneurysms containing coil masses were sectioned for image analysis to determine surface area fraction and coil uniformity. RESULTS: All aneurysms were coiled to a packing density of at least 27%. Packing density, surface area fraction of the dome and neck, and uniformity of the dome were significantly correlated (p \u3c 0.05). Hence, multivariate principal components-based partial least squares regression models were used to predict permeability. Similar loading vectors were obtained for packing and uniformity measures. Coil mass permeability was modeled better with the inclusion of packing and uniformity measures of the dome (r(2)=0.73) than with packing density alone (r(2)=0.45). The analysis indicates the importance of including a uniformity measure for coil distribution in the dome along with packing measures. CONCLUSIONS: A densely packed aneurysm with a high degree of coil mass uniformity will reduce permeability