Robotic Chair for the healthcare industry

Citation

(2007), "Robotic Chair for the healthcare industry", Industrial Robot, Vol. 34 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2007.04934aab.010

Robotic Chair for the healthcare industry

Robotic Chair for the healthcare industry

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) has developed a robotic system called the “HLPR Chair” (for home lift, position, and rehabilitation), designed to be a revolutionary, independent patient lift and mobility system for wheelchair dependents, the elderly, stroke patients, and others desiring or requiring personal mobility and lift access.

The HLPR Chair draws on mobile robotic technology developed at NIST for defence and manufacturing applications. It is built on an off-the-shelf forklift with a U-frame base with casters in the front and rear and a rectangular vertical frame. The frame is small enough to pass through even the smallest residential bathroom doors. The HLPR Chairs' patient lift is approximately one meter, in order to achieve access to tall objects while the patient is seated, to at least 218 centimeters.

The patient seat/stand mechanism is an inverted L-shape where the outer L is a seat base frame that provides a lift and rotation point for the inner L seat frame.

The HLPR Chair's drive, steering motors, batteries and control electronics are positioned to keep its center of gravity – even when carrying a patient – within the wheelbase (Figure 3).

Figure 3 The HLPR Chair prototype can be used for patient rehabilitation/walking (Courtesy US National Institute of Standards and Technology)

The user drives the chair using a joystick on the right side for drive and steering control (reverse Ackerman), and a rocker switch on the left for lift control, to a toilet, seat, or bed. Once there, the HLPR Chair rotates the footrest up and beneath the seat and the patient's feet are placed on the floor personally or by a caregiver. The HLPC Chair inner L-frame is then rotated manually with respect to the chair frame allowing a person, weighing up to 136 kilograms, to be above the toilet, for example. The padded torso lifts for under arms (that, when raised, act like crutches) then picks up the patient from beneath the arm joints, the seat retracts, and the lifts then safely lower the patient into the new position. Once the person is seated, the chair frame can remain in the same position to continue supporting the patient from potential side, back, or front fall.

The HLPR chair should reduce back injuries for caregivers and patients. One in every three nurses becomes injured moving and lifting patients, and half of non-ambulatory patients fall to the floor.

Additionally, the prototype HLPR Chair provides rehabilitation/walking capabilities. It allows stroke patients, for example, to keep their legs active without supporting the entire load of the patient's body weight. The patient, once lifted and supported by the torso lifts, can again learn to walk, as the HLPR Chair moves forward at a slow pace. The current maximum speed is 0.7 meters per second, although additional speed can be achieved with the replacement of a more powerful motor.

NIST engineers plan to devise the HLPR to autonomously dock with toilets, provide voice-activation capability so patients can call the HLPR from another location, and provide dial-in legs load control to limit leg forces during rehabilitation.

NIST, part of the US Commerce Department, helps American industry and science “to invent and manufacture superior products” and addresses special national needs, such as helping with building-disaster investigations.