The Ergonomics of Robotics: Part 2

In this two-part series on robotics and wearable devices, part 1 highlighted the wearable device product category. Part 2 moves the discussion from wearable devices to how robotic surgery is changing the...

The Ergonomics of Wearable Designs: Part 1

The wearable device product category is exploding in healthcare design. Wearing these sensory devices that continuously collect, measure and report the user's physiology, exercise behavior, lifestyle...

Ergonomics and Handheld Medical Devices: Five Vital Elements for Design Success

Dexterity, precision, control and comfort — without them, no handheld or hand intensive medical device is a success, for either the medical professional using it...

Smart Garment Prevents Back Stress

A team of engineers has combined the science of biomechanics and advances in wearable tech to create a smart, mechanized undergarment. The team’s testing proves that the smart clothing offloads stress on...

Bionic Wheelchair Breaks New Barriers

People confined to a wheelchair are still confronted with insurmountable obstacles in everyday life — even in today’s more wheelchair-accessible society. There are often no elevators in a building —...

Twice As Nice: Overmolded Devices Provide Strength, Aesthetics, and an Ergonomic Grip for Medical Applications

If you’ve picked up a power tool at the hardware store recently, or used a multimeter to check for power on a kitchen outlet,...

Hydraulic Prosthetic Knee Joints Provide More Natural Mobility for Patients

For patients who have lost a leg, regaining mobility is a top priority. However, development of more true-to-nature prosthetic limbs and joints has come an amazingly...

The Pursuit of Design Democratization for Medical Devices

Advances in medical instrumentation, implantation, imaging, and telemetric technologies combined with the need to integrate medical devices into user’s activities of daily living is...

Navigation Aids Enhance Foot Control Usability

The ever-increasing functional capabilities of emerging medical de vices have precipitated new requirements for the multi-function foot controls used to operate the equipment. These foot controls...

New Blood Pressure Connectors Prevent Misconnects

Healthcare professionals use medical devices in a variety of settings and situations from urgent to routine. In an emergency, any sort of confusion, hindrance, or hesitation concerning the most...

Configuring Complex Part Designs for Prosthetic Devices

ToughWare Prosthetics, an engineering and design group dedicated to developing innovative new assistive technologies, helps satisfy the global need for prosthetic devices that are...

Hyperpolarized Metabolic Imaging Visualizes ‘Real-Time’ Disease Progress

Most major diseases are somehow linked to metabolic alterations. But being able to see the changes as they occur and to see if a treatment is working in ‘real...

Improving Wheelchair Ergonomics

Engineers at Empa, a Swiss interdisciplinary research and services institution, are working together with the firm «r going» to develop an ergonomic seat for electric wheelchairs that encourages the user to...

Fast, High-Precision Eye-Surgery Robot

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Eindhoven, the Netherlands www.tue.nl A smart eye-surgery robot, developed at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands, allows eye...

Tear-Based Glucose Sensor for Diabetes Monitoring

Diabetic control typically requires daily monitoring of blood glucose levels. This involves finger pricking 2–10 times a day in order to obtain a sample for assay. Many find the finger prick...

Positioning Technology for Digital Displays on Mobile Medical Equipment

As hospitals and surgical centers add more portable medical equipment, the precision and positioning of digital displays become critical to staff efficiency, comfort, and...