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Comparison between a dorsal and a belt tactile display prototype for decoding physiological events in the operating
Pierre Barralon1, Guy Dumont, Stephan K W Schwarz
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. pierreb@ece.ubc.ca
Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing
|April 11, 2009
Summary
The dorsal tactile display (DTD) was easier to learn and less affected by distraction than the belt tactile (TB) display for communicating patient physiological data. Both tactile displays showed accurate information decoding.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Medical Informatics
Background:
- Visual and auditory displays struggle to convey increasing volumes of patient physiological data.
- Vibrotactile display technology offers a novel solution for communicating critical information.
- Tactile displays can potentially increase information communication capacity in clinical settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the learnability, error rate, and efficiency of a dorsal tactile display (DTD) and a belt tactile (TB) display prototype.
- To evaluate the performance of tactile displays in a simulated clinical environment.
- To assess the impact of distraction on the usability of tactile displays.
Main Methods:
- A prospective randomized preclinical study was conducted with non-clinicians.
- Two tactile display prototypes (DTD and TB) were compared.
- Information encoded included parameter type, direction, and magnitude of change.
- Experiments included a distraction task to simulate real-world conditions.
Main Results:
- The DTD was significantly easier to learn (52 vs. 101 trials; P = 0.0003).
- Decoding accuracy did not differ between DTD and TB.
- DTD exhibited a faster response interval (5.6s vs. 8.0s; P < 0.0001) and was less affected by distraction.
Conclusions:
- Both DTD and TB prototypes facilitate easy and accurate communication of physiological parameters.
- The DTD demonstrates superior learnability and resilience to distraction.
- Further clinical evaluation with expert users is necessary to confirm the applicability of these tactile display prototypes.