Robot patient imitating paralysis patients for nursing students to learn patient transfer skill

Abstract

This research aims to develop a robot to help nursing students learn how to physically transfer paralyzed patients. Our prior robotic prototype had only been designed to imitate a patient with weak lower limbs; it was unable to imitate the imbalance and instability of the trunk. Therefore, we developed and waist joint on the prototype robot and also the control system in order to emulate quadriplegic and hemiplegic patients’ tendency to fall over. The waist was designed with 2 DOF compliant joints. Evaluation of the robot showed that the robot was able to properly imitate the unstable waist movements of paralyzed patients.