Development of a novel robotic omni-directional hospital bed mover for patient transfer

Hospitals face many problems such as the lack of manpower and high incidence of work-related injuries, which eventually affects the efficiency of patient transfer. To tackle this issue, this paper introduces a novel omni-directional bed mover (OmniBed) for patient transfer in hospital environment. This OmniBed, which consists of an optimized omni-directional mobility unit, an intuitive and user-friendly human machine interface and control system, can be added on to existing hospital bed, transforming it into a power-assisted system that can be easily operated by one person. Performance evaluation of the OmniBed has been taken in comparison with a conventional HOSPIMEK Powered Bed, which has a joystick control and a fifth powered wheel providing power assistance only in the forward direction. A total of 14 subjects were recruited to complete the experimental trials within a controlled lab environment. It is concluded that the OmniBed is able to halve the required manpower to push hospital beds with reduced back muscle activities, which strongly suggest health benefits in reducing lower back injuries in healthcare workers.