SCH: Human-Robot Contact for Bathing and Skin-Care Assistance - For individuals with a broad range of disability, illness, or injury, skin health can be challenging to maintain. One devastating result is the high national incidence and impact of pressure injuries. The annual cost of hospital acquired pressure injuries is estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. These injuries are painful for the individual and result in up to 60,000 US deaths annually. Pressure injuries are largely preventable through timely cleaning and frequent, consistent skin inspection. This serious health issue has received considerable attention across the US, yet the impact of pressure injuries remains largely unchanged. This project proposes advances in the engineering and psychology of human-robot skin contact towards introducing robots into the healthcare system as skin-care assistants with the goals of improving skin health for individuals who are unable to perform bathing and skin care on their own. This project will develop a novel individual representation of skin-care tasks that can be modified by a user with limited motor functions. It will provide the first ever database that captures detailed hand movement and contact pressures as expert caregivers perform skin-care tasks. It will result in novel reasoning and control methods that enable the robotic assistant to interact safely with people. It will provide novel interaction mechanisms for diverse individuals with disabilities and new findings on their preferences for working with the robotic assistant. A unique soft robot hand will be developed to support these efforts. Reducing the incidence and impact of pressure injuries can reduce pain and improve health outcomes for individuals. It can save lives and billions of dollars to be applied to better uses in the health care system. It can elevate and democratize access to skin health through consistency, implementation of best practices, and individualized inspection algorithms. It can relieve burdens on caregivers, increase privacy, allow individuals to live in their homes for a longer time and provide greater independence. RELEVANCE (See instructions): A robotic skin-care assistant can provide consistent skin cleaning and inspection for individuals that require such assistance. Consistent skin cleaning and inspection is the number one means of preventing pressure injuries and lessening their impact. Accomplishing the project goal can save lives, prevent painful injuries, save billions of dollars, and save caregiver time while empowering individuals and democratizing access to good skin care.
