Development of a semi-automatic patient lift vehicle for bedridden or wheelchair-bound persons with reduced mobility

Abstract

Users with motor disabilities who are bedridden or in wheelchairs depend on the assistance of third parties to perform routine mobility movements through transport and/or transfer actions. This generates physical wear and tear on the assistant and the risk of injury or lumbar disease that may even lead him/her to stop assisting the patient. This article presents the development of a low-cost semi-automatic patient lift vehicle for bedridden or wheelchair-bound people with reduced mobility. The equipment was designed and built using specialized manufacturing techniques and mechatronic methodologies to provide operational stability and mechanical control of the equipment's linear travel and lifting movements. The designs of the equipment were obtained using Solidworks®. The semi-automatic patient lift vehicle support structure was manufactured based on dimensions declared on ISO 10535 standard and using readily available materials of proven resistance, considering a mobile structure composed of a wheeled base, a mast and an ergonomic pendant were attached to several stability points. A mechatronic remote-control system was developed using an Arduino® UNO electronic board with its respective programming platform. The remote-control interface was developed using the App Inventor® application and by means of a mobile device the up and down control of the patients in the proposed prototype was achieved. Design and prototype construction allows and adequate lifting and transport of patients with no difference on age, height, weight and gender due to the statistical analysis applied determined that design of semi-automatic patient lift vehicle is adequate to accomplish the purpose of patient lifting indistinctly of weight, height and route type. Nevertheless, improvements must be done as a future work in order to have a better prototype considering the handling of the caregiver person for the operation. The semi-automatic patient lift vehicle was put into operation directly in public social assistance centers (DIF Municipal and Centro de Atención Múltiple VIII) located in Pabellón de Arteaga City, Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Keywords: Patient Lift Vehicle, Disable People, Automation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004853