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. 2022 Apr 7:9:832248.
doi: 10.3389/frobt.2022.832248. eCollection 2022.

A Survey of Robotic Systems for Nursing Care

Celia Nieto Agraz  1 , Max Pfingsthorn  1 , Pascal Gliesche  1 , Marco Eichelberg  1 , Andreas Hein  2
Affiliations

A Survey of Robotic Systems for Nursing Care

Celia Nieto Agraz et al. Front Robot AI. .

Abstract

An increase of the aging population with a decrease in the available nursing staff has been seen in recent years. These two factors combined present a challenging problem for the future and has since become a political issue in many countries. Technological advances in robotics have made its use possible in new application fields like care and thus it appears to be a viable technological avenue to address the projected nursing labor shortage. The introduction of robots in nursing care creates an active triangular collaboration between the patient, nurse, and robot, which makes this area significantly different from traditional human-robot interaction (HRI) settings. In this review, we identify 133 robotic systems addressing nursing. We classify them according to two schemes: 1) a technical classification extended to include both patient and nurse and 2) a novel data-derived hierarchical classification based on use cases. We then analyze their intersection and build a multidimensional view of the state of technology. With this analytical tool, we describe an observed skew of the distribution of systems and identify gaps for future research. We also describe a link between the novel hierarchical use case classification and the typical phases of nursing care from admission to recovery.

Keywords: automation; care; classification; human–robot interaction; nursing; robot; survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Scenario where the robot helps the nurse in the mobilization of the patient, easing some of the physical effort required for the action.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Scenario where the robot holds the patient in position, freeing both hands of the caregiver, so they can perform the care action (like cleaning the patient or healing a wound) faster and more agile.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Scenario where the patient uses the robot as an assistance to get up without the help of the nurse.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Schematic of the triangle relationship established among the patient, nurse, and robot.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Search results and projects selection process.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Number of projects found per country.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Classification scheme for HRI, by proximity of interaction and autonomy of the robot. Adapted from Haddadin and Croft (2016).
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Percentage of project per each category of the technical classification.
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 9
Distribution of example projects according to autonomy and proximity to patient and caregiver.
FIGURE 10
FIGURE 10
Percentage of project per each category of the use case classification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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