SBIR Phase I: Mixed reality wearable technology to improve workflow, productivity, and training in medical sterilization environments

这一小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是帮助医院改善其无菌处理部门（SPD），在那里进行消毒，灭菌和医疗设备和器械的组装。该公司提出的解决方案旨在提高SPD技术人员的工作绩效和技能水平，降低SPD的运营成本，减少医院相关感染（HAI）和手术部位感染（SSI），减少昂贵的手术延迟，并降低相关的医疗服务提供成本。无菌处理技术人员通过消毒、清洁、处理、组装、储存和分发医疗用品在预防感染方面发挥着关键作用。他们直接负责医院仪器/设备的消毒和灭菌。该团队使用混合现实技术，旨在增强SPD技术人员的日常工作职责，同时支持SPD运营的成本效益。该解决方案的数字内容和全息图提供了一种身临其境的体验，提高了能力，最大限度地提高了工作流程，并提高了生产力。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将三个应用程序整合到增强现实硬件中，以提高无菌处理部门（SPD）技术人员的工作绩效。这些应用包括条形码/射频识别（RFID）阅读、可追溯性和手术器械检测，以及利用视觉惯性里程计（VIO）进行检查。 这些应用程序旨在提供高效、准确的跟踪、改进的工作流程并提高工人的生产力。该项目的研究目标包括创建一个能够阅读条形码和RFID标签的软件应用程序编程接口（API）。通过在用户的视野内提供具有自动化数据的附加监视和跟踪能力，并创建用于增强对象检测能力的应用程序，医院、医生办公室和家庭护理位置中的SPD可以真实的实时地学习，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得的。通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to help hospitals improve their sterile processing departments (SPD), where decontamination, sterilization, and assembly of medical equipment and devices occur. The company’s proposed solution seeks to enhance SPD technicians’ work performance and skill levels, decrease SPDs’ operating costs, reduce Hospital Associated Infections (HAI) and Surgical Site Infections (SSI), lessen expensive surgical delays, and reduce related healthcare service delivery costs. Sterile processing technicians play a critical role in preventing infection by sterilizing, cleaning, processing, assembling, storing, and distributing medical supplies. They are directly responsible for disinfection and sterilization of hospital instruments/devices. The team uses mixed reality designed to augment the day-to-day work responsibilities of SPD technicians while supporting the cost-effectiveness of operating a SPD. The solution’s digital content and holograms provide an immersive experience increasing competency, maximizing workflow, and boosting productivity.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project incorporates three applications into augmented reality hardware to enhance the job performance of sterile processing department (SPD) technicians. The applications include barcode/radio frequency identification (RFID) reading, traceability and surgical instrument detection, and inspection utilizing Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO). These applications are designed to provide efficient and accurate tracking, improved workflow, and increased worker productivity. The research goals of the project include creating a software application programming interface (API) capable of reading barcodes and RFID tags. By providing additional monitoring and tracking capabilities with automated data within the users' field of view and creating an application to enhance object detection capabilities, SPDs in hospitals, doctors' offices and at-home care locations can learn, in real time, the best practices for sterilization of infected surfaces to enable safer and healthier living and work spaces.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.