Background: Being able to maintain personal hygiene plays a crucial role for independent living in old age or when suffering from disabilities. Within the European project ICT Supported Bath Robots (I‑SUPPORT) an intelligent robotic shower system is being developed, which enables patients to shower independently at home or in institutionalized settings.
Objective: The aim of this contribution is the identification of ethical issues in the development of a robotic shower system utilizing the model for the ethical evaluation of socio-technical arrangements (MEESTAR).
Material And Methods: In I‑SUPPORT a variety of concepts and methods are implemented in order to achieve technology acceptance such as user-centered requirements analysis, usability-tests and analysis of sociocultural and ethical aspects. This article reports the analysis of focus groups with 14 older adults and 9 professional caregivers utilizing MEESTAR as a heuristic approach for analyzing sociotechnical arrangements and identifying ethical problems.
Results And Discussion: The MEESTAR procedure was adapted to the research question and client groups and implemented as a discursive method. This gave an insight into the meaning and background of ethical aspects and also a deeper insight into nursing processes as well as the requirements which the system should fulfil. Shortcomings are that the ethical dimensions are not everyday language and the time restrictions. In the next step a standardized assessment instrument will be developed and piloted.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00391-017-1345-9 | DOI Listing |
Oper Orthop Traumatol
January 2025
Klinik für Unfall‑, Hand und Wiederherstellungschirurgie, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Schillingallee 35, 18057, Rostock, Deutschland.
Objective: Treatment with transcutaneous osseointegrated prosthesis systems (TOPS) for short femoral amputation stumps aims to restore independent walking ability after proximal femoral amputation by direct bone-guided prosthesis anchorage. This cannot be safely achieved with conventional socket prostheses due to the mechanically inadequate socket contact surface.
Indications: Treatment of patients with short transfemoral stumps who cannot be mobilized sufficiently with conventional socket prostheses.
Infect Prev Pract
March 2025
Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Detection of Antimicrobial Resistance, Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Background: Nosocomial outbreaks with multidrug-resistant bacteria with a probable reservoir in hospital toilets and drainage systems have been increasingly reported.
Aim: To investigate an increase in bacteraemia with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing at our hospital in 2021; the epidemiology of the outbreak suggested an environmental source.
Methods: Available clinical isolates from patient with infection or rectal carriage from 2019 to 2022 were collected.
Water Res
January 2025
Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan; Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan. Electronic address:
The health burden of waterborne nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is a rising concern. While the water supply systems can serve as a potential reservoir for NTM, their abundance, diversity, and transmission pathways remain unknown. This study aimed to characterize the prevalence and regrowth of NTM in building water supply system in a hospital where many M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Biosaf
December 2024
National Microbiology, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada.
Introduction: Positive pressure breathing-air-fed protective suits are used in biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) containment laboratories as personal protective equipment to protect workers from high-consequence pathogens. However, even with the use of primary containment devices, the exterior surfaces of these suits could potentially become contaminated with those pathogens and result in their inadvertent removal from containment. To address the risk of such pathogens escaping from containment via contaminated protective suits, these suits are decontaminated in a disinfectant chemical shower situated in an anteroom prior to exiting the BSL-4 laboratory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS ES T Water
December 2024
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States.
The incidence of waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States attributed to drinking water-associated pathogens that can cause infections in the immunocompromised DWPIs (e.g., , nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), and , among others) appears to be increasing.
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