“The issue of usability of medical equipment in hospitals across the country is very serious. The initial study has revealed that there is need to impart training of using medical devices to the assistive staff along with designing of devices,” said Ganesh Bhutkar, assistant professor at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT) who is pursuing PhD in medical usability.

Bhutkar is being guided by Dr Dinesh Katre, expert in human computer interaction (HCI) and head of the National Multimedia Resource Centre of C-DAC, and Dr N R Rajhans, industrial engineer and professor with VIT.

Drawing from the survey of seven different ICUs — four from the city, one each in Baramati, Shirwal and Bhopal — Bhutkar said, “The assistive staff has been found to have insufficient knowledge of using the devices. The observations are they learn by trial and error. Many functions of the devices remain hidden and unused due to lack of training.”

“The serious issue exists not only in the country but in other parts of the world as well,” he said, claiming that he had studied around 50 research papers while conducting his research. “The problems might be different, but they do exist elsewhere and they seem to be more severe in hospitals in India.”

In his interaction with hospitals, Bhutkar said physicians feel that due to busy schedule they cannot train the assistive staff. “The feedback from the users express more concern about training, user manuals, portability, functionality, labels and symbols.”

Ruby Hall Clinic CEO Bomi Bhote, who is a member of the Pune Hospital Association (PHA), said the study on ICUs is interesting and its outcome needs to be taken up seriously.

“The issues raised in the study are common, but might be prevalent in the small hospitals,” he said, adding, the hospitals need to insist on training of its staff by manufacturers of the medical devices. The misuse of the device can lead to fatality and it should be a must to improve the medical usability of devices, he said.

Bhutkar's research guide Katre said the usage of devices should take into account the local needs of the hospitals and its employees considering the proficiency of the assistive staff. "The instructions should be given on usage in local language and should include graphical symbol for easy understanding."

The study and observations show major scope for enhancing the medical devices from usability perspective. Considering the life criticality and the impact of design on users like ICU patients, sisters and physicians, the proposed enhancements must be accorded highest priority, Bhutkar concludes.