HLPR Chair* – A Service Robot for the Healthcare Industry | NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) has been working on a healthcare mobility system capable of mobilizing wheelchair dependents, providing patient lift and even rehabilitation. Targeted at the aging populations, stroke victims and wheelchair dependents, ISD is developing the “HLPR Chair” (Home Lift, Position, and Rehabilitation Chair) to provide independent (requiring little or no nurse or caregiver intervention depending on the patients status) patient mobility and lift for such tasks as moving a patient to the wheelchair, toilet, or other seats and the bed. While 1 in 3 nurses are expected to develop back injuries moving and lifting patients and half of non-ambulatory patients fall to the floor, all aspects of the HLPR Chair provide for independent patient mobility with emphasis on lifting and placing patients to eliminate or significantly reduce this back injury issue. The HLPR Chair, currently in the development stage, is designed to provide: powered mobility; patient lift to above current or previously researched and available off-the-shelf mobile patient lift devices; and the means to place people on beds, chairs, toilets, etc. while allowing access to areas of the home and business environments that are currently inaccessible to wheelchair dependents. Also, the HLPR Chair provides rehabilitation capability with a retractable seat and footrest and open base frame with future leg loading measurement to allow the patient to adjust the amount of load placed on legs as they again learn to walk. This paper will discuss the HLPR Chair in depth.