The internal transport of patients in healthcare institutions, although at first glance it may seem like a simple task, represents a complex, continuous, demanding and time-consuming logistical operation that cuts across all levels of the hospital organization. Whether for an outpatient appointment, an examination, a test or a surgical procedure, such as transport from the inpatient ward to the operating theatre, patients often need to be moved between different departments, often in a state of physical fragility, pain or mobility limitations associated with motor impairments, fractures or lower limb pathologies.
Home / Publications / Publication
Home / Publications / Publication
AUTONOMOUS PATIENT MOBILITY IN A HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT
Publication type: Article Summary
Original title: Autonomous wheelchair for patient’s transportation on healthcare institutions
Article publication date: February 2021
Source: SN Applied Sciences
Authors: André Baltazar, Marcelo Petry, Manuel Silva & António Moreira
What is the goal, target audience, and areas of digital health it addresses?
The study aims to develop the Connected Driverless Wheelchair (CDW), an autonomous and intelligent wheelchair designed to automate and optimize patient transport in hospital environments. The target audience includes public and private hospitals, healthcare professionals, especially patient transporters, as well as patients with mobility limitations. The work falls within the areas of digital health, with a particular focus on robotics applied to the hospital context, interoperability between clinical information systems, and the development of digital solutions to support hospital mobility.
What is the context?
The internal transport of patients in healthcare institutions, although at first glance it may seem like a simple task, represents a complex, continuous, demanding and time-consuming logistical operation that cuts across all levels of the hospital organization. Whether for an outpatient appointment, an examination, a test or a surgical procedure, such as transport from the inpatient ward to the operating theatre, patients often need to be moved between different departments, often in a state of physical fragility, pain or mobility limitations associated with motor impairments, fractures or lower limb pathologies.
Currently, this function is performed by patient transporters, who are mostly non-specialized professionals. This is a repetitive, non-ergonomic activity that is highly dependent on the availability of human resources, whose scarcity results in delays and failures in intra-hospital mobility.
What are the current approaches?
In hospitals, patient transport remains largely a manual process, carried out using conventional wheelchairs or stretchers. Although logistics management and scheduling of requests can be carried out using electronic requests on hospital platforms such as SONHO — the hospital information system for portuguese public hospitals —, the physical execution of transport remains dependent on human intervention, with no automation.
To provide autonomy to users with physical disabilities, several smart wheelchairs have been developed. These wheelchairs integrate environmental perception technologies, autonomous navigation algorithms, control motors and user-adapted interfaces, enabling operation by voice, gestures, head movements or brain-computer interfaces. Several prototypes illustrate progress in this field: NavChair, developed at the University of Pittsburgh, pioneered obstacle detection; Tin Man II, created at MIT, introduced route planning capabilities; the Smart Autonomous Wheelchair, from the Singapore-MIT Alliance, uses technologies such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) for obstacle detection and autonomous navigation in indoor environments.
Despite advances, these approaches have limitations in the context of hospital logistics, as they focus on individual mobility and are not integrated with clinical information systems that generate transport requests, neither they guarantee compatibility with physical infrastructure — such as lifts or automatic doors — or integrate into operational transport workflows. In addition, the high technical complexity and associated costs make large-scale adoption difficult. There remains a need for an integrated, interoperable robotic solution adapted to real clinical circuits, capable of autonomously ensuring intra-hospital mobility.
What does innovation consist of? How is the impact of this study assessed?
The innovation of this study lay in the development of CDW, an autonomous wheelchair designed to automate patient transport in a hospital environment, and in its first direct integration into the hospital information management system SONHO, enabling the provision of autonomous mobility service on demand.
The CDW was built from a motorised wheelchair equipped with two electric motors, controlled by a Roboteq driver and encoders in the motor shafts to measure displacement and adjust speed. The electronic components (computer, DC/DC converters, motor controller and safety components) were powered by two 12 V batteries.
Environment perception was ensured by two LiDAR sensors: an upper one with a 20-meter range for localization and mapping, and a lower one with a 10-meter range for obstacle detection. The control system was based on the Robot Operating System and INESC TEC’s Navigation Stack, with algorithms for localization, planning andtrajectory tracking. The connection to SONHO, through HL7 messages exchange, enabled the processing of patient transport requests and the updating of task status during execution.
Interaction with users was achieved through a touchscreen human-machine interface, which allowed control of the chair’s actions and ensured safety during critical phases of transport. It also included a physical emergency button and a joystick for manual control, whenever necessary.
The impact of the study was assessed in a controlled environment at the Centro de Robótica Industrial e Sistemas Inteligentes of the Universidade do Porto, since, due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to test it in a real hospital setting. To simulate this environment, a detailed map of the test space was constructed, replicating a hospital, and an HL7 server was developed to simulate the SONHO. The evaluation focused on the functional verification of the entire transport cycle, with a focus on technical robustness, autonomous navigation, digital integration, and operational safety in realistic scenarios.
What are the main results? What is the future of this approach?
The results demonstrated that, in a simulated environment, CDW was able to autonomously perform the entire patient transport cycle, from receiving the request to completing the task. The system correctly processed requests sent via HL7, navigated autonomously in a mapped space, interacted with users through a secure touch interface, and responded effectively to multiple requests, including cancellations at different stages of transport. During the critical stages of patient placement and removal, the chair remained stationary, ensuring operational safety. The emergency button always stopped the CDW’s movement, resuming only after release. In an endurance test involving nine hours of continuous operation, the chair functioned flawlessly and retained enough energy for another five and a half hours, even with simulated weight.
In the future, CDW is expected to be integrated into the urology department at Hospital de Santo António, as well as the management of a fleet of chairs through INESC TEC coordination software. Improvements in navigation with dynamic obstacle avoidance, communication with automatic doors and lifts, and enrichment of the interface with content that improves the patient experience will also be tested. Qualitative studies with users and healthcare professionals are also planned to assess the acceptance and impact of the solution in a hospital context.
Would you like to know all the details?
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Home / Publications / Publication
AUTONOMOUS PATIENT MOBILITY IN A HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT
Publication type: Article Summary
Original title: Autonomous wheelchair for patient’s transportation on healthcare institutions
Article publication date: February 2021
Source: SN Applied Sciences
Authors: André Baltazar, Marcelo Petry, Manuel Silva & António Moreira
What is the goal, target audience, and areas of digital health it addresses?
The study aims to develop the Connected Driverless Wheelchair (CDW), an autonomous and intelligent wheelchair designed to automate and optimize patient transport in hospital environments. The target audience includes public and private hospitals, healthcare professionals, especially patient transporters, as well as patients with mobility limitations. The work falls within the areas of digital health, with a particular focus on robotics applied to the hospital context, interoperability between clinical information systems, and the development of digital solutions to support hospital mobility.
What is the context?
The internal transport of patients in healthcare institutions, although at first glance it may seem like a simple task, represents a complex, continuous, demanding and time-consuming logistical operation that cuts across all levels of the hospital organization. Whether for an outpatient appointment, an examination, a test or a surgical procedure, such as transport from the inpatient ward to the operating theatre, patients often need to be moved between different departments, often in a state of physical fragility, pain or mobility limitations associated with motor impairments, fractures or lower limb pathologies.
Currently, this function is performed by patient transporters, who are mostly non-specialized professionals. This is a repetitive, non-ergonomic activity that is highly dependent on the availability of human resources, whose scarcity results in delays and failures in intra-hospital mobility.
What are the current approaches?
In hospitals, patient transport remains largely a manual process, carried out using conventional wheelchairs or stretchers. Although logistics management and scheduling of requests can be carried out using electronic requests on hospital platforms such as SONHO — the hospital information system for portuguese public hospitals —, the physical execution of transport remains dependent on human intervention, with no automation.
To provide autonomy to users with physical disabilities, several smart wheelchairs have been developed. These wheelchairs integrate environmental perception technologies, autonomous navigation algorithms, control motors and user-adapted interfaces, enabling operation by voice, gestures, head movements or brain-computer interfaces. Several prototypes illustrate progress in this field: NavChair, developed at the University of Pittsburgh, pioneered obstacle detection; Tin Man II, created at MIT, introduced route planning capabilities; the Smart Autonomous Wheelchair, from the Singapore-MIT Alliance, uses technologies such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) for obstacle detection and autonomous navigation in indoor environments.
Despite advances, these approaches have limitations in the context of hospital logistics, as they focus on individual mobility and are not integrated with clinical information systems that generate transport requests, neither they guarantee compatibility with physical infrastructure — such as lifts or automatic doors — or integrate into operational transport workflows. In addition, the high technical complexity and associated costs make large-scale adoption difficult. There remains a need for an integrated, interoperable robotic solution adapted to real clinical circuits, capable of autonomously ensuring intra-hospital mobility.
What does innovation consist of? How is the impact of this study assessed?
The innovation of this study lay in the development of CDW, an autonomous wheelchair designed to automate patient transport in a hospital environment, and in its first direct integration into the hospital information management system SONHO, enabling the provision of autonomous mobility service on demand.
The CDW was built from a motorised wheelchair equipped with two electric motors, controlled by a Roboteq driver and encoders in the motor shafts to measure displacement and adjust speed. The electronic components (computer, DC/DC converters, motor controller and safety components) were powered by two 12 V batteries.
Environment perception was ensured by two LiDAR sensors: an upper one with a 20-meter range for localization and mapping, and a lower one with a 10-meter range for obstacle detection. The control system was based on the Robot Operating System and INESC TEC’s Navigation Stack, with algorithms for localization, planning andtrajectory tracking. The connection to SONHO, through HL7 messages exchange, enabled the processing of patient transport requests and the updating of task status during execution.
Interaction with users was achieved through a touchscreen human-machine interface, which allowed control of the chair’s actions and ensured safety during critical phases of transport. It also included a physical emergency button and a joystick for manual control, whenever necessary.
The impact of the study was assessed in a controlled environment at the Centro de Robótica Industrial e Sistemas Inteligentes of the Universidade do Porto, since, due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to test it in a real hospital setting. To simulate this environment, a detailed map of the test space was constructed, replicating a hospital, and an HL7 server was developed to simulate the SONHO. The evaluation focused on the functional verification of the entire transport cycle, with a focus on technical robustness, autonomous navigation, digital integration, and operational safety in realistic scenarios.
What are the main results? What is the future of this approach?
The results demonstrated that, in a simulated environment, CDW was able to autonomously perform the entire patient transport cycle, from receiving the request to completing the task. The system correctly processed requests sent via HL7, navigated autonomously in a mapped space, interacted with users through a secure touch interface, and responded effectively to multiple requests, including cancellations at different stages of transport. During the critical stages of patient placement and removal, the chair remained stationary, ensuring operational safety. The emergency button always stopped the CDW’s movement, resuming only after release. In an endurance test involving nine hours of continuous operation, the chair functioned flawlessly and retained enough energy for another five and a half hours, even with simulated weight.
In the future, CDW is expected to be integrated into the urology department at Hospital de Santo António, as well as the management of a fleet of chairs through INESC TEC coordination software. Improvements in navigation with dynamic obstacle avoidance, communication with automatic doors and lifts, and enrichment of the interface with content that improves the patient experience will also be tested. Qualitative studies with users and healthcare professionals are also planned to assess the acceptance and impact of the solution in a hospital context.
Would you like to know all the details?
The Future of Diagnostics: Speech and AI
Speech is a biomarker that reflects, in a sensitive way, the integrated functioning of several physiological systems, namely the nervous, respiratory, and muscular systems. This complexity makes it a promising resource for detecting changes associated…
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Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that significantly affects thinking, emotions, perception of reality and behaviour. It is characterised by a break with reality (psychosis), often manifested by hallucinations (such as hearing non-existent voices), delusions…
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Vascular diseases, such as carotid stenosis (narrowing of the carotid arteries, which connect the heart to the brain, caused by the accumulation of fatty atheroma plaques), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) (sudden interruption of blood flow to…
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The goal of the FAITH project (Federated Artificial Intelligence solution for moniToring mental Health status after cancer treatment) is to remotely identify and predict depressive symptoms in cancer survivors using a federated machine learning approach…
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Negotiations on the European Health Data Space Advance With the Participation of the SPMS
The European Health Data Space will be a common health data sharing system across the European Union. It foresees the use of data for purposes that benefit people and society. It will ensure citizens have…
Secretary of State Margarida Tavares Emphasizes Digital Innovation in Health Promotion
Margarida Tavares spoke at the opening of the conference ” O Digital na promoção contínua da saúde e do bem-estar”, organized by the Associação para a Promoção e Desenvolvimento da Sociedade da Informação (APDSI) and…
ARS Algarve Modernizes Radiology With AI and New Data Center
The radiology service of ARS Algarve has already performed nearly 29,000 exams using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. In recent years, there has been a significant investment in image digitization and data storage, as well as…
European Health Data Space: Unified Access To Health Data In The EU
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of digital services in health, but complex rules and increasing cyberattacks make it difficult to share data across Member States; the EHDS, based on several regulations, provides tailor-made rules…
European Commission Amends Digital Europe Programme With an Investment of €762.7 Million
The European Commission has amended the Digital Europe Programme work programmes 2023-2024, investing an additional €762.7 million in Europe’s digital transition and cybersecurity. The digital transition is the main work programme with a budget of…
SPMS Integrates the TEF-Health Initiative
SPMS participates in the TEF-Health initiative as a partner in a consortium composed of 51 entities from 9 European Union countries. This action is co-financed by the European Commission and has a duration of five…
FMUP Creates Inhealth Junior Academy for High School Students
The InHealth Junior Academy — Academia Júnior de Inovação em Saúde is an initiative of the Departamento de Medicina da Comunidade, Informação e Decisão em Saúde da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto (FMUP)….
SPMS Represents Portugal as Vice-president of GDHP
The GDHP is an intergovernmental organization in the digital health sector that facilitates cooperation and collaboration between government representatives and the World Health Organization (WHO). Its purpose is to foster policymaking that promote the digitalization…
Digital Transformation of Health at INCoDe.2030 in Tomar
The “National Digital Skills Initiative e.2030, Portugal” (INCoDe.2030) is an initiative that aims to improve the Portuguese population’s level of digital skills, placing Portugal at the level of the most advanced European countries in this…
Braga Hospital Evaluates Memory With Interactive Game in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis is known as a chronic disease of the central nervous system, with a wide variety of motor and sensory symptoms that can lead to work disability, socioeconomic burden, and reduced quality of life…
Neurosurgery Teleconsultation Wins Innovation Award
The aim of the BI Award for Innovation in Healthcare is to recognize innovative projects in the healthcare sector that improve the quality of life for the Portuguese people. In 2021, the specific theme was…
HealthData@PT: New SPMS Initiative for Health Data
Action HealthData@PT is launched in the context of the implementation of the European Health Data Space, and is an initiative approved by the European Commission under the EU4Health 2021-2027 programme. This initiative contributes to the…
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