An Integrated Soft Robotic System for Measuring Vital Signs in Search and Rescue Environments

TL;DR

This paper presents a soft robotic system with a specialized gripper that accurately measures vital signs like heart rate and blood pressure in post-disaster search and rescue scenarios, demonstrating adaptability and safety.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated soft robotic system capable of non-invasively measuring vital signs in challenging environments, filling a gap in victim assessment tools.

Findings

Achieved a pulse bias of 4 bpm and blood pressure bias of about 5 mmHg.

Validated the system's accuracy and adaptability in post-disaster environments.

Demonstrated the system's safety and quick measurement capabilities for victims.

Abstract

Robots are frequently utilized in search-and-rescue operations. In recent years, significant advancements have been made in the field of victim assessment. However, there are still open issues regarding heart rate measurement, and no studies have been found that assess pressure in post-disaster scenarios. This work designs a soft gripper and integrates it into a mobile robotic system, thereby creating a device capable of measuring the pulse and blood pressure of victims in post-disaster environments. The gripper is designed to envelop the victim's arm and inflate like a sphygmomanometer, facilitated by a specialized portability system. The utilization of different signal processing algorithms has enabled the attainment of a pulse bias of \qty{4}{\bpm} and a bias of approximately \qty{5}{\mmHg} for systolic and diastolic pressures. The findings, in conjunction with the other statistical data and the validation of homoscedasticity in the error terms, prove the system's capacity to accurately determine heart rate and blood pressure, thereby rendering it suitable for search and rescue operations. Finally, a post-disaster has been employed as a test to validate the functionality of the entire system and to demonstrate its capacity to adapt to various victim positions, its measurement speed, and its safety for victims.