Human factors testing in a novel automated peritoneal dialysis system

Background Because automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) systems are used in the home and operated by patients or their care partners, the human–device interface must be thoughtfully designed to facilitate intuitive operation to reduce the risk of errors that could occur during their use. User-friendly design should also help reduce anxiety to peritoneal dialysis (PD) adoption by patients incident to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Usability issues remain a significant barrier to PD adoption and are an important contributor to premature death, serious injuries, and PD technique failure. Methods A summative human factors usability study was conducted on a novel, gravity-based APD device ( Archimedes ™) with 15 current or former PD patients and 15 dialysis nurses. Participants were trained for 2 h, followed by a training decay period, then evaluated with critical Use Scenario tasks consisting of Simulated Use tasks and Knowledge tasks reflecting tasks that could result in patient harm if performed incorrectly. Results Of the Simulated Use tasks evaluated, 97.3% were deemed successful across all users. This high success rate demonstrates the effectiveness of the Archimedes APD device in facilitating the tasks required for PD. For patients, success outcomes were achieved in 96.8% of Simulated Use tasks. Nurses achieved a success rate of 97.8% for Simulated Use tasks evaluated. For Knowledge tasks, success outcomes were achieved in 99.3% and 98.6% of tasks for patients and nurses. Conclusion In this summative human factors usability study, the Archimedes APD system usability was found to be safe, accessible and easy for its intended users and use environments after the relatively short training period compared to the status quo.