Heuristic Evaluation of the Usability of a Mechanical Ventilator Interface through a Simulator

Determining the usability of mechanical ventilator interfaces is vital in ensuring correct usage under critical procedures that can place patients' health in danger. Heuristic evaluation has been used to evaluate usability in many different areas, including medical devices. The objective of this study is to evaluate the usability of a mechanical ventilator using the heuristic evaluation method. The evaluation of a mechanical ventilator simulator (Drager's Evita V500) was performed using the Heuristic Evaluation System Checklist (HESC). Three evaluators took part in the experiment in assessing the usability through HESC. The results show that of the 292 checklist sub-heuristics included in the HESC Checklist, 127 were compliant (had no flaws), 75 were not compliant (had flaws) and 95 were not applicable. The results point out that the mechanical ventilator interfaces should be improved to avoid human error due to usability issues. The results also show that heuristic evaluation generates a large quantity of objective information, which provides an exhaustive identification of aspects that should be improved.