Usability and Clinical Testing for Home-use Medical Devices

is being presented by Helen Colquhoun, CEO, of Pleiad Inc. and airs on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011. For more details or to register, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

There are many devices and diagnostics that are or could be used by patients in their own homes: in-vitro diagnostics with complex software algorithms and connections to computer databases and websites; haemodialysis machines; ventilators; artificial hearts; intravenous infusion pumps; and various types of wound-care devices. Home-based use of complex devices to treat liver disease, depression, and heart disease are in development. In fact, any complex device that delivers therapy over a prolonged period of time needs to accommodate in-home use because payers will not pay for and patients will not comply with prolonged hospital or clinic-based treatment regimens.

In order to obtain labelling that allows use of a complex device or a diagnostic by the patients themselves, the medical device first needs to be designed in a way that minimizes potential use errors. This involves usability testing, which takes into account different characteristics of the patients who will use the device such as age, education, professional background, and different physical abilities (the so-called human factors). If clinical data are required for approval, these are usually obtained by testing the device in the intended setting such as patients using the devices at home. Setting up and managing clinical trials to accommodate these requirements can be challenging.

This audio conference presentation discusses the process of designing and testing medical devices intended for use in the home, and provides case studies and insight on how best to obtain the requisite clinical data in a home setting.

Creating Usable, Engaging Websites

is being presented by Daniel Szuc, Principal Usability Consultant, with Apogee Usability Asia Ltd and airs on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010. For more details or to register, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

Have you ever thought about which websites you love to visit and why? Why are some sites so hard to use?

Usability isn’t a "nice-to-have" in web design — it is essential. If people find it hard to do what they need to on the your website, then research shows they just won’t use it. According to Arthur Andersen, "More than 83% of Internet users are likely to leave a website if they feel they have to make too many clicks to find what they're looking for."

Designing and building a corporate website is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking, and too often, the end product falls short of what visitors want. This presentation looks at how to incorporate usability thinking into website design, discussing common approaches to get customers involved to find out what they need, and how to evaluate and test your site for usability.