Richard Goossens

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Delft University of Technology

Background The rising number of cancer survivors and the shortage of health care professionals challenge the accessibility of cancer care. Health technologies are necessary for sustaining optimal patient journeys. To understand individuals’ daily lives during their patient journey, qualitative studies are crucial. However, not all patients wish to...

Studies on finger kinematics, especially the range of motion (RoM) measurements, are essential to understand the use of finger joints and the pathology of related disease. Limited literatures compared the active RoM (A-RoM) of finger joints with either their functional RoM (F-RoM) or passive RoM (p-RoM) using different measuring protocols and tools...

Design is expanding its influence on shaping future healthcare. Ideally, designers apply human-centered design and human factors that introduce theory, principles, and methods to design to optimize people’s healthcare experiences in both digital and non-digital environments. To discuss and implement experience design in healthcare, consensus about...

Temporal binding refers to a systemic bias in the perceived time interval between two related events, most frequently voluntary motor actions and a subsequent sensory effect. An inevitable component of most instrumental motor actions is tactile feedback. Yet, the role of tactile feedback within this phenomenon remains largely unexplored. Here, we u...

Subjective scales are frequently used in the design process of head-related products to assess pressure discomfort. Nevertheless, some users lack fundamental cognitive and motor abilities (e.g., paralyzed patients). Therefore, it is vital to find non-verbal measurements of pressure discomfort and pressure pain. This study gathered the autonomic res...

BACKGROUND Despite the growing number of digital health (DH) applications, timely, cost-effective, and robust evaluations have not kept pace. Patient experience (PEx) was reported as one of the challenges facing the health system by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2018 classification of digital health initiatives report. To generate evid...

Background The increasing prevalence of DH applications has outpaced research and practice in digital health (DH) evaluations. Patient experience (PEx) was reported as one of the challenges facing the health system by the World Health Organization. To generate evidence on DH and promote the appropriate integration and use of technologies, a standar...

Pressure sensitivity research on the head, face, and neck is critical to develop ways to reduce discomfort caused by pressure in head-related products. The aim of this paper is to provide information for designers to be able to reduce the pressure discomfort by studying the relation between pressure sensitivity and soft tissue in the head, face and...

Since Covid-19, digital health interventions (DHIs) have been embraced as never before. The pandemic led to many new challenges, including the patient experience in digital health care delivery. In this literature study, we identified and synthesized factors that impact patient experience in digital health (dPEx), and reviewed the methods and strat...

In hospitals, sinks act as reservoirs for bacterial pathogens. To assess the extent of splashing, fluorescein dye was added to four hospital sinks previously involved in pathogen dispersal to the environment and/or transmission to patients, and one sink that was not. Applying dye to the p-trap or tailpiece never resulted in fluorescent droplets fou...

Background: The adoption and use of technology have significantly changed health care delivery. Patient experience has become a significant factor in the entire spectrum of patient-centered health care delivery. Digital health facilitates further improvement and empowerment of patient experiences. Therefore, the design of digital health is served...

BACKGROUND The adoption and use of technology has significantly changed healthcare delivery. Patient experience has become a significant factor in the whole spectrum of patient-centered healthcare delivery. Digital Health (DH) is a facilitator to further improving and empowering patient experiences. The design of DH is therefore served by insights...

Measuring the motions of human hand joints is often a challenge due to the high number of degrees of freedom. In this study, we proposed a hand tracking system utilizing action cameras and ArUco markers to continuously measure the rotation angles of hand joints. Three methods were developed to estimate the joint rotation angles. The pos-based metho...

Analysing the contact area between head-related products and the corresponding craniofacial profile is necessary to make such products more comfortable. The study of soft tissue biomechanical experiments provides a reliable perspective for understanding such contact areas and improving the comfort. In order to obtain more accurate and visualized cr...

Measuring the motion of human hand joints is a challenging task due to the high number of DOFs. In this study, we proposed a low-cost hand tracking system built on action cameras and ArUco markers to measure finger joint rotation angles. The lens distortion of each camera was corrected first via intra-calibration and the videos of different cameras...

The use of 3D anthropometric data of children’s heads and faces has great potential in the development of protective gear and medical products that need to provide a close fit in order to function well. Given the lack of detailed data of this kind, the aim of this study is to map the size and shape variation of Dutch children’s heads and faces and...

To support developing new playful product for older adults, this paper briefly reviewed a range of existing playful products, and describes how they could be strategically deconstructed and refactored from the perspective of the five interaction elements (person, purpose, means, contexts, and actions). A design framework combining case analogies an...

UNSTRUCTURED While there has been increasing interest in the use of gamification in mental healthcare, there is a lack of design knowledge on how elements from games could be integrated into existing therapeutic treatment activities in a manner which is balanced and effective. To help address this issue, we propose a design process framework to sup...

While there has been increasing interest in the use of gamification in mental health care, there is a lack of design knowledge on how elements from games could be integrated into existing therapeutic treatment activities in a manner that is balanced and effective. To help address this issue, we propose a design process framework to support the deve...

The macroergonomics perspective on patient work emphasizes that work performed by patients and their informal caregivers is performed in a work system that has multiple elements (people, tasks, technologies, and physical, social and organizational environment). Patient work is done at multiple system levels of direct care level, organizational leve...

Human-centered design is about understanding human needs and how design can respond to these needs. With its systemic humane approach and creativity, human-centered design can play an essential role in dealing with today's care challenges. 'Design’ refers to both the process of designing and the outcome of that process, which includes physical prod...

Background: Improving communication and information services for people receiving a total joint (knee or hip) arthroplasty (TJA) depends on the differences in patient communication needs and personal characteristics. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to further examine individual differences in TJA patient preferences regarding communicatio...

The physical and social distancing measures that have been adopted worldwide because of COVID-19 will probably remain in place for a long time, especially for senior adults, people with chronic conditions, and other at-risk populations. Teleconsultations can be useful in ensuring that patients continue to receive clinical care while reducing physic...

UNSTRUCTURED The physical and social distancing measures that have been adopted worldwide because of COVID-19 will probably remain in place for a long time, especially for senior adults, people with chronic conditions, and other at-risk populations. Teleconsultations can be useful in ensuring that patients continue to receive clinical care while re...

Designing products that closely inte act with the human body can be quite challenging. Think for example about wea ables like helmets, (Vi tual Reality-) goggles, masks, garments, spo ts b aces, or shoes. We are all unique individuals and this requires designers to carefully consider the great variety of human body shapes and come up with sma t way...

Virtual reality (VR) training is widely used in several minimal invasive surgery (MIS) training curricula for procedural training. However, VR training in its current state lack immersive training environments, such as using head-mounted displays that is implemented in military or aviation training and even entertainment. The virtual operating room...

Motion tracking software for assessing laparoscopic surgical proficiency has been proven to be effective in differentiating between expert and novice performances. However, with several indices that can be generated from the software, there is no set threshold that can be used to benchmark performances. The aim of this study was to identify the bes...

This book reports on cutting-edge findings and developments in physical, social and occupational ergonomics. It covers a broad spectrum of studies and evaluation procedures concerning physical and mental workload, work posture and ergonomic risk. Further, it reports on significant advances in the design of services and systems, including those addr...

3D anthropometry has created a significant opportunity for designers to improve fit by offering detailed information regarding the shape of the human body. Various researchers have shown the benefit of using 3D anthropometric data in the development or evaluation of head related products for adults. However, detailed 3D anthropometric data of child...

A 3D head and face scan data can be usefully applied in the ergonomic design of a wearable product such as an oxygen mask or a virtual reality (VR) headset to support the safety as well as comfort for a certain amount of a target population. This study is aimed to develop analysis and design methods of an ergonomic facial wearable products (e.g., p...

Background: Electronic health (eHealth) programs are often based on protocols developed for the original face-to-face therapies. However, in practice, therapists and patients may not always follow the original therapy protocols. This form of personalization may also interfere with the intended implementation and effects of eHealth interventions if...

BACKGROUND Electronic health (eHealth) programs are often based on protocols developed for the original face-to-face therapies. However, in practice, therapists and patients may not always follow the original therapy protocols. This form of personalization may also interfere with the intended implementation and effects of eHealth interventions if d...

This project aims to understand Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), specifically, identify location-related factors influencing BPSD at the individual level in the nursing home setting by means of a mixed methods approach facilitated by Indoor Positioning System (IPS). The use of a mixed methods approach fits with the “pragmat...

After a Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA), post-discharge contact moments with care providers may be scarce. Online resources may offer support, but Human Factors Engineering methods are needed to tailor these resources to patients’ varying post-surgery information needs. In order to evaluate tailored components in a web application and to refine guidel...

Background: Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) is the examination of a women's breasts by a healthcare professional, such as a breast surgeon, family physician or breast-care nurse who is trained to recognise many different types of abnormalities and warning signs in the breast [1]. CBE is particularly important in rural areas and developing countr...

Introduction: There is still a need for competent breast lump detection palpation skills, especially in developing countries. Our goal is to design, develop, and establish a test to determine whether students can, by touch alone, identify and discriminate between a range of different simulated lesions at different adiposity levels. Methods: Comm...

Objective Tailored communication and information provision is expected to contribute to patient-centred care (PCC) in total hip arthroplasty (THA). In previous research, three subgroups of THA patients were identified that are similar in their clinical, psychological and communication characteristics. Preliminary subgroup-specific design guidelines...

Intravenous therapy (IV therapy) refers to a treatment in which medication and nutrition is provided patients via a system that infuses these fluids directly into the patient’s bloodstream. Patients that are admitted to intensive care facilities, often require infusion of multiple fluids as physical systems fail to operate as intended. IV therapy a...

This book reports on cutting-edge research on social and occupational ergonomics, presenting innovative contributions to the optimization of sociotechnical management systems related to organizational, policy, and logistical issues. It discusses timely topics related to communication, crew resource management, work design, participatory design, as...

To achieve optimal patient-centered care for people undergoing a Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA), communication should ideally be tailored. In previous studies, three clusters of patients or patient ‘roles’ were identified based on communication preferences and clinical and psychological characteristics as a starting point for tailored communication i...

This video is showing my current working progress for the contact pressure simulation using the finite element analysis technique, which can be applied for designing facial wearable products such as a face mask or a head-mounted display. Of course, there are things to considering and updating, but this video is at least showing a fundamental concep...

3D body scanning has been used broadly including digital human modeling, simulation, ergonomic product design, and so forth. This research used template-registered faces of 336 Koreans in order to use them to design an oxygen mask that provides good fit to Korean faces. The finite element analysis method is applied onto the template-registered face...

In Ergonomic product design, designers need to translate anthropometric data of the target population into product dimensions or sizing systems. Currently, sizing systems are often based on traditional anthropometric data and generally use the variation of one or two key body dimensions directly related to the product. For products that need to clo...

Background The use of motion tracking has been proved to provide an objective assessment in surgical skills training. Current systems, however, require the use of additional equipment or specialised laparoscopic instruments and cameras to extract the data. The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of using a software-based solution to...

Fully or semi-automatic contouring tools are increasingly being used in the tumor contouring task for radiotherapy. While the fully automatic contouring tools have not reached sufficient efficiency, the semi-automatic contouring tools balance more effectively between the human interaction and automation. This study evaluates the influences of a sem...

3D scan images have been successfully applied in ergonomic product design. Features of human body parts (e.g., landmarks, measurements, curvatures, surfaces, volumes) extracted from 3D body scan images can be used to analyze variations of the size and shape of human bodies. The information of size and shape variations can be applied in product desi...

Purpose: Incisional hernia remains a frequent complication after abdominal surgery associated with significant morbidity and high costs. Animal and clinical studies have exhibited some limitations. The purpose of this study was to develop an artificial human abdominal wall (AW) simulator in order to enable investigations on closure modalities. We...

Objective: To establish whether a systematized approach to self-assessment in a laparoscopic surgical skills course improves accordance between expert- and self-assessment. Design: A systematic training course in self-assessment using Competency Assessment Tool was introduced into the normal course of evaluation within a Laparoscopic Surgical Sk...

A sizing system of a multiple-size product has been conventionally generated based on an anthropometric size of a human body part. But a product which fits a complex-shaped body part such as the face needs to have a sizing system generated with consideration of body shape characteristics. This study applied template registration and machine learnin...

Background Despite the detrimental effects of physical inactivity for older adults, especially aged residents of residential care settings may spend much time in inactive behavior. This may be partly due to their poorer physical condition; however, there may also be other, setting-related factors that influence the amount of inactivity. The aim of...

This book reports on cutting-edge research related to social and occupational factors. It presents innovative contributions to the optimization of sociotechnical management systems, which consider organizational, policy, and logistical issues. It discusses timely topics related to communication, crew resource management, work design, participatory...

Personalization, the involvement of stakeholders in the design process, is often applied in serious game design for health. It is expected to enhance the alignment of a game to the preferences and capacities of the end-user, thereby increasing the end-user’s motivation to interact with the game, which finally might enhance the aimed-for health effe...

Sensemaking theories help designers understand the cognitive processes of a user when he/she performs a complicated task. This paper introduces a two-step approach of incorporating sensemaking support within the design of health information systems by: 1) modeling the sensemaking process of physicians while performing a task, and 2) identifying sof...

3D human body scan datasets have been collected and various techniques of post-processing, size and shape analysis, and applications in product design have been introduced. This paper is aimed to introduce techniques and cases of head-product design studies based on massive 3D head scan datasets. 3D scan datasets of the head, face and ear were coll...

Background: The sleeve gastrectomy is being performed increasingly as a primary procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity. A minimally invasive approach is currently applied to the procedure. The two major steps are dissection and stapling. For dissection, several tools have been developed. The goal of this study was to compare the efficiency...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to collect information about barriers and enablers experienced by international experts when transferring medical equipment to countries affected by humanitarian emergencies and to discuss the suitability of the principles of “openness”, “interconnections” and “non-linearity” of systems to understand the natur...

3D human body scan datasets have been collected and various techniques of post-processing, size and shape analysis, and applications in product design have been introduced. This paper is aimed to introduce techniques and cases of head-product design studies based on massive 3D head scan datasets. 3D scan datasets of the head, face and ear were coll...

In order to understand the relation between prolonged sitting and the relation to health outcome, the behavior while being seated must be studied.A total of 41 office workers participated in a study whilst performing their regular work for eight weeks, whilst sitting on a measuring office chair (Smart Chair). The first two (control) weeks they were...

Purpose: Clinical phase III trials have shown the benefit of adding hyperthermia to radiotherapy and chemotherapy for head and neck cancer (H&N). The HYPERcollar, a functional prototype capable of applying hyperthermia to the entire H&N region was developed. Specific absorption rate-based hyperthermia treatment planning (HTP) is used to optimise H...

Little is known about the experience of people with dementia while playing games. This might be a reason why hardly any games are specifically designed for this group. We aimed to determine which play experiences can be expected to be suitable for persons in different stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Twenty-two play experiences were related to t...

Falling of older persons resulting in injuries is a common problem (Hartholt, 2010). The annual probability to experience a fall for people aged 65 years and over is 30% (Hartholt, 2010, 2011). There is limited information about the location where fall injuries occur, but bathrooms commonly are believed to be a particularly hazardous location (Span...

Designers integrate the use of anthropometric data in their design process to optimize the usability and functioning of a product while improving comfort and safety. Information regarding the size and shape of the human body are important when it comes to designing products in general, and especially where fit is essential such as helmets, ventilat...

In health care, the design, development and commercialization of innovative products is often found frustrating due to the slow inefficient and difficult nature of its systems. One part of this problem is the fact that health systems are highly regulated complex systems that include various stakeholders and unique challenges. Nevertheless, designer...

Safety challenges related to the use of medical equipment were investigated during the training of nurse anaesthetists in Haiti, using a systems approach to Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE). The Observable Performance Obstacles tool, based on the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, was used in combination with explora...

Health applications that seek to increase motivation for motor rehabilitation fail to provide patients with sufficient variety to sustain long-term interest in exercising. In order to help improve the development of such applications a framework was developed for the design of digital rehabilitation practice. As 'proof of concept' of the framework,...

The number of older adults with dementia is expected to increase. Dementia is not only characterized by a decline in cognition, also other functions, for example, physical functioning change. A possible means to decrease the decline in these functions, or even improve them, could be increasing the amount of physical activity. A feasible way hereto...

One of the main objectives in game design is to create game experiences that enhance the motivation to start and continue to play the game. To gain insight into which game experiences can be evolved by the game, designers have been using PLEX cards in the user input phase or in the product evaluation phase of the design process. However, to our kno...

In radiotherapy, the delineations of the volume of the macroscopic spread of the tumor as the Gross Tumor Volume (GTV), and the surrounding volume of the microscopic spread of the disease as the Clinical Target Volume (CTV), are key tasks for a high quality treatment plan. In order to design a software that also supports cognition, software designe...

Radiotherapy treatment planning is a complex multi-participant process. In a technology-driven context such as radiotherapy, a good software design balances between automation and user interactions. In this paper, we discuss the design challenges for incorporating segmentation methods into the radiotherapy treatment planning software, more specific...

Most older persons with dementia living in nursing homes spend their days without engaging in much physical activity. This study therefore looked at the influence that the environment has on their level of physical activity, by reviewing empirical studies that measured the effects of environmental stimuli on the physical activity of nursing home re...

Background. Surgery for locally advanced and recurrent rectal carcinoma can be associated with major blood loss. Objective. We developed a promising technique using a hemostatic balloon to stop uncontrollable bleeding. Design. Models were developed using pelvic magnetic resonance imaging scans, and these models were tested in a cadaveric study. Eve...

In recent years, many efforts have been made to reduce the trauma of surgical access further by the use of single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). The Ergo-Lap (ergonomic laparoscopic) simulator was taken to the 20th International Congress of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) in 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. During the congre...

Laparoscopic skills can be improved effectively through laparoscopic simulation. The purpose of this study was to verify the face and content validity of a new portable Ergonomic Laparoscopic Skills simulator (Ergo-Lap simulator) and assess the construct validity of the Ergo-Lap simulator in 4 basic skills tasks. Four tasks were evaluated: 2 differ...

Purpose: This study aims to provide an overview of type and frequency of musculoskeletal complaints among urologists. In addition, the urologists' knowledge about ergonomic conditions during minimally invasive urology was assessed, and they were asked how they would prefer to gain knowledge about this topic. Materials and methods: An online and...

JPER is a multi-disciplinary journal that promotes the health of the preterm infant.

In this paper we explore the role of subjective well-being within the process of making together a personalized assistive device. Through a process of social product adaptation, assistive artifacts become part of occupational therapy and co-evolve with clients. Personal digital fabrication tools enable small user groups to make and share their one-...

In product design, human body measurements are essential when it comes to products that need to fit the contour of the human body in order to be effective. When designing these products, designers must integrate anthropometric dimensions in their design process to optimize the usability and functioning of the product. In spite of the wide variety o...

The external beam radiotherapy (RT) is one of the medical treatments against cancer, which is changing rapidly in these years as a result of technological advancements. Despite the expected benefits of integrating new technologies, often it results in increased cognitive workload for the user. This paper describes the (a) current clinical context o...

This report presents the assessed workflow in radiotherapy. It is one of the deliverables of the SUMMER project. Understanding of the radiotherapy workflow is needed in order to design new software and new User Interfaces (UI) for system computer interactions that fit into the clinical context. Understanding the workflow is especially important sin...

Abstract Objective: The cost of laparoscopic simulators restricts the wide use of simulation for training of basic psychomotor skills. This paper describes the scientifically-based development of an inexpensive and portable Ergonomic Laparoscopic Skills (Ergo-Lap) simulator with multiple tasks. Material and methods: The design of this Ergo-Lap simu...

In order to understand the relation between prolonged sitting and the relation to health outcome, the behavior while being seated must be studied. A total of 41 office workers participated in a study whilst performing their regular work for eight weeks, whilst sitting on a measuring office chair (Smart Chair). The first two (control) weeks they wer...