Conceptualizing socially-assistive robots as a digital therapeutic tool in healthcare

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Digital Health (DH) systems are poised to play a critical role in the future of healthcare. In 2021, $57.2 billion was invested in DH systems around the world, recognizing the promise this concept holds for aiding in delivery and care management. DH systems traditionally include a blend of various technologies, AI, and physiological biomarkers and have shown a potential to provide support for individuals with various health conditions. Digital therapeutics (DTx) is a more specific set of technology-enabled interventions within the broader DH sphere intended to produce a measurable therapeutic effect. DTx tools can empower both patients and healthcare providers, informing the course of treatment through data-driven interventions while collecting data in real-time and potentially reducing the number of patient office visits needed. In particular, socially assistive robots (SARs), as a DTx tool, can be a beneficial asset to DH systems since data gathered from sensors onboard the robot can help identify in-home behaviors, activity patterns, and health status of patients remotely. Furthermore, linking the robotic sensor data to other DH system components, and enabling SAR to function as part of an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, can create a broader picture of patient health outcomes. The main challenge with DTx, and DH systems in general, is that the sheer volume and limited oversight of different DH systems and DTxs is hindering validation efforts (from technical, clinical, system, and privacy standpoints) and consequently slowing widespread adoption of these treatment tools.

Emerging Telepresence Technologies in Hybrid Learning Environments

The last several years have seen a strong growth of telerobotic technologies with promising implications for many areas of learning. HCI has contributed to these discussions, mainly with studies on user experiences and user interfaces of telepresence robots. However, only a few telerobot studies have addressed everyday use in real-world learning environments. In the post-COVID 19 world, sociotechnical uncertainties and unforeseen challenges to learning in hybrid learning environments constitute a unique frontier where robotic and immersive technologies can mediate learning experiences. The aim of this workshop is to set the stage for a new wave of HCI research that accounts for and begins to develop new insights, concepts, and methods for use of immersive and telerobotic technologies in real-world learning environments. Participants are invited to collaboratively define an HCI research agenda focused on robot-mediated learning in the wild, which will require examining end-user engagements and questioning underlying concepts regarding telerobots for learning.

Heterogeneity of the podocyte membrane in rat kidney as revealed by ethanol dehydration of unosmicated specimens

The ultrastructure of the podocyte membrane was studied by means of transmission electron microscopy of unosmicated tissue samples after acetone or ethanol dehydration and subsequent embedding in a polyester resin. The podocyte membrane in glutaraldehyde (GA)-fixed, acetone-dehydrated samples consisted of a relatively thick, clear layer (about 6 nm) abutted by the dark staining cytoplasm and a dark surface layer. In GA-fixed, ethanol-dehydrated samples a striking intramembranous pattern was observed in the podocyte cell membrane. The luminal podocyte membrane was regularly perforated by gaps about 25 nm wide. In grazing sections these gaps appeared round and were separated by a honeycomb pattern of intact membrane. The abluminal membrane, in contrast, generally maintained its continuity. The clear layer of the podocyte membrane was thinner in ethanol-dehydrated samples than in acetone-dehydrated ones. In tissue samples fixed with GA supplemented by ruthenium red, ethanol dehydration was not associated with cell-membrane perforations. Based on these observations as well as on biochemical data from the literature we suggest that in GA-fixed, unosmicated, acetone-dehydrated samples the structural integrity of the podocyte membrane is well preserved, while ethanol dehydration extracts some specific material from regularly distributed domains in the podocyte cell membrane.