Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Quality improvement project: reducing operating room turnover time for robotic surgery(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2024) Stier, Shelby Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Lindsay Benes; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Background: Institutional goals for the Operating Room (OR) aim to decrease time between surgical cases to support surgical demand while improving revenue and profit. Turnover time (TOT), defined as the time between one patient exiting surgery to the time the next patient enters the room for surgery, is considered non-productive, thus a standard target for efficiency. Local Problem: Following TOT delays, surgeon time constraints, and staffing frustration, a Level III trauma center aimed to improve affordability and access within their OR. Methods: This quality improvement project implemented evidence-based practices, to create a sustainable decrease in TOT. This project utilized the Plan-Do-Study-Act method to engage stakeholders, implement best practices, and evaluate outcomes. Interventions: The project implemented role differentiation, parallel processing, and an assigned robot facilitator to achieve a 28-minute TOT. To accomplish this goal, we anticipated the primary nurse would retrieve the patient in the perioperative department 12 minutes after their return from PACU. Results: Prior to implementing the QI project, the OR's TOT averaged 34 minutes. Implementation of the evidence-based interventions resulted in an average TOT of 28 minutes. Conclusion: Results indicated the implementation of a secondary nurse with defined roles, along with adequate turnover assistance yielded an improvement in TOT. Staffing is a major contributor to implementing these changes and requires a motivated team to achieve positive outcomes.Item An analysis of Cartesian deviations in robot work cycles(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 1990) Adkoli, AnandRobots have proven to be extremely useful in performing a variety of tasks, especially those that are repetitive in nature. Most applications require good accuracy and repeatability, therefore positioning errors need to be minimized to enhance any practical application. Information concerning the source of positioning errors and their influence on the work cycle is inherently useful in the study of robotics. The Teachmover is a five-jointed Robot arm that is widely used for educational purposes. The robot does not have a built-in feedback system and therefore does not have a high repeatability, which limits its usefulness to classroom learning. This project attempted to identify alternatives to correct deviations from the programmed points in a Teachmover's routine. A comprehensive analysis of the variables affecting position errors is presented. A strategy to locate a repeatable home position (starting point) was defined, together with a detailed methodology to analyze the deviations. This methodology included statistical tests which are common to a similar class of problems. The results indicated that the load on the robot and the working speed were the main causes of the deviations. It was found that neither the area of execution in the working envelope nor the number of cycles of execution affect the error. Linear relationships were found to exist between load and speed with the positioning error. It was established that there was no correlation between load and speed.Item Animating the conversion of nondeterministic finite state automata to deterministic finite state automata(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2007) Merryman, William Patrick; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Rockford RossMany students may find the conversion of non-deterministic finite state automata into deterministic finite state automata to be difficult. Since standard computers are deterministic by nature, it is beneficial to understand how to convert nondeterministic finite state automata into equivalent deterministic versions. This conversion process is often inadequately presented in traditional textbooks, though, as static presentations rarely capture the dynamics of the process. This thesis provides a Java applet that will help students better understand the conversion, and may help teachers to better present the conversion. This applet was designed to be beneficial to student learning; therefore, many different learning modes were included.Item Distributed control of a segmented and shape memory alloy actuated biologically inspired robot(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2005) Schubert, Oliver John; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Hongwei GaoToday's robots are limited in mobility, flexibility, and scalability. Their rigid bodies prevent operation in many environments and often restrict movement to a twodimensional space. Most robotic vehicles cannot operate in a confined space or unstructured terrain and are incapable of climbing surfaces a fraction of their size. Their stiff bodies significantly reduce their performance and present a major weakness. The nextgeneration robot must be highly adaptable, flexible and capable of operating in many environments. A possible solution is to create a flexible and scalable segmented snake robot incorporating smart material for actuation. This project, in partnership with The Idaho National Laboratories (INL), plans to implement a snakeeelworm (SEW) design to meet the needs of the nextgeneration robot as a part the Visual Inspection Platform for Exploration and Research (VIPER) project. Snakeeelworm platforms have the dexterity to traverse highly unstructured amphibious and landbased terrain. To create this flexible and scalable structure this work proposes the implementation of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) as the actuation device under distributed control of several embedded computer modules. This project found that a mechanical prototype can achieve snakelike locomotion while using SMAs under distributed control. A threesegment SMAactuated structure moves in an inchworm motion under a distributed control network consisting of several PowerPC single board computers (SBC).