Finding Ways to Stop Technology from Killing Us

University of Toronto engineer captures prestigious Canadian research prize

Ottawa, Ontario, March 20, 2003 – Preventing medical errors that kill thousands of Canadians every year requires that we change the way we design the interaction between technology and people, says Dr. Kim Vicente, named today as one of two University of Toronto winners of the Steacie Fellowship – a top Canadian science and engineering honour from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Dr. Vicente is a leading player in the rapidly growing field of cognitive engineering. It's a discipline that looks beyond the straight “nuts and bolts” approach to making tools, in favour of also considering how people actually use technology.

"In health care, when something goes wrong we always blame the individuals," says Dr. Vicente, a professor of engineering at the University of Toronto. "But we've done experiments in which we give people two different interfaces for the same medical device. With one interface they make potentially life-threatening mistakes, and with the other they don't make any at all. So, it can't be the person that's causing the difference in errors."

The NSERC Steacie award to Dr. Vicente and University of Toronto colleague Dr. Molly Shoichett (see separate release) were among six announced today by Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for NSERC, Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, and Dr. Tom Brzustowski, President of NSERC.

“NSERC Steacie Fellows are blazing trails for themselves and for Canada on the international research scene,” said Minister Rock. “They are leading Canada towards its goal of becoming one of the top five countries in the world for research and development.”

“The awards are public recognition for outstanding achievement,” said Minister Pagtakhan. “It’s Canada’s way of saying ‘thank you’ and giving outstanding scientists and engineers the opportunity and resources to bring their ideas to a new level of excellence.”

In 1988, while working in Denmark with Dr. Jens Rasmussen, a pioneer in human-computer interfaces, Vicente coined the term ecological interface design (EID). It describes a new way of designing complex process control systems that takes into account the ways we think, perceive and behave.

"Rather than expecting people to adapt to complex machines, cognitive engineers try to rework the design of technological systems to match what we know about human nature. In everyday situations, this leads to devices that are easier and less frustrating for people to use. In more complex systems – like nuclear power, health care, or aviation – cognitive engineering can literally make the difference between life and death," says Dr. Vicente, who is currently the Hunsaker Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

During the past decade, the Toronto native has applied EID concepts to systems ranging from cockpit controls to the design of petrochemical and nuclear power plant process controls. The work often involves his playing the role of a technological anthropologist. Several years ago, Dr. Vicente spent a week watching the night shift operators work at the Pickering nuclear power plant.

His research group was the first to apply cognitive engineering principles (known as human factors design) to the redesign of a commercially available medical device. Known as patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), the device is used in hospitals worldwide to enable nurses and patients to administer painkillers.

By redesigning the PCA interface, including reducing the number of possible steps from 27 to 12, Dr. Vicente's research showed that the general error rate among users dropped by half, and the safety-critical factor (the error introduced by programming drug concentration) was completely eliminated.

"Even nurses with five years of experience on the old interface had better results on the redesign after using it for only half an hour," says Dr. Vicente.

"When nurses use a PCA in a clinical setting they get interrupted all the time. Our hypothesis is that with our human factor design they'll do OK despite the interruptions."

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Kim Vicente
University of Toronto
E-mail: benfica@mie.utoronto.ca

Arnet Sheppard
Manager, Newsbureau
Communications
NSERC
Telephone: (613) 995-5997
E-mail: axs@nserc.ca

The Prize

NSERC Steacie Fellowships are awarded to the most outstanding Canadian university scientists or engineers, who have earned their doctorate within the last twelve years. Nominations are received by NSERC from universities across Canada and the international impact of the individual’s work is judged by a distinguished panel of independent experts. The award includes increased research funding from NSERC and a payment to the university to allow the individual to pursue his or her research full-time. The winning Steacie Fellows are also eligible to compete for a special Canada Foundation for Innovation Career Award. The announcement of these awards will be made later.

The six winners this year are:

Dr. Gary Saunders (University of New Brunswick)
Dr. Victoria Kaspi (McGill University)
Dr. Zongchao Jia (Queen’s University)
Dr. Molly Shoichet (University of Toronto)
Dr. Kim Vicente (University of Toronto)
Dr. Michel Gingras (University of Waterloo)

Canada’s Innovation Strategy

Last year, the Government of Canada launched Canada’s Innovation Strategy, two papers that lay out a plan to address skills and innovation challenges for the next decade. The paper released by Minister Rock is entitled Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity. It proposes goals, targets and priorities for Canada over the next decade to: create knowledge and bring ideas to market more quickly; ensure a skilled workforce in the new economy; modernize business and regulatory policies while protecting the public interest; and strengthen communities by supporting innovation at the local level. Today’s announcement supports this strategy.

For more information about Canada’s Innovation Strategy or to obtain a copy of either Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians or Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity, please call 1-800-O CANADA
(1-800-622-6232) or visit http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca.