# SCH: Human-Robot Contact for Bathing and Skin-Care Assistance

> **NIH NIH R01** · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $318,960

## Abstract

For individuals with a broad range of disability, illness, or injury, skin health can be challenging to
 maintain. One devastating result is the high national incidence and impact of pressure injuries. The
 annual cost of hospital acquired pressure injuries is estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. These
injuries are painful for the individual and result in up to 60,000 US deaths annually. Pressure injuries are
 largely preventable through timely cleaning and frequent, consistent skin inspection. This serious health
 issue has received considerable attention across the US, yet the impact of pressure injuries remains
largely unchanged.
This project proposes advances in the engineering and psychology of human-robot skin contact towards
introducing robots into the healthcare system as skin-care assistants with the goals of improving skin
health for individuals who are unable to perform bathing and skin care on their own. This project will
develop a novel individual representation of skin-care tasks that can be modified by a user with limited
motor functions. It will provide the first ever database that captures detailed hand movement and contact
pressures as expert caregivers perform skin-care tasks. It will result in novel reasoning and control
methods that enable the robotic assistant to interact safely with people. It will provide novel interaction
mechanisms for diverse individuals with disabilities and new findings on their preferences for working with
the robotic assistant. A unique soft robot hand will be developed to support these efforts.
Reducing the incidence and impact of pressure injuries can reduce pain and improve health outcomes for
individuals. It can save lives and billions of dollars to be applied to better uses in the health care system.
It can elevate and democratize access to skin health through consistency, implementation of best
practices, and individualized inspection algorithms. It can relieve burdens on caregivers, increase
privacy, allow individuals to live in their homes for a longer time and provide greater independence.
RELEVANCE (See instructions):
 A robotic skin-care assistant can provide consistent skin cleaning and inspection for individuals that
 require such assistance. Consistent skin cleaning and inspection is the number one means of
 preventing pressure injuries and lessening their impact. Accomplishing the project goal can save lives,
 prevent painful injuries, save billions of dollars, and save caregiver time while empowering individuals and
 democratizing access to good skin care.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11063308
- **Project number:** 1R01EB036842-01
- **Recipient organization:** CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Nancy S Pollard
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $318,960
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11063308

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11063308, SCH: Human-Robot Contact for Bathing and Skin-Care Assistance (1R01EB036842-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11063308. Licensed CC0.

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