Desenvolvimento da maca infantil multifuncional para atendimento odonto-médico-hospitalar de bebês e pré-escolares

Delevopment of a Children´s Multifunctional Stretcher for the  Hospital, Medical and Dental treatment of babys and preschool children.Children in the age group from 0-5 years are still poorly assisted in what concerns suitable accommodation resources for pediatric dental care. The products available to this audience in the Brazilian market are little functional to the age group of 0-36 months. These products fail to meet minimum requirements for ergonomic adjustment in what concerns the professional performance or the child‘s welfare and safety. This research presents research and development of a stretcher for pediatric dental care, under the viewpoint of healthcare design. This kind of design is based upon ergonomics concepts, usability and emotion design. The aim is to present an equipment suitable to the psychophysics features of the target audience. The present research was developed considering both the professional and the patient approach. Psychophysics impact of interface versus user on both audiences were observed. It also propounds the prerogatives to establish the project requirements for the stretcher design, observing the identified needs in order to identify the functions this new stretcher should perform. The result exhibits a morphological structure similar to the adult targeted stretcher but its dimensioning is suitable and adequate to the age group of 0-5 years old. The final proposal was incremented with accessories whose functions are to adjust child’s position in the stretcher, and to offer the necessary rests for neck and legs comfortable accommodation and, finally, to provide a comfortable contention of abrupt movements of the trunk, legs and head, in order to ensure the child’s safety during its attendance.Colors were employed with a ludic and psychodynamics purpose, considering its application context and to favor a collaborative behavior of the child. In order to provide  a safe and comfortable performance of the professional, the stretcher offers a pedal operated height adjustment and resources for its diminution and expansion therefore making it easier to approach the patient and to have a better sight on the child’s buccal cavity.Keywords: infant dental stretcher, design applied to healthcare, emotion design