The Deployment of Telepresence Robots in Emergency Rooms

The famous movie I, Robot (2004)  is based on a collection of nine short stories by science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in science-fiction magazines between 1940 and 1950, the year that they were first published together in book form.

 The events of the story take place in 2035, where highly intelligent robots fill public service positions throughout the world. Given the latest research and technology developments on artificial intelligence, this science-fiction novel turns out to be embedding a futuristic vision that can be implemented in the very near future.

This is coming to be a non-fictional concept especially in the healthcare sector. We have reached a stage where hearing the phrase “Dr. Robot” does not seem to be something peculiar that we would hear in our future hospitals.

In Fact, the deployment of an artificially intelligent robotic medical staff would not just be for the sake of demonstrating human high technological advancement. Actually, it is a need, especially in some delicate areas of a hospital such as emergency rooms (ER).

According to Mitch Wilkes, associate director of the Center for Intelligent Systems and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Vanderbilt University, we will never hear stories of patients dying in the emergency room after excruciatingly long waits if a staff of robots could help to accelerate the ER triage process. 

He wrote a paper that describes an ER waiting room administered by electronic kiosks (like those at the airport) at the registration desk. A mobile robot or two might monitor patients in the waiting room.

Some robots, such as SIFROBOT-1.0, can work as a registration assistant, capable of having some basic human-like conversations with patients and gathering basic data including simple diagnostic data. The telepresence robot: SIFROBOT-1.0 enables doctors to be virtually present next to their patients. They can ask what the patient’s complaint is, where does it hurt, pain level and ask patients to measure their own temperature then sends all the data to the clinical staff.

The robot acts as a mobile smart kiosk, which consists of a sensitive touch screen, high-definition cameras, a whole set of microphone and a loudspeaker. Most importantly, the robot can process language and be commended through vocal instructions.

Another important feature is the video projector that the robot has. It grants doctors the ability to remotely communicate with everyone in the emergency room, nurses or patients, without having the need to be physically present in the hospital.

Artificially intelligent robots are considered by many observers as the future technology that might guarantee better healthcare service for patients with critical conditions in ER waiting rooms. Since it boosts the workflow and assures fast labeling of patients that helps doctors to decide which patient need to be prioritized and treated first.

Reference: Intelligent Systems and Technologies in Rehabilitation Engineering.

[launchpad_feedback]

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article are for explanatory purposes only. SIFSOF is not responsible neither for the misuse nor for the wrong or random use of the robots.