Say where it hurts to RoboDoc -- the automated consultant that allows doctors to talk to their patients even if they are continents apart.
The invention can be moved around a hospital ward by a surgeon in another room, another hospital, or even another country. It means patients can consult international experts who cannot get to their bedside.
The machine, which resembles a sci-fi movie android, has a screen that shows the doctor's face via a remote camera. The patient and the medic can communicate through the screen.
Known as Remote Presence, the system uses broadband and wireless technology, operating in a similar way to a webcam. Each robot costs Pounds 50,000...
Project leader Parv Sains, Research Fellow at Imperial College, said: "If a specialist is at a conference in California but their medical opinion is needed for a St. Mary's patient, or to deliver a lecture to junior doctors, RP6 provides an instant and global link at any time of the day or night."
And RoboDoc may soon be joined by Robo-nurse. A similar machine is being developed for monitoring patients' blood pressure, pulse and temperature.
Patients would wear a "smart surgical gown" with sensors that monitor their vital signs after surgery and transmit them to RoboNurse using Bluetooth technology. The information could then be sent to the surgeon. This would free up time for human nurses, who often have to take patients' readings every half-hour after surgery.
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Robo-doc will see you now [Daily Mail - UK,UK]
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