Area, a four-legged robot, is being tested at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Healthcare facility as a method to treat some COVID-19 patients.
Boston Dynamics.
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Boston Characteristics.
Spot, a four-legged robotic, is being tested at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Healthcare facility as a method to treat some COVID-19 patients.
Boston Dynamics.
Brigham and Women’s Medical facility in Boston has actually been testing a new piece of hardware to help them treat coronavirus cases– a robot called Spot.
Last week, the medical facility started utilizing the robot in speaking with clients presumed of having less-serious cases of COVID-19 It’s just been released a handful of times so far, however according to Peter Chai, an emergency medical physician at Brigham and Women’s, the hope is that using Area might limit personnel exposure to COVID-19
” It also removes PPE,” stated Chai in an interview. “Spot doesn’t need to use a mask or dress.”
Area was developed by robotics company Boston Dynamics and has been on the marketplace for a long time. The robotic’s unique four-legged design assists it browse terrain where people and other robotics may have difficulty going, says Michael Perry, vice president for company advancement.
” Part of the advantage of legged movement is going to spaces that wheeled robotics and drones can not go,” Perry told NPR.
Although Area was not established particularly for medical purposes, the company says that as soon as the pandemic hit, medical facilities began asking “if our robotics might assist minimize their personnel’s exposure.”
” Among the medical facilities that we talked to shared that, within a week, a sixth of their staff had contracted COVID-19 which they were looking into utilizing robotics to take more of their staff out of range of the novel virus,” Boston Dynamics stated in a statement.
Boston Dynamics then spoke with MIT and Brigham and Women’s, equipping Spot with an iPad and radio so a medical technician could interface with clients in the triage tent the medical facility– and others– usage for potential COVID-19 clients.
Up until now, Spot has been primarily used to interview clients, however Perry includes that the next plan is to have the robotic start taking important indications of new clients, which he states might take place as soon as next week.
