by David Geer
Contact the author at geercom@windstream.net
Remote Presence Robots
Put Physicians Within Reach
The Remote Presence (RP) robots from InTouch Health enable physicians to be
literally anywhere — in the emergency room, the ICU, at home, the office, or
even at the same or different hospital. The physician can see and hear the
patient, the attending staff, and the medical equipment in use such as electronic
stethoscopes, otoscopes, ECG machines, ultrasound, etc. The patient and staff
can see and hear the doctor as he participates in the diagnosis and treatment.
The physician can operate many robots in many locations from any one of
several control stations. Not only can doctors be where they can’t physcially be,
but they can be in several places (almost) at once.
Remote Presence
Robot Technology
The first RP robot — the RP- 7 — is a five foot
tall mobile robot that rolls on three balls, six inches
in diameter. The balls are each capable of passive
or driven movement, so it can move in any
direction and change course instantly. The drive
system enables the robot to rotate as it moves.
Sensors around the base of the robot let it
move freely in crowded rooms without collisions.
The physician is informed via a grid of green, red,
and yellow squares on a display that represent
data transmitted from the sensors. These squares
demonstrate to the doctor visually how close he or
she is to surrounding objects so they can be
maneuvered past.
A physician is seated at the
control station that enables him to
teleoperate the robot, as well as to
see and hear the patient and staff at
the hospital. The wide-angle display
presents a view of the robot’s
environment for navigation and to
examine patients and converse with
staff. On the right, brain scan results
are visible.
The doctor uses a joystick to navigate
and a keyboard for text input. A
camera and speakers sit atop the
display. A PC and speakers are also
visible, which process the data the
doctor is working with and enable
the doctor to hear what is going on at
the patient’s location, respectively.
10 SERVO 06.2010
