SPOTLIGHT ON THE NEWS

Robot Addressing Childrens Hospital's ER Medical Needs

Since 2021, children and families who come into the ER at Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C., https://childrensnational.org have been surprised when the ER doctor turns out to be a robot. The robot at the ER is still being used for patients not only with COVID but also if patients are being treated for other medical conditions.

According to Shireen Atabaki, M.D., Director, Informatics and Associate Medical Director for Telemedicine, "The robot can move in and out of spaces where we can't fit a significant number of providers, especially when dealing with COVID or other infectious diseases.

The robot is:

1. Wi-Fi enabled
2. Remotely controlled by the doctor providing the teleconsultation
3. Monitors patient's vitals including heart rate, body temperature, and respiration rate
4. Allowing doctors to work virtually with their team giving flexibility to seeing patients faster

Also, Last April, Nemours Children's Health https://nemours.com received a $2.2 million donation from The Don and Lorraine Freeberg Foundation to support developing a Pediatric Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Program. This program aims to deliver advanced care with an emphasis on decreasing post operative pain and hospital stays.

The robot's arms would be controlled by a trained surgeon able to employ micro-precision techniques such as bending and rotating instruments during surgical procedures to achieve a greater range of motion then the human hand. The surgeon would be able to deliver magnified three dimensional high definition views of the surgical area.