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Robots in Hospitals

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-can-they-make-a-good-martini dept.

Dieppe writes "Robot couriers are being used in hospitals CNN. The robots are being used as delivery 'bots to deliver medicine and other hospital supplies. They are polite, and even can be overly cautious. I wonder if at night they supply them with saws, arms and other cutting devices and let them at each other? Turns out they're cost effective as well!"

2 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And...? by ResidntGeek · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, then the roobt detects the hand tremors and removes them, so that the doctor doesn't accidentally slice open an artery or whatever. I *think* it's called the Da Vinci Surgical System.

    --
    ResidntGeek
  2. This is news? by demonlapin · · Score: 5, Informative
    We've had one in my med school for, oh, four or five years. They even ginned up an ID badge for him, which necessitated a naming contest (the winning entry was "Rudy").

    Works just like the article says - takes drugs from the pharmacy to the floor. Fairly straightforward, really. I'm honestly surprised there aren't more in use - most hospitals (of any real size - I'm not counting all the rural 30- and 40-bed hospitals) use a pneumatic tube system of some sort to deliver meds to the floors, and those are notoriously difficult and expensive to maintain.