Researchers at the Vanderbilt University have come up with a system of cognitive robots, which would be of great help in reducing the wait time for physicians and staff at the emergency departments in America.
These robots can be programmed to conduct routine tests on patients and deliver the results; this not only takes off some load on the triage nurses but also speeds up the treatment process. D. Mitchell Wikes, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt, had first spoken about a ‘TriageBot System,’ which was capable of gathering logistical and medical information and performing diagnostic measurements on the patient, in one of his papers. The TriageBot was not only taking diagnostic measurements, but was also capable of giving suitable recommendations for non-physician care to the nurses based on the diagnosis.
The TriageBot could gather patient data, make diagnostic measurements, asses the condition, fit the patient in an appropriate position on the priority list and finally update the patient’s data at regular intervals. Engineers at Vanderbilt are working on developing a cognitive architecture for the robot, which could emulate the decision making capabilities of the human brain and testing the prototypes at emergency rooms. One of the engineers working on the project is of the opinion that success of the cognitive robots can be measured by the way they react to challenging grounds such as emergency rooms and their ability to take quick decisions, just as a human being would in a similar situation.
Research on the cognitive robotic system is on similar lines as of the Watson Robot from IBM, which outperformed human competitors in a television show. A study report published by IBM mentioned that robots are capable of handling cases of less criticality and assist nurses in discharging her/his duties more efficiently and spend more time on the critical cases. These cognitive robots are capable of assisting pathologists, clinical laboratory scientists and clinical chemists in their work.
Source: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/