Posted 12.14.2011 at 4:10 pm
4 Comments
Vgo
Children’s Hospital Boston is sending some bedside manner home with its discharged patients via a pilot program that integrates telepresence robots into its regular post-op care regimen. Using five robots made by Vgo Communications Inc., doctors and nurses are opening a direct line of communication and observation between themselves and patients even as they recover at home.
The 4.5-foot robots go home with patients when they are discharged and are controlled by nurses and doctors back at the hospital. Equipped with audio sensors, articulating cameras, speakers, and a video screen for a face, the Vgo robots allow doctors and nurses to consult with patients and their parents and collect visual data that can help them adjust a post-op medication regimen or spot signs of an impending complication, all without requiring the patient to trek back to the hospital.
Related Articles
Tags
Technology, Clay Dillow, health, health care, robots, telepresence robots, vgo, VideoThat’s the next step. Right now, Children’s Hospital is working to complete a 40-patient in-home trial of the robots to see how effective they can be. If it works, the hospital may increase its fleet of telepresence ‘bots and start sending patients home early, replacing routine post-op observation with a friendly robot companion.
See Vgo go below.
4 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Technology
138 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.
Innovation Challenges
Popular Science+ For iPad
Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page
Download Our App
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Follow Us On Twitter
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
March 2012: The Future of Medicine
A 10,000-rpm, no-pulse heart is completely revolutionizing how we think about transplants. Plus: rapid-response virus hunters, a shocking cure for migraines, the world's youngest person to have achieved nuclear fusion (in his parents' garage!), and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Viewed
Technology
- The Best Science Podcasts for the Enjoyment of Your Ears and Brain
- DNA Sequencer Plugs Right Into Your USB Port, Analyzes Your Genome
- The World Through Google's Smartglasses
- Thermoelectric "Power Felt" Fabric Lets You Sit on Your Phone to Power It
- Japanese Construction Company Plans Space Elevator By 2050
- The Race For The Next Big Thing In Green Illumination
- The Yamaha Moegi Demonstrates The Future of Fuel Efficiency
- World's Tiniest Possible Transistor Created Out of a Single Phosphorus Atom
- Simulated Mars Base Will Help Future Menu Planners Pack the Interplanetary Pantry
- Hubble Discovers the First 'Waterworld,' an Exoplanet Covered in Water
Most Emailed
Technology
- The Best Science Podcasts for the Enjoyment of Your Ears and Brain
- DNA Sequencer Plugs Right Into Your USB Port, Analyzes Your Genome
- The World Through Google's Smartglasses
- Thermoelectric "Power Felt" Fabric Lets You Sit on Your Phone to Power It
- Japanese Construction Company Plans Space Elevator By 2050
- The Race For The Next Big Thing In Green Illumination
- The Yamaha Moegi Demonstrates The Future of Fuel Efficiency
- World's Tiniest Possible Transistor Created Out of a Single Phosphorus Atom
- Simulated Mars Base Will Help Future Menu Planners Pack the Interplanetary Pantry
- Hubble Discovers the First 'Waterworld,' an Exoplanet Covered in Water
Most Commented
Technology
- The Yamaha Moegi Demonstrates The Future of Fuel Efficiency
- Today's NASA Budget: 'Irrational' Cuts to Planetary Science Mean Mars Missions Get the Axe
- How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole
- Video: President Obama Test-Fires a Marshmallow Cannon at the White House Science Fair
- After Animal Activists Track Pigeon Hunt With Drone, Pigeon Hunters Shoot Down Drone
- Video: DARPA's Legged Squad Support System (a.k.a. Big Dog) Goes Outside to Play
- The World Through Google's Smartglasses
- Waterless Washing Machine Levitates Laundry and Cleans It With Dry Ice
- Japanese Construction Company Plans Space Elevator By 2050
- Hubble Discovers the First 'Waterworld,' an Exoplanet Covered in Water
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2009 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
52 Million Americans are now without healthcare because they can`t afford it. I hardly believe this will bring down costs. Especially as these home robots get more and more technical. They should use an ordinary webcam (on laptop of smartphone) to save costs. So many American children and adults without healthcare should be of epic and primary concern. Costs must come down.
true, the costs need to come down, have you seen a hospital bill lately? anything that gets a patient home sooner would save on costs, the worst place to be is in a hospital, bad infections are the first thing that comes to mind, robots rule, cheers
Yes Robots rule and hospitals, doctors and the billing system is way down my list of choice. Now a days, it has become a necessary evil and that is sad.
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
Robot, the billing system and waiting are what I dread. Last time I was in a hospital, we were there 8 hours before a doctor really came to visit. Every nurse that came in acted like we just got there and 13 hours later when a gynecologist finally saw my wife she asked if we just got there and I replied "we've been here 13 hours." An idea like this is awesome. Imagine these connected to artificial intelligence in the future.
Science always asks "can we," but doesn't seem to ask "should we."