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Telepresence Robots Invade Hospitals
A disembodied human face hangs atop a robot chassis next to a Redmond, Oregon hospital bed (not pictured). The doctor on the screen is 20 miles distant, in Bend. But from there he is able to assess the patient and determine whether she should be moved to a better equipped hospital in Bend or further afield.
The doctor’s name is Dr. Kevin Sherer, the volunteer patient Anita Boucher, and together they recently performed a test run using an InTouch Health RP-7i telepresence robot nicknamed Roda (robotic office diagnostic assistant).
Dr. Sherer can pilot Roda down the hall with a joystick, turn its camera to check vitals, and interact with the patient by way of the screen atop Roda’s chassis. In addition to telepresence capabilities—and with the help of a nurse placing a special stethoscope—he can remotely check the patient’s heart beat over headphones.
Although they haven’t had a chance to make full use of Roda’s capability, Daniel Davis of St. Charles Redmond told Singularity Hub most medical equipment with USB connectivity can be transmitted to doctors.
And according to Davis, those early tests using volunteer mock patients went well, winning over even the skeptics. Since then, the robot has been put to good use, including at least one midnight visit.
Currently, Roda is the hospital’s lone telepresence robot, and Davis says there are no concrete plans for another. However, down the road—no doubt depending on how well Roda performs—he believes they may purchase more machines.
Though Central Oregon’s latest robot helper kicked up some dust in the press, St. Charles Redmond is not the first hospital to use the technology. According to InTouch Health, their robots are in over 650 hospitals worldwide, enabling an average “5,000 remote clinical sessions per month.”
And it’s not hard to see why. As the sheer volume of medical knowledge increases and becomes more specialized, telepresence robots like Roda bring specialist expertise wherever it is needed, regardless of location.
As InTouch CEO Yulun Wang puts it, “We want to enable the clinician to be able to be present somewhere else—from anywhere to anywhere—and operate and work as if they were standing there in person.”
InTouch, partnering with iRobot, recently took another step toward that goal with their latest model (RP-Vita). Instead of requiring doctors pilot the robot from room to room, they need only select the destination room on a touchscreen map.
The RP-Vita navigates the halls, using onboard sensors to avoid obstacles, arriving at its destination without the doctor’s input.
So why aren’t these robots in every hospital? Simply put, they are very costly. The RP-7i price tag is a hefty $95,000. That’s a serious investment. Particularly considering much of the the system’s capability can seemingly be duplicated by an iPad ($499-$829) and a Double Robotics iPad robot ($1,999).
Undoubtedly, the equipment on the RP-7i is higher quality and specialized to the task at hand. But those points alone don’t make up for a price over 30 times more expensive than the simplest workable solution.
As it turns out, at least part of the cost may be traced to regulatory compliance.
Hospitals can’t use just any video conference tool—they have to use an FDA approved one. InTouch’s telepresence robots are considered Class II devices, requiring strict FDA manufacturing oversight.
The FDA requires the system be highly secure to protect patient confidentiality—and to avoid hackers posing as doctors and approving medical procedures!
It’s understandable. Patient safety and confidentiality are paramount. But one wonders whether the benefits of lowering the regulatory bar a bit might outweigh the feared costs. The more easily knowledge and skill flows through the system, the higher the level of average patient care.
But greater value and easier regulation should come with time—as regulators and hospitals alike become more familiar with the risks and benefits of the technology.
Ultimately, telespresence should join quite handily with other information technology inspired advances. Perhaps we’ll have a multi-use medical robot with Roda’s body and telepresence capabilities, Watson’s brain, and the X Prize’s tricorder. Why not?
Source: http://singularityhub.com/2012/12/04/telepresence-robots-invade-hospitals-doctors-can-be-anywhere-anytime/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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