A robot doctor, which allows real doctors to diagnose patients from a remote location, will be coming to the assistance of stroke victims in Mullingar hospital in the near future.
The Midland Regional Hospitals in Mullingar and Tullamore have been earmarked as two of four hospitals across the country to be the first to benefit from ‘RoboDoc’, a new device designed to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of stroke victims.
A spokesperson for the HSE confirmed yesterday that there are proposals to run pilot programmes in both Mullingar and Tullamore hospitals. However, a launch date has not yet been fixed for the introduction of RoboDoc to the Midlands.
The arrival of RoboDoc at Mullingar hospital was first proposed in July 2008, when an application was made to the HSE innovation award to fund the programme in a number of hospitals. It has already been trialled in Tallaght hospital, while Naas hospital is also expected to benefit from the new technology. The device will be one of 200 ‘smart ideas’ on display next week at the Innovation Dublin festival, which takes place from October 14 to 20.
The remote presence (or RP7 ) robot doctor will allow patients, who present at a hospital having suffered a suspected stroke, to be seen by a specialist as a matter of urgency. As the majority of hospitals do not have a consultant available around the clock, and the treatment of stroke patients is time-sensitive, it is thought that RoboDoc could soon be saving the lives of hundreds of stroke victims in the Midlands and across the country.
The robot is controlled by the doctor by means of a joystick which allows the vantage point to change, while high resolution cameras are used to link specialists with patients via a broadband connection. The specialist can therefore see and talk to the patient, view CT images and lab results, and make urgent treatment decisions.
According to Dr Ronan Collins, geriatrician and stroke specialist at Tallaght Hospital, the device, which was developed by Californian robotics technology company, Intouch Health, will contribute greatly to patients’ chances of recovery.
"Treating stroke patients is time-sensitive, as studies have shown that some patients have a better chance of making a reasonable recovery if a clot-busting drug is administered within a four-and-a-half hour window," he said this week.
