Bengaluru: Round Monitoring of Covid-19 patients who are bound in bed are easier for doctors at Victoria Hospital Bengaluru and Hubballi Kims Hospital, because robots have helped them for two months now.
Israeli-made Temi robot tours the mapped track in the ICU in two hospitals and captures the patient’s health parameters.
This is forwarded to the treatment team.
The robot is also equipped with audio-visual technology where the Tele ICU team monitored remotely keeps following the patient’s condition.
It also allows video consultation.
Sponsored through CSR initiatives from Bengaluru-based companies, robots used for the first time at the Covid-19 Hospital Karnataka.
In four other districts, government hospitals use PTZ (PAN, Tilt, Zoom) cameras to connect patients remotely with the TELE ICU team.
“Health staff feel useful,” said TK Anil Kumar, the main secretary, health and family welfare department.
“We may not be able to use robots in all district hospitals, but they will all get a PTZ camera soon.” The use of TEMI Robots and PTZ in Covid Icus in Hospitals in Karnataka attracted many awards from the center.
Dr.
KV Trilok Chandra, Special Commissioner, BBMP (Health), and Special Officers, critical care support units that monitor Covid patients in the Id of Government Hospital in all countries, said robots have made health staff work easier.
“ICU is a limited environment and sterile movement,” said Dr.
Chandra.
“Because the location of the bed remains, the robot can be programmed to go on a predetermined path every 3-4 hours based on the requirements.
This provides communication twoway; this conveys audio and video to a remote doctor.” He said, basically, the robot walked in Near the patient and capture all vital parameters.
It helps long-distance doctors understand the patient’s condition better.
“Difference doctors can also talk to patients through robots that can make patients more confident because specialists realize their conditions,” said Dr.
Chandra.
Doctors and nurses in the ICU can also direct the bot to move towards certain patients, he said.
KIMS, Hubballi, currently has five patients in the ICU which is being monitored through a robot.
“We operate robots through the application installed on mobile members of the critical care team,” said Dr.
Kalinga Be, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, KimS.
“This is very useful.
All doctors who are part of the group get updates.
We can control the robot movement remotely.” Dr.
Kalinga said the robot captures data about blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, respiration and heart rate displayed on a multi monitor -Para connected to each bed through Temi.
Bot is a machine operated with a battery and requires one hour charging a day.
Dr.
Pradeep Rangappa, a critical care specialist and members of the Covid-19 critical support team, who worked with a robot, said the bot was more helpful than PTZ because it provides audio and video inputs.
For PTZ, doctors need other devices to talk to patients.
Zero case in Victoria Robot at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru has been used for more than a month now.
However, because hospitals do not have covid patients for more than a week now, the Ministry of Health plans to use robots in other districts.