Dr. Robot Tested at Hopkins

It lacks the warm bedside manner of Marcus Welby or Dr. Kildare,
but a high-tech robot being tested at The Johns Hopkins Hospital could
be used to link patients with their physicians in a whole new way.

Vaguely resembling a human torso, in a Star Wars R2D2 sort of way, the
robot sports a computer screen for a head, a video camera for eyes and
a speaker for a mouth. It walks, in a manner of speaking, on three balls,
talks, and most importantly, listens. "That’s because the robot is
directly linked to a real doctor who uses the robot as it ears, mouth and
eyes," says Louis Kavoussi, M.D., Hopkins professor of urology and
a pioneer in robotic surgery. "And patients love it. I was very surprised
how much our patients enjoy remote video interactions via the robot.

So far, Dr. Robot has visited 20 patients, Kavoussi says. "Generally,
the robot has been used to check up on patients in between when they would
normally see a physician. During these visits, we ask them about how they
are feeling, inspect their surgical sites to ensure they are healing properly,
and answer any questions they have."

from
Johns Hopkins Hospital