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Robotics in Simulated COVID-19 Patient Room for Health Care Worker Effector Tasks: Preliminary, Feasibility
W David Freeman1, Devang K Sanghavi1, Masood S Sarab2
1Department of Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Innovations, Quality & Outcomes
|February 1, 2021
Summary
Collaborative robots can perform medical tasks in simulated COVID-19 patient rooms, potentially reducing personal protective equipment (PPE) use and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure for healthcare workers.
Area of Science:
- Robotics in Healthcare
- Infectious Disease Control
- Intensive Care Medicine
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted healthcare systems and personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies.
- Healthcare workers face significant exposure risks to SARS-CoV-2 in intensive care unit (ICU) settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of using a collaborative robot system for performing medical tasks in a simulated ICU patient room.
- To assess the potential of robotic systems to reduce PPE usage and healthcare worker exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
Main Methods:
- A prospective proof-of-concept pilot study was conducted in a simulated ICU room for a COVID-19 patient.
- A collaborative robot was programmed to perform five discrete medical tasks, including adjusting IV pole alerts, ventilator knobs, ICU monitor alerts, oxygen flow, and nurse call buttons.
- Feasibility was defined as successful robotic task completion.
Main Results:
- Programming the robot for each task required a de novo training period of 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Five simple effector task experiments were successfully completed robotically within 30 days.
- Selected collaborative robotic effector tasks demonstrated feasibility in a simulated ICU environment.
Conclusions:
- Collaborative robotic systems show promise for performing essential tasks in simulated COVID-19 ICU patient rooms.
- This robotic approach could theoretically decrease PPE consumption and reduce SARS-CoV-2 exposure risks for healthcare staff.
- Further validation and integration studies, including healthcare worker training, are necessary for clinical application.