The Journal of mHealth Vol 1 Issue 6 (Dec 2014) | Page 37

Could Robotic Nurses Help in the Fight Against Ebola?

Could Robotic Nurses Help in the
Fight Against Ebola?

Robotic healthcare technologies are
about to get what may be their biggest
and most important showcasing opportunity in the battle to fight Ebola. 

America’s brightest technological minds
have begun brainstorming with healthcare and relief workers to consider the
role that autonomous machines might
play in combating the Ebola crisis. These
new technologies may not be to everyone’s taste. The aim, to put it bluntly, is
to industrialise human care. But under
discussion is also how to augment it - by
developing autonomous systems to not
only look after those afflicted, but to also
alleviate their suffering and provide protection for their carers.

The delivery of food and medicine to the
sick, the decontamination of equipment,
the burial of the dead, these and many
other applications could - theoretically be carried out through telepresence and
robotics. How to implement, organise
and deploy such technologies with sensitivity has been the subject of a series of
conventions across the US, part-organised by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

 rom a technological standpoint, the best
way to fight Ebola is for the healthy to
distance themselves from those who
have contracted the disease, this means
removing human interaction in the care
of the sick. But the prospect of being
isolated in quarantine is also preventing
people from seeking help, according to
Taskin Padir, an assistant professor of
robotics engineering and electrical and
computer engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), one of the convention’s organisers.

“Companionship through telepresence
could be a tool to maintain quarantine
conditions,” says Padir. “People are
afraid to show up to hospitals because
they'll be put in quarantine, and you're
left alone and you're away from loved
ones. Anything we can do to improve
the situation in quarantine, we are open
to exploring.”

Care providers currently have a 30-step
process to follow, in order protect them,
prior to contact with someone who has
contracted the disease. Robots could
augment this by provide interactive
checklists—similar to those used by air-

craft pilots for take-off and landing—to
medical workers who are putting on and
removing safety equipment.

They could also act as interpreters
between doctors and Ebola sufferers. 

The industry is understandably reluctant
to ride on the coat tails of disaster, but
the very scale of the Ebola crisis could
see the advancement of technologies
fast-tracked. 

For instance, US company Xenex which
produces robots with ultraviolet light to
destroying a virus’ or bacteria’s DNA
is currently in discussions with the US
Department of Defence and several
relief organisations about deploying the
systems to Africa. The company is also
talking with several major airlines about
disinfecting cabins. Xenex robots are
already in use in over 250 US hospitals. 

But there is much work to be done and
research efforts begun now may not bear
fruit until the next epidemic, according
to a number of the researchers.

Continued on page 36

The Journal of mHealth

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