ASTOUNDING ROBOTS FIGHT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 IN A U.S. HOSPITAL: “SPOT COULD USE THE DEVICE TO KILL VIRUS PARTICLES AND DISINFECT SURFACES”

Various countries’ healthcare providers have been selflessly providing their services to the patients who have contracted the novel coronavirus. In this journey, many of them, who were exposed to those tested positive have contracted the virus and some have even died. Apart from fighting the disease, these workers have been fighting harassment in some countries. While many countries are employing strict laws to curb this, U.S. has started replacing health care providers with a robot.

Boston Dynamic’s Spot robot is being used in a hospital at Boston, U.S. for two weeks. The robot has been successfully helping the health care providers at the hospital, by attending to the patients who have tested positive or have been suspected to have contracted the virus. Spot robot, has a custom made head, which can support an iPad or any screen in the same size, to help doctors interact with the patients.

“We’re listening to their (health care providers’) feedback on how Spot can do more but are encouraged by their reports that using the robot has helped their nursing staff minimize time exposed to potentially contagious patients,” the company said in a statement. This way, less number of healthcare professionals are exposed to the patients, making it a little easier to fight the pandemic.

The company is planning to expand further on this project, in order to assist in fighting the COVID-19 spread. For instance, they are working on equipping robots with abilities to disinfect areas, and kill the virus particles. “By attaching a UV-C light to the robot’s back, Spot could use the device to kill virus particles and disinfect surfaces in any unstructured space that needs support in decontamination — be it hospital tents or metro stations,” the company said. It added, “We are still in the early stages of developing this solution, but also see a number of existing mobile robotics providers who have implemented this technology specifically for hospitals.

Photo Credits: Boston Dynamics