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Friday, August 28, 2009

Robotic Nurse Assistant to Ferry Patients Around Hospital Wards

Filed under: etc.

riba_2.jpg
The Japanese are gearing up for a time when there are more elderly folks needing assistance than there are young whippersnappers available to do the choirs. The RIBA, or Robot for Interactive Body Assistance, is a 400 pound (180 kilos) device designed by engineers at the RIKEN institute and Tokai Rubber Industries to carry people up to 135 pounds (61 kilos) between hospital beds, wheelchairs, and even toilets. The device is full of tactile sensors to make carrying safe and comfortable for patients, and it can even recognize faces and be commanded via voice to perform basic tasks. The only problems, from our point of view, is the inadequacy of this robot of serving the hefty average American and the menacing demeanor of what looks like a space bear without the personality of Chewbacca.

Here's a demo video of the RIBA...

Link: Google translation of Japanese info page about the RIBA...

More from the Pink Tentacle...

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replies: 1 comments
Open comments are not moderated, although abusive and vulgar remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Medgadget.com. Please consult our disclaimer.

Robots are everywhere. Just yesterday I wrote about CPT Codes for billing on home robots with Medicare/Medicaid approval. The codes also cover a number of tele-health applications which MDs can bill for as well, this has been such a murky area to get paid on.

One company is banking on it with their CareBot Robot, which you probably have written about here too. Anyway the codes are coming for home medical devices and services rendered by MDs when connecting for consulting or getting information.

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-cpt-codes-billing-codes-for-robot.html


Posted by: MedicalQuack
on August 28, 2009 04:38 PM GMT

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