Robot helps keep medical workers safe from coronavirus

 

Doctor Lê Ngọc Lâm from Sa Đéc General Hospital in Đồng Tháp Province with his robot which is designed to deliver food and medicines to patients in the hospital's COVID-19 quarantine. — VNA./VNS Photo Chương Đài

ĐỒNG THÁP — As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to spread nationwide, it’s safer if human-to-human contact is minimised.

To help in this regard, Lê Ngọc Lâm, a doctor from Sa Đéc General Hospital in the southern province of Đồng Tháp, has successfully created a robot to support care services for patients.

The robot is designed to deliver meals and medicines to quarantined individuals in the hospital, which is currently treating four positive cases.

Lâm said it took him nearly a week to research and put the robot into use, helping ease workload and reduce cross-infection risks in the hospital.

It's like having a medical worker without problems related to infection, he said.

The robot is able to move in a 40m-radius and carry up to 10kg. It costs less than VNĐ2 million (US$85).

The rechargeable battery can be used continuously for six hours.

It allows the hospital to limit the amount of direct contact clinical staff have with patients, thus reducing the risk of infection.

The robot includes a speaker to inform patients inside the room to go out to get food or medicine.

The small robot can easily move in narrow spaces.

In early designs, the start button was located on the body of the device, causing difficulties for the user, according to Lâm.

This button is now on the remote control.

Robots are helping relieve the pressure on health workers treating coronavirus victims, said Nguyễn Lâm Thái Thuận, director of the provincial Health Department.

Medical staff can care for their patients in quarantine without direct contact, reducing any cross-infection risks in the hospital, he said.

Lâm received a certificate of merit from the provincial Health Department for his outstanding achievements in research and successfully manufacturing this delivery robot.

During 17 years of working in the health sector, doctor Lâm has contributed many useful initiatives in science and technology in Đồng Tháp Province and was honoured at the National Science and Technology Innovation Awards 2012-13.

Lâm's robot is one machine among several created by employees in the health sector to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, a medical worker from the Central Hospital in Huế City, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, also transformed a toy car into a special robot capable of bringing food and medicine to COVID-19 patients in quarantine. — VNS