Covid Battle: ECoR Engages MeD Robo In Bhubaneswar Hospital To Assist Medical Staff

Bhubaneswar: Amid this Covid pandemic, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has come up with many initiatives to provide a boost to the ongoing fight against the virus. This time, the railway zone has engaged a robotic device - MeD ROBO - to assist hospital staff at ECoR Central Hospital in Mancheswar here for effective management of medical wards in serving medicines, food and remote assistance to the patients without any physical contact.

The idea behind the in-house innovation is that doctors, nurses and other medical staff will now be prevented from frequent wearing of PPE kits while entering the COVID wards for routine rounds. It will also help them stay away from the risk of contracting the infection.

The MeD ROBO is operated through a unique mobile app that has been developed as part of the innovation, supported by the WiFi facility. It supports sensor-based features, capable of reading patients’ body temperature and transmit the same for display on the mobile phone. In case of any abnormal high-temperature reading, the MeD ROBO is capable of raising an alarm to alert the hospital staff attending the patients. Further, there is a provision to sanitize the hand, a sanitizing box is provided with a timer to sanitize mobiles, wallets, newspapers and other items.

Such robots have been deployed in several hospitals across the country. Before being deployed for use in Central Railway Hospital at Mancheswar, the MeD ROBO underwent extensive trials and demonstrations.

MeD ROBO fabrication is done with a remote-controlled driving unit; stainless sheet, rod, square bars and acrylic sheet for body and trays; night vision Camera (2 MP HD) with 2 way-speaker; a circuit for sensor-based hand sanitizer unit, thermal scanner; timer-based 8 W UVC sanitizer box and 1 KVA backup power.

MeD ROBO features:

• Remote control driving unit for movement in all directions by monitoring physically or from mobile or desktop. Can be controlled from 30 - 40 ft. distance.
• Sensor-based hand sanitizer unit for hand-free hand sanitization
• Sensor-based thermal scanner for taking body temperature.
• UVC sanitizer box to sanitize personal belongings like mobile, spectacle, papers etc.
• 2-way device for communicating between patient and Doctor/nursing staff.
• A 360-degree movable camera that can be controlled through mobile or desktop.
• 2 stainless steel trays for distributing medicine and food etc.

This equipment is capable of carrying about 15 kg items and can be controlled by remote from 30-40 ft distance by seeing its position in a mobile, desktop, or physically. The camera has a speaker facility which will ensure doctors and nursing staff can interact with the patients and advise accordingly. The movement of the camera can also be controlled through mobile/desktop.

One sensor-based hand sanitizing unit is attached to the equipment so that the staff and patients can sanitize his/her hand before and after using Oximeter and other items. The available trays can be used for hand free distribution of food, tiffin, medicines and other items as per the requirement of Central Hospital at Bhubaneswar.