A hospital-based in Bengaluru has decided to incorporate advanced technology to screen people for COVID-19 before they are allowed to meet a human doctor.
This development comes after the various hospitals in the country were shut down while screening people for COVID-19. As a result, the hospitals are wary of admitting patients or even screening them and in some cases, have also turned them away. To avoid this, Fortis Hospital has incorporated advanced technology.
The Fortis Hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka will now have robots that will carry out the initial screening of the patients which was earlier done by the doctors. The robots are named Mitra and Mitri. The Mitra and Mitri robots will now screen people who come to the hospital for a check-up for the COVID-19.
Mitra and Mitri Robot takes over COVID-19 screening
The job of Mitra’s robot is quite simple. The robot asks 5 questions that range from the name of the patient to their telephone number. It checks the patient’s body temperature and asks if they are suffering from fever. Later, it asks if they are suffering from any other diseases. Once Mitra is satisfied with the details provided by the patient, it will ask them to meet the person at the reception. If it is suspected of any COVID-19 complication, the patients will be directed to the Mitri robot.
The second robot, Mitri, screens the patient for COVID-19 symptoms and flu-like symptoms and thereafter arranges a video call with the human doctor issuing a slip to the patient to visit the same doctor.
Dr. A Nagasubramaniam, Medical Doctor at the Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta road, informed media that the step is taken by the hospital to provide safety to the healthcare staff and to protect their health. He said,
“This barrier screening will help both – the health care workers, patients – and simultaneously give confidence to all in the system. There is absolutely no close contact here and the aim is to adopt technology and showcase it in the best possible way, and I hope we will be successful in this.”
Bengaluru has recorded a total of 145 cases of coronavirus, out of which 73 have recovered completely. 5 people have died because of COVID-19 and there are 67 active cases in the city.
Source: The Times of India
