Garmish-Parton Kirchen: The white humanoid “Garmy” doesn’t look much different from a normal robot – it stands on a platform with wheels and is equipped with a black screen with two blue circles that act as eyes. are doing, are connected.
But Guenter Steinbach, a 78-year-old retired German doctor, said: “For me this robot is a dream.”
Heat is not only able to diagnose patients, but it can also provide care and treatment. Or at least, that’s the plan.
Garmi is the product of a new field called geriatrics, a field that uses advanced technologies such as robotics, IT and 3D technology for geriatrics, gerontology and nursing.
About a dozen scientists at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence created the heat with the help of medical experts like Steinbach.
Part of the Technical University of Munich, the institute bases its unit specializing in geriatrics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a ski resort with one of the highest concentrations of elderly people in Germany.
Europe’s most populous country is itself one of the fastest aging societies in the world.
With the number of people in need of care increasing rapidly and 670,000 care posts in Germany unfilled by 2050, researchers are racing to have robots that can replace nurses, caregivers and doctors today. can handle some of the tasks performed by
“We have ATMs where we can get cash today. We can imagine that one day, based on the same model, people can come to a kind of technology center to get their medical check-up done. ” said Abdul Jalil Nasri, 43, lab
Doctors can then review the results of the robot’s diagnosis remotely, which can be especially valuable for people living in remote communities.
Alternatively, the machine could offer a more personalized service at home or in a care home — by serving food, opening a water bottle, calling for help in the event of a fall or video calling with family and friends. By arranging
We must get there
In the Garmisch laboratory, Steinebach sat at a table equipped with three screens and a joystick as he prepared to test the robot’s progress.
At the other end of the room, a researcher designated as the test model takes his place in front of the heat, which produces a stethoscope on his chest – an action that Steinbach directed remotely with a joystick.
Medical data is instantly displayed on the doctor’s screen.
“Imagine if that was the case in my old practice,” Steinbach said, moving the joystick.
Apart from the retired doctor, other medical practitioners also regularly visit the lab to offer their ideas and feedback on the robot.
“It’s like a three-year-old child. We have to teach him everything,” Nesri said.
It’s anyone’s guess when heat may be produced on a commercial scale.
But Nasiri believes that “we must get there, the data is clear that it is necessary”.
“From 2030, we should be able to integrate this kind of technology into our society.”
Question of trust
And if it is indeed deployed one day, one of the project’s partners, residents of the Sankt Vincents retirement home in Garmisch, will likely see the heat creeping into the corridors.
Just thinking about it made Mrs. Rohrer, 74, who lives in the house, smile.
“There are things that a robot can do, for example, serve a drink or bring food,” he said as the house’s director, Eva Peskovic, applied her nails.
Pevskovic, who contends with staff shortages on a daily basis, said she did not expect robots to replace health workers.
“But it might allow our staff to spend a little more time with the residents,” he said.
For Naceri’s team, a major challenge is not technical, medical or financial.
Rather, it remains to be seen whether most patients will accept the robot.
He said they need to trust the robot. “They need to be able to use it like we use smartphones today.”
