In an era increasingly shaped by the need for remote and socially distanced interactions, the integration of robots into healthcare settings presents a compelling solution. The ability of robots to facilitate certain healthcare interactions offers a promising avenue for minimizing direct contact between healthcare professionals and patients, particularly those who are ill. However, a critical question remains: how receptive are patients to the idea of a robot entering the examination room in place of a human doctor?
To address this vital question, researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a groundbreaking study to gauge patient reactions to robotic healthcare interactions. Their findings, stemming from research carried out in the emergency department of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, reveal that the vast majority of patients found interacting with a healthcare provider via a video screen mounted on a robot to be remarkably similar to a traditional, in-person consultation with a healthcare worker. This suggests a significant shift in patient perception and openness towards embracing technology in medical care.
“We are actively engaged in developing robots that can play a crucial role in delivering care, with the primary goal of enhancing safety for both patients and our dedicated healthcare workforce. The encouraging results of this study reinforce our belief that individuals are not only ready but also willing to engage with us in these innovative approaches,” states Dr. Giovanni Traverso, an MIT assistant professor of mechanical engineering, a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the senior author of the published research.
Expanding beyond the immediate study environment, the researchers also conducted a broader online survey across the nation. The results from this larger sample mirrored the initial findings, indicating that a significant portion of the population is not only open to robots assisting with initial patient triage but also comfortable with robots performing minor medical procedures, such as administering nasal swabs for diagnostic testing.
Dr. Peter Chai, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a research affiliate within Dr. Traverso’s lab, is the lead author of the study, which has been published in JAMA Network Open, highlighting the growing acceptance and potential of Robot Doctors in modern healthcare.
Robot-Assisted Triage: A New Frontier in Emergency Care
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 served as a catalyst, accelerating the exploration of innovative strategies to mitigate close interactions between potentially contagious patients and healthcare providers. In response to this urgent need, Dr. Traverso and his team collaborated with Boston Dynamics, a leader in robotics, to develop a mobile robot capable of interacting with patients in emergency department waiting areas. These sophisticated robots were equipped with an array of sensors designed to accurately measure vital signs, including essential indicators such as skin temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation. Furthermore, to facilitate real-time communication, the robots were integrated with iPads, enabling seamless remote video consultations with healthcare professionals.
Demonstration of a Boston Dynamics Spot robot equipped with an iPad for remote healthcare interaction, as used in the MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital study.
This innovative deployment of robotics in healthcare offers a dual benefit: it significantly reduces the risk of Covid-19 exposure for healthcare workers and aids in the conservation of precious personal protective equipment (PPE), which was often in short supply during peak pandemic periods. However, a fundamental question persisted: would patients readily accept this technologically mediated form of interaction with their healthcare providers?
“As engineers, we often focus on developing technological solutions, but their successful implementation hinges on public acceptance. If people are not comfortable adopting these advancements, their potential impact is limited,” Dr. Traverso explains. “This study was specifically designed to delve into this aspect, to ascertain the public’s receptiveness to healthcare solutions like robot-assisted interactions.”
The research team initiated their investigation with a comprehensive nationwide survey involving approximately 1,000 participants. Collaborating with YouGov, a reputable market research firm, they formulated questions aimed at evaluating the public’s comfort level with robots in various healthcare roles. The survey explored scenarios ranging from robots performing initial triage assessments to undertaking more involved tasks, such as administering nasal swabs, inserting catheters, or even assisting in patient repositioning in beds. The overall consensus from the survey respondents indicated a general openness and acceptance towards robots participating in these diverse aspects of healthcare delivery.
Following the encouraging survey results, the researchers moved to a real-world testing phase, deploying one of their robot prototypes within the emergency department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital during the spring of the previous year, a period when Massachusetts was experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases. Fifty-one patients in the waiting room or triage tent were approached and invited to participate in the study, with 41 agreeing to engage with the robotic system. These participants underwent symptom interviews via video conferencing, facilitated by an iPad mounted on a quadruped, dog-like robot developed by Boston Dynamics. Remarkably, over 90 percent of the patients who interacted with the robot reported satisfaction with the robotic system, highlighting the positive patient experience.
“For the specific purpose of gathering initial triage information, patients perceived the robot-mediated interaction as being comparable to a conventional conversation with a human healthcare professional,” notes Dr. Chai.
Expanding the Role of Robotic Assistants in Medical Procedures
The compelling data emerging from this study strongly suggests the value of further investment in the development of robots capable of executing procedures that currently demand significant human effort and resources. One such area is patient repositioning, particularly “proning” for Covid-19 patients, a technique that involves turning patients onto their stomachs to improve blood oxygen levels and ease breathing. Currently, this procedure requires a team of healthcare professionals to perform safely. Another labor-intensive task is the administration of Covid-19 tests, which consumes considerable time and personnel resources. If robots could effectively assist with tasks like nasal swabbing, healthcare workers could be redeployed to focus on other critical aspects of patient care.
“The surprisingly high level of acceptance towards robots performing nasal swabs among the survey participants is particularly noteworthy. It opens up exciting avenues for engineering efforts focused on developing and implementing these types of robotic systems in healthcare settings,” Dr. Chai points out.
The MIT research team is actively continuing their work, focusing on refining sensors for remote vital sign monitoring and integrating these advanced systems into smaller, more adaptable robots. Their vision includes deploying these enhanced robotic assistants in a variety of healthcare environments, from field hospitals to ambulances, extending the reach and impact of robot doctors in diverse medical scenarios.
Additional contributors to this research paper include Farah Dadabhoy, Hen-wei Huang, Jacqueline Chu, Annie Feng, Hien Le, Joy Collins, Marco da Silva, Marc Raibert, Chin Hur, and Edward Boyer. The project received funding from esteemed organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the Hans and Mavis Lopater Psychosocial Foundation, e-ink corporation, the Karl Van Tassel (1925) Career Development Professorship, MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Gastroenterology, underscoring the collaborative and multi-faceted support for advancing the field of robot doctors and AI in healthcare.
