It’s 3:14 a.m. and our neurologist Kerri Remmel is consulting with colleagues in Owensboro, Ky., on an emergency case that might be a stroke. In the past, that consultation might have taken place by phone. But now, thanks to a remote-controlled robot with cameras, a video screen and a stethoscope, Remmel can be virtually with the patient in the Owensboro Medical Health System Emergency Department, even though she really is in Louisville more than 100 miles away.
Cameras in the robot allow her to see the patient. A camera on her computer allows the patient to see her — displayed on a monitor atop the mobile robot.
Remmel maneuvers the robot to the patient’s bedside using a joystick on her computer and introduces herself to him. She take his history, does a full neurological exam, listens to chest sounds, reviews diagnostic imagery — even conducts a test for papillary light response by zooming in on his eyes as an emergency department team member shines a flashlight across them. Then, she and the OMHS team decide on the appropriate treatment.
OMHS was the first hospital to partner with us in November 2007. Now we have 11 partner hospitals. So far our partners use the robots primarily for neurological consultation, but some use them to care for sick infants. Their potential use is nearly limitless.
The high-tech devices help ensure that the patient gets the right diagnosis and the right treatment at the right time and the right place. They really are the next best thing to being there.
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