Recently, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) deployed a "robot" to monitor patients being treated in intensive care units. The hospital management felt that the robots could substitute for the deployment of multiple doctors and that they could be helpful during the treatment of infectious diseases as they would minimize human-to-human contact.

Dr. C. Nagaraja, RGICD director, revealed that a robot named "Dr. Tele Robot" has been procured under corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for Rs 30 lakh. He added that the robot is currently being used in the ICUs. He also revealed that this model of the robot was used in the RGICD during the pandemic as a pilot project.

Dr. Nagaraja explained that when COVID hit the city in 2020, RGICD was one of the hospitals designated to treat COVID patients. During the pilot project conducted in the COVID ward, each of the ICU beds was labeled with patient details, and the database was transferred to the command center. 

The robots were equipped to be commanded from the command center where a senior intensivist will be sitting in the command center to operate the robot. The robot has been designed in such a way that it can move from one bed to another. The senior doctor can also talk with patients via robot. 

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/health-it/robots-to-monitor-patients-in-icus/96255917 )