The robot stands approximately the height that a human would and has technology inside to allow it to self navigate. The technology is designed to support remote Doctor and patient consultations allowing the physician to be where he’s needed to be at the right time. The robot is packed with sensors allowing it to move around without bumping into people or other objects.

The system has an iPad interface that allows the doctor to communicate with staff and patients. With the FDA granting approval for the robot to be used in hospitals, it can now be used for active patient monitoring in pre-operative, peri-operative, and postsurgical settings. I wonder if this means on-call doctors might not have to rush back into the hospital when the phone rings if one of these robots is available.

The FDA approval includes clearances to work in the cardiovascular, neurological, prenatal, psychological, and critical care areas. The robot has an integrated monitor and web cam and allows the remotely operating physician to access patient information using Wi-Fi. It also has a built-in stethoscope allowing the doctor to perform ears on assessments from a distance. The robot is far from cheap with previous estimates that between $4000 and $6000 monthly to operate.

[via Science World Report]

It could also end up being a big breakthrough for doctors and caregivers who previously didn’t have any control over whether or not their patients actually followed their instructions. The fact of the matter is that no one actually likes taking pills, and sometimes we choose to ignore instructions that tell us how much to take and when, precisely, to take it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that ignoring those instructions can lead to some pretty serious problems, so now doctors have a way of ensuring that their patients are doing what they should be.

Proteus says that the sensor can be “integrated into an inert pill or other ingested products, such as pharmaceuticals,” and is powered by those wonderful fluids you have sloshing around in your stomach. Once the sensor has been ingested, it sends a signal to a patch worn on the skin, telling it the exact time you took your medicine. That information is then relayed to a smartphone app, allowing caregivers to monitor your (hopefully stellar) medicine habits. Once the sensor has done its thing, it dissolves right there in your stomach. This all happens with the patient’s consent of course, so you don’t need to worry about someone sticking microchips in your pills without telling you (or do you?).

It sounds like a great idea in theory, but at the moment, there’s no word on when this technology will hit the market. Still, expect to hear more about this soon, as insurance companies will likely eat this technology up. After all, they’d raise your premiums in a heartbeat if they discovered you weren’t regularly taking your meds, so plan on this being a big hit with them.

[via Engadget]

At issue is a Colorado clinic which performs a non-surgical treatment called Regenexx-SD. It’s used for patients who have joint or bone pain, and the process involves using adult stem cells. Other than that, no drugs are used so the clinic has been operating without the stringent restrictions in place by the FDA. But now the FDA is arguing that stem cells, which exist in every living human, are drugs and thus subject to government regulation.

What is particularly cumbersome for the clinic is if the FDA has authority over the procedure, it has to be classified as interstate commerce, which ends up causing a lot of bureaucratic hullabaloo. The next step here is in court, where it will actually be up to the judicial process to decide whether or not something that resides in every human being can be subject to government intervention. How does that make you feel?

[via ANH-USA]