Trina — which stands for Tele-Robotic Intelligent Nursing Assistant — is a first-generation nursing robot that is being built by a collaboration of Duke University’s engineering and nursing students and staff. Since the Ebola outbreak in 2014, new technologies, including robots, are being tested as alternatives to human contact to diminish risks for providers as they care for patients with infectious diseases. Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, Duke officials started working on the $85,000 robot about a year-and-a-half ago.
Trina looks like a science-fiction cyborg with a dash of Rosie the housecleaning robot from “The Jetsons.” Its face is a tablet, which shows its human operator, like on Skype. On its head sits a gray wig, topped with a surgical cap. In a simulation lab in Duke University’s School of Nursing, Trina’s tasks included delivering a red cup, a bowl, pills, and a stethoscope to a pretend patient. Although robots are commonly used in surgery to help doctors perform tasks with precision and flexibility, the machines don’t move about the room and perform tasks like preparing drinks or adjusting an oxygen mask.
“We are not trying to replace nurses,” said Margie Molloy, an assistant nursing professor, but trying to create a safer environment for healthcare providers. When healthcare providers work with patients infected with diseases like Ebola, they dress in multiple layers of protective clothing, wipe everything down with bleach, and utilize multiple rooms. Duke officials are hoping to improve the process with the remote-controlled Trina robot that nurses and doctors can navigate — in another room — and direct to move linens, take vital signs, and pass food and medications to an infectious patient.
Source: “Duke Officials Test, Refine Robotic Nurse” by Virginia Bridges, Durham News, November 16, 2016.