At first glance, Aphel appears as a graceful humanoid robot capable of carrying out a series of activities: moving, speaking, interacting with people and other machines. However, the most authentic heart of this technological innovation does not lie in the robot itself, but in the artificial intelligence platform that regulates its operation.
Moreover, as it did for two other complex integrated systems (i.e. OPTIP and MISTRAL), Predict has decided to create a web showcase in Italian and English for Aphel which can be consulted at the following link www.aphel.it. Thanks to the new website that we advise you to consult for further information, the Apulian company intends to explain this sophisticated innovation system primarily to professionals, by proposing a graphic animation video on the home page which illustrates an application scenario.
Aphel is equipped with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system which, through the use of a humanoid robot, allows you to support patients and healthcare personnel in streamlining ward activities, by learning from and refining their experiences as well as by adapting them to the interlocutors’ diverse stimuli.
Currently the system has been implemented in two operating areas: NURSE ASSISTANT and PEDIATRIC.
To understand what is meant by an integrated robot / artificial intelligence system, imagine having to go to a pediatric hospital ward with the most restless of your children to carry out a diagnostic examination. Now assume that you are welcomed into the waiting room by a nice robot which, in addition to entertaining the child with a series of activities and games (to let him forget his little “tum-tum”), will also interact with the parent by providing information and acting as support to the nursing work, which would otherwise be irreplaceable.
Aphel can perform simple tasks aimed at shortening waiting times by:
- reducing the so-called ‘red tape’;
- accompanying the patient to the destination ward;
- entertaining the patient;
- freeing the nursing staff from a series of other routine activities in favor of a stronger relationship with the patient.
The robot moves independently within the hospital spaces. By means of facial recognition software, it is able to identify the new patient, approach him, send him greetings and ask questions, collect information for the first medical history and, at the end of the course, administer the customer satisfaction questionnaire. The “assistant robot” literally follows the path of the patients in the health facility step by step, by accompanying them from their admission to the clinics.
From the patient’s admission to the clinic until the collection of his/her satisfaction questionnaire at the end of the health service, Aphel significantly improves the quality of hospitalization and the patient’s experience in general.
It works in a team with healthcare professionals and represents a precious support for them:
- It welcomes patients by providing useful information;
- It interacts with intelligence and empathy, with its voice, its “facial” expression and its movements;
- It autonomously accompanies patients through wards or outpatient clinics;
- It stays with patients during tests involving exposure to radiation sources and isolation or in case of remote medical consultations;
- It supervises patients in wards by streaming images;
- It entertains the little ones, even with videos and music, by interacting with them and tuning in to their personal tastes;
- It broadcasts educational videos on various hospital services;
- It is online with other robots to improve the quality of services;
- It measures patient satisfaction, also through voice interaction, and analyzes performance over time.
It can act effectively in departments in which the human being can come across contamination such as in the wards where patients suffering from infectious diseases are hospitalized or in the “hot zone” of the nuclear medicine wards.
Aphel is also able to achieve some complementary objectives: to increase the perceived quality of the health service, to create a positive atmosphere in the waiting rooms by reducing unproductive times, to develop an empathic human-machine relationship.
With Aphel the future of healthcare is present. And it smiles with us.
