An experimental project is launched to evaluate the benefits of the interaction between humanoid, patients and healthcare workers in the Fondazione Santa Lucia Irccs hospital in Rome
The challenge is not just: making robots capable of interpreting the environment, emotions and reactions of humans and performing tasks accordinglyIn particular, in the field of hospital neurorehabilitation, communication and cognitive assessment in care settings. To compete in this test they took the field the neurorehabilitation hospital Fondazione Santa Lucia Irccs and Oversonic, which specializes in the design and manufacture of cognitive humanoid robots for industry and healthcare.
The study of human-robot interaction
The robotic agent already exists: it is called RoBee (pictured) a humanoid robot previously used mainly in factories. The project will involve a team of 12 Foundation expertsmade up of neurorehabilitation specialists, doctors and researchers, and as many Oversonic engineers, which will conduct a process aimed at integrating RoBee into hospital operations. From the point of view of neuroscience interaction with an object capable of responding, interacting with the environment and behaving like a counterpart human in itself interesting explains the professor
Carlo Caltagironeneurologist and scientific director of the Santa Lucia.
Of the 5 projects that we activate with this collaborationin fact, three are related to this aspect. The other two are dedicated to translational aspects and involve the use of the robot in care environments
: both in the ward, in support of healthcare professionals and patients, and for cognitive exercises that are added to the therapies regularly provided in a neurorehabilitation hospital. The “social robots” are destined to become an integral part of our life
– says Fabio Puglia, president of Oversonic -. Unlike autonomous service robots, capable of carrying out a limited number of tasks without human supervision, these new systems exhibit advanced abilities of manipulating human-like objects and cognitive processes.
The phases of the project
The project will go through u
a series of experimental phases, lasting 12 monthswith different research objectives. In terms of neurorehabilitation, the humanoid robot will work alongside neuropsychologists and speech therapists
in cognitive neurorehabilitation sessions for people affected by stroke. They will come in particular developed exercises dedicated to attention, memory, language and executive functions. These are, in fact, the main cognitive functions that require a highly specialized hospital neurorehabilitation path following a lesion of the nervous system. The use of the robot will therefore be one of the first examples of robotics applied specifically to the cognitive component of patients, which often involves more disabling disabilities than motor disabilities, facilitating the return to an independent life.
Research in neuroscience
In the field of neuroscience research, they will be implemented some experiments aimed at analyzing the brain dynamics triggered by the interaction between humans and robots.
Finally, the functionality of RoBee will be tested in the ward, for support activities for healthcare professionals in favor of patients. (detection of vital parameters, verbal interaction and reporting of any emergencies) and patient care (management of appointments and support for patient relations with the outside world). I
The robot will certainly not replace the figure of the speech therapist or neuropsychologist, but we believe it can help him in having some exercises repeated and in stimulating the patient to commit even outside the therapy sessions, emphasizes Professor Caltagirone.
The humanoid aspect is a feature that facilitates the relationship between the human being and the robot: in this we believe the form factor, interactivity, height and some ability to move can help. In summary, the patient must perceive the robot as a valid support to continue the successes obtained in therapy. The experimentation we intend to start will verify whether this relationship is effectively established.
The difficulties to overcome
So many obstacles to face. As always happens in such cases it will be necessary to overcome the distrust that usually accompanies these innovations. Being inside an Irccs helps us: our operators are constantly in contact with technological and technical innovations. It is part of the staff training. For patients it will be easier because, as in any research protocol, participation in the trial is foreseen through informed consent
. On this point, I also note that the patients who come to the Foundation expect to find innovative technologies in our hospital and to be included in experimental protocols.
Real clinical trials will be carried out. We will give patients the opportunity to use the robot with the constant supervision of doctors and health personnel and we will verify its effectiveness. A useful and innovative aspect will have to do with the study of the neurobiological basis of the so-called “synthetic empathy”.
Experiments at an international level
At the international level, are there other trials started? With what results? Yes, not a totally new area, even if a solution as complex as RoBee is difficult to equate with other devices. The Santa Lucia Irccs Foundation itself, through the European ReMember-Me project followed by the psychologist and researcher Federica Pirasinvolved in the experimentation of robots for cognitive stimulation, it is a project linked to home care for the elderly
concludes Professor Caltagirone.
March 31, 2022 (change March 31, 2022 | 18:50)
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