MediTel

2022: Robot Announcement

In November 2022, the University of Sheffield created robots capable of providing medical care to military personnel during hostilities.

Researchers from the university's Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering and the Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing (AMRC) have developed a remotely controlled robotic system that will be able to conduct medical triage of a patient on the battlefield.

Britain has created robots that treat soldiers on the battlefield

The system will then remotely send photo and video footage of the identified injuries to trained medics, and will also be able to carry out observations such as measuring patient temperature, blood pressure, taking a swab from the mouth and a blood sample from the hand.

The system will allow trained medics to examine a patient using a virtual reality (VR) headset and control the robot with state-of-the-art technology already used in robotic surgery. The project is led by Professor Sanya Dogramaji from the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield and David King, Head of Digital Design at the University of Sheffield AMRC.

Dogramaji said: "The development of a remotely controlled robotic system will significantly improve safety, reducing the number of hazards to which frontline troops are exposed. Our platform uses the latest technology and integrates it in a way that hasn't been implemented beforehand. "

AMRC is leading the development of a medical telesystem platform (MediTel), which is a project of an unmanned ground vehicle with an operator station designed for use in remote medical triage, as well as the integration of robotics, tactile and immersive technologies.

Speaking about the involvement of AMRC, David King said: "The MediTel project is designed to help defence and security services medical staff remotely triage and treat the injured. MediTel will reduce the risk to medical staff by limiting their exposure to potential hazards and at the same time improve the chances of survival for the affected person. "

The project also involves partners and providers, including I3DRobotics and clinical consultants in emergency medicine. The project is funded by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) through the Defense and Security Accelerator program.^[1]

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