From the windows you can see the mountains of Monviso and inside the works of the master Ugo Nespolo decorate the rooms and common areas. Inaugurated last December 14, the Hospice Monviso of the IRCCS of Candiolo, dedicated to cancer patients, surrounds itself with beauty. But there is also much more: a highly trained team – from healthcare workers to administrative staff – and a lot of cutting-edge technology. No one should be surprised, therefore, if there is (also) a robot to visit patients. A unique “specimen” in Italy, programmed both for telemedicine and to reduce distances with families.
Doctor Robot
It moves autonomously avoiding obstacles and goes to the patient’s bed, allowing to monitor the vital parameters and to show the specialist on the other side of the screen details in very high resolution thanks to its 8K camera. The robot adopted by the Monviso Hospice is equipped, for example, with a stethoscope for auscultation and inputs for connecting medical instruments, such as an ultrasound system, transmitting audio, video and test results in real time. A “gem” of telemedicine, in short, which allows you to perform multi-specialist consultations, to reduce the time it would take to move healthcare personnel and to speed up decisions on treatments.
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“Family” function
What makes the robotic support of the Piedmontese center really special, however, is its “family” function, as defined by Antonino Sottile, Director General of the Piedmont Foundation for Oncology, which transforms it into a link with the outside world , connecting patients with distant family members. Although there is the possibility for a caregiver to stay next to the sick person (even at night, since each room is private and equipped with an extra bed), not all family members can move, perhaps because they are elderly or also sick, remember Subtle. “The” family “function was an original idea by Candiolo and compared to other communication supports it offers the intrinsic advantages of a certified medical instrument, with greater data transmission security and privacy control”.
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Humanity and technology
“We want to combine humanity, technology and competence in a single reality of assistance for people who challenge advanced stage cancer”, concludes Anna Sapino, Scientific Director of the IRCCS Foundation of Piedmont for Oncology in Candiolo: “In this sense the hospice represents only the beginning of a path dedicated to this type of patient. An additional space, in fact, was conceived in the ‘Cantiere Candiolo project, the development plan of the Institute which will make new spaces available for doctors, researchers and, above all, patients and their families ”. With an extra focus on psychological well-being.
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