LISA at the UST Hospital. Image: courtesy of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital Department of Medical Education and Research
MANILA, Philippines—In an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an engineer from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) invented an assistant robot designed to minimize physical contact between COVID-19 patients and hospital staffers.
The manual Logistic Indoor Service Assistance (LISA) telepresence robot is equipped with a smart tablet and has a mobile base that can be controlled remotely, the UST Hospital Department of Medical Education and Research said on Facebook.
The tablet is included to allow communication between patients and health workers via internet-based platforms such as Skype, Viber, and FaceTime.
LISA also has a compartment box that allows the delivery of medicines to conscious and stable patients.
“LISA was deployed for a pilot run on April 9 at the UST Hospital,” the UST Hospital Department of Medical Education and Research said on Facebook.
Engineer Anthony James Bautista, the inventor, said in an interview with ANC that despite the good feedback from doctors who tested LISA, the robot is still set to be modified. For one, he specified that the wheels still need some improvements to allow for smoother navigation.
Bautista noted that one of the challenges he faced in creating LISA was being limited with the needed components due to the enhanced community quarantine.
“I only used yung mga (the) readily available components in my laboratory and that is where we came up with this design of the LISA robot,” he said in the interview.
He noted, however, that some suppliers have already pledged to provide him and his team the needed components while the Department of Science and Technology has given its support for the project.
Bautista is working with Dr. Rodrigo Santos of the Pasig Doctor’s Medical Center, who serves as a consultant.