Cairo: A team of researchers at the Egyptian Ain Shams University this week launched a “robot nurse” with high capabilities, who speaks Arabic and can recognize the faces of doctors and nurses.
The robotic nurse was named “Shams” because it is a common Arabic feminine name and is also part of the university’s name.
University president Mahmoud Al-Matini said in a statement to Sada Al-Balad channel that the invention of the robot—Shams at the university is a research project for a number of researchers in the faculty of computers and information, noting that “the idea was presented to him in 2020 and he was excited about it.”
The idea of a robotic nurse has developed due to the COVID pandemic and preventive measures to thwart the spread of the COVID-19, said Mahmoud Al-Matini.
He pointed out Shams can take and deliver lab samples and deliver medications to patients, as well as facilitate tele-health appointments between patients and doctors.
He revealed that the cost of the project does not exceed one million pounds, and the work team is of different ages, including recent graduates, noting that the task took ten months.
Nagwa Badr, dean of the faculty of computers and information told the media that Shams robot can take the necessary samples for analysis and deliver them to the laboratory, bring the drug from the pharmacy and give it to the patient, and can also carry out communication between the patient and the treating doctor through the video call feature. It also performs sterilization operations.