Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. of Korea has just received a US patent for a ‘Vital sign measurement robot and control method thereof’.
The company’s humanoid(ish) walking robot can not only measure a patient’s basic vital signs, (pulse rate, etc) but can also perform a series of complex medical examinations.
Here he/she/it is performing an electroencephalography (EEG) procedure on a patient.
“A vital sign measurement robot which automatically measures vital signs, and a control method thereof. The vital sign measurement robot includes an input unit to receive vital sign measurement instructions, an image recognition unit to detect a distance between the robot and a person, vital signs of whom are to be measured, and a measurement portion of the body of the person, when the vital sign measurement instructions are received, a control unit to move electrodes provided on hands so as to locate the electrodes at the measurement portion of the body of the person, when the distance between the robot and the person and the measurement portion of the body of the person are detected, and a vital sign measurement unit to measure a vital sign, when the electrodes are located at the measurement portion of the body of the person.“
US patent 9,101,324, August 11, 2015. The inventors are:
Park; Heum Yong (Suwon-si, KR), Kim; Yong Jae (Seoul, KR), Lee; Youn Baek (Suwon-si, KR), Kim; Jeong Hun (Suwon-si, KR), Roh; Kyung Shik (Seongnam-si, KR), Kwon; Young Do (Yongin-si, KR)