
Robots roll and fly to assist health care system
Transcript
Host Amber Smith: Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, invites you to be The Informed Patient, with the podcast that features experts from Central New York's only academic medical center. I'm your host, Amber Smith.
We've talked previously about how more and more surgeons are using robots as assistants in a variety of operations, but robots have quietly assumed other important jobs in health care, and in fact, they have their own department, the autonomous machines department. Today I am talking with Upstate's director of that department, Steve Roberts, and Jeff Causey of Causey Aviation. Welcome to "The Informed Patient," both of you.
Steve Roberts: Thank you for having us, Amber. Appreciate the time.
Jeff Causey: Thank you, Amber. We're very happy to be here.
Host Amber Smith: The autonomous machines department focuses on emerging and innovative health care technologies, including mobile robots and drones.
First, let's talk about the mobile robots. How many does Upstate have? Mr. Roberts?
Steve Roberts: Currently, Upstate has 10 robots that are on-site and purchased, and we have four more that will be here and implemented by the end of the year. So currently, a fleet of 10 robots doing different functions throughout the hospital.
Host Amber Smith: So they're throughout the hospital. Is there one location for them, or are they assigned to different floors or different units?
Steve Roberts: They are assigned to different units. That was one of the things we struggled with in the beginning, is, where do you house a fleet of robots? And what we found out is having them in the department that uses them frequently or sends them out is probably the most efficient way to have them deployed throughout the hospital.
So we have them located in pharmacy, food and nutrition, distribution and even on nursing units.
Host Amber Smith: So can you give us some examples of tasks that these robots do?
Steve Roberts: Sure. The reason we even introduced the robots into the environment was to really help out with staffing issues and sort of delays in getting deliveries throughout the hospital.
As you can imagine, it's a pretty big facility, and having people running around delivering things can be quite time consuming, so the robots will do things like deliver food trays or pick up the trays when people are done, deliver pharmaceuticals and even supplies to nursing floors.
Host Amber Smith: So how do they know where to go to deliver whatever they're delivering?
Steve Roberts: So one of the things we did when we got the TUGs (the robots, which remind some people of tugboats) is really spend a lot of time on getting the infrastructure and the environment set up.
So there's computers that manage sort of the maps that are used. There's technology we use to integrate with the elevators. And what we did in the beginning is, we created a very detailed map of each floor, and then made maps or routes throughout the hospital that the TUGs will travel on.
And then when somebody dispatches a TUG, they'll pick the starting and ending location, and the TUG will know the path that it needs to take between those locations. If it encounters an obstacle, it does have technology to either stop or slow down or take appropriate action.
Host Amber Smith: So these robots might encounter patients, or I should say the patients might encounter a robot on its way to wherever it's headed.
Steve Roberts: That's correct. They're going throughout the hospital. We did try to find routes that minimize interactions with patients, but certainly there is the opportunity to see these in the hospital and certainly for staff. So the robots are designed to be able to interact in a very dynamic environment, with lots of sensors and technology to make sure they don't run into people or go down stairwells or do things that they're not supposed to do.
Host Amber Smith: So how has the staff received the robots? Do they like them?
Steve Roberts: With any new technology, there's a lot of unknown with it and sometimes. Maybe there's fear. Some people get excited about it. So we've really seen all different ranges of acceptance and attitudes around them.
Most of the time, if it's people that are maybe afraid of them, we can explain to them how they work. I think it puts them at ease a little bit. But generally they're very, very well accepted in the environment. They've made over 25,000 deliveries, and over 4,000 miles of distance that has been traveled with the group of TUGs that we have operating right now.
So there is generally a wide acceptance to them, but there are situations that we have to deal with or work with people. but generally they're very well received.
Host Amber Smith: I should have you describe what these look like because people might be imagining "The Jetsons" (Space Age cartoon show) and that robot maid they had. These don't look like people, right?
Steve Roberts: No, these don't look like people. They look like, one of them looks like, a little mobile, I'll say filing cabinet. It's very rectangular. It's on wheels. It does have drawers. It's got a keypad you can interact with. It looks pretty much like a little cart you might push around, but it just goes by itself, which is kind of weird to see coming down the hallway, to be quite honest.
And then we have another TUG that looks like a small, maybe forklift or a tiny truck. And what that does is it allows it to interact with different types of carts, for example, a food cart, so it can take the food cart up, leave it in the nursing unit, come back down, do some other work, and then go back and get it when it's done.
So they look differently depending on the mission that they have, but typically they're not really humanoid looking. They do talk, but they don't converse, or interact with you, that way.
Host Amber Smith: And do they communicate?
Steve Roberts: Yeah.
Host Amber Smith: Do they have a way of beeping or making noises?
Steve Roberts: Yeah, they have ways of communicating.
We have some control over what that looks like, but it will tell you when it arrives at a location. It will beep if it gets stuck or doesn't know what to do.
So there are different things that we can have it say and different noises that it does make throughout the trip.
Host Amber Smith: This is Upstate's "the Informed Patient" podcast. I'm your host, Amber Smith.
I'm talking with Steve Roberts -- he's the director of Upstate's autonomous machines department -- and Jeff Causey -- he's the founder and CEO of Causey Aviation.
Upstate drones have been in the news lately, but let's start at the beginning. When did Upstate start experimenting with the use of drones?
Steve Roberts: We started the program probably in the beginning of 2020, or actually at the end of 2019. And then, when COVID hit, it actually gave the program a little bit of a spark. We had a group of people that came up and helped us with the program, and we were trying to set up the delivery of COVID test kits and potentially the delivery of specimens. So that really initiated the program.
And in the beginning we found out that there are lots of regulations, lots of things you need to do to operate these safely, and it's taking us several years, but we've continued to work at it, and about a year or so into the program, we ran into Jeff Causey from Causey Aviation Unmanned, who has what they call a 135, which is a commercially run drone operation with special FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) designation. And we've partnered with him to do some of our daily operations that we're currently performing.
Host Amber Smith: So, Mr. Causey, are you the person who flies the drone?
Jeff Causey: Thankfully, no. We have very, very, well qualified team members that do this all the time and have special certification from the FAA, as well as our own internal training, and they're dedicated to fulfilling Upstate's mission every day.
And so, they are much better at that than I would be.
Host Amber Smith: So you said they have a special certification. Do they have to be airplane pilots to begin with, or is this entirely different from flying an airplane?
Jeff Causey: It's similar in terms of the way the FAA regulates it, but the FAA has found that there are many things in their regulations that apply to commercial aircraft, air carriers, that don't really apply to flying drones. And so they have given us some exemptions that allow us to take pilots that have their drone license and use them in commercial drone operations.
Host Amber Smith: I see. Now, the drones that are being used for this, in medical settings like this, how big are they?
Jeff Causey: The drones that we are currently using are fairly small, weighing around 30 pounds. And they can carry about 5 or 6 pounds of payload. And fortunately, most medical payload, if you consider pharmaceuticals, labs, blood products, things like that, easily fall within that weight and volume limitation that we have.
And the drones really allow us to provide these products on demand within the health care system. So I know most people, when they experience health care, one of the frustrating things about it is there can be long wait times. If you're in the emergency room or in a hospital, waiting for your medications, waiting for your labs to be analyzed, all these things take time.
And one of the benefits of the drone technology is that we're able to dispatch those samples immediately, or pharmaceuticals immediately, and move them around the health care system more rapidly so that the health care system can respond to its patients in a much more expedited manner.
Host Amber Smith: Now, does snow or heavy rain or cold temperatures or even hot temperatures, does that impact whether the drone can fly?
Jeff Causey: Yes, so these drones are sort of first-generation technology, and they do come with certain limitations in terms of winds and weather, as you would expect. But like with all technology, as it evolves, and it's evolving fairly rapidly, that envelope of potential operating conditions will continue to expand.
And so, eventually, it will not be very limited by weather. And even today at Upstate, we find that weather only impacts our operations a small percentage of the time. But certainly, Syracuse winters can provide weather that's beyond what we can currently fly in.
Host Amber Smith: Well, recently you completed an 18.6 mile BVLOS -- meaning "beyond visual line of sight" -- flight from Rome to Whitestown. How did that go?
Steve Roberts: So Amber, this is Steve. I'll take that one. We actually have a drone at Upstate that we purchased that looks more like an airplane than a typical drone that you would see. It does take off like a helicopter, and then it transitions to a plane, and it can go about 65 miles an hour and travel longer distances because it's, more efficient as an airplane. So that's the drone that we used for that particular operation that you're referring to. And we did a "beyond visual line of sight" from the pilot, meaning the pilot was in a control room flying the drone.
And we were able to go, to your point, about 18.6 miles. The operation went very smoothly, with a lot of planning and, of course, a lot of safety and regulations that we have to comply with, which were all taken into consideration. So it was very successful. And the idea there, it's a proof of concept, and it's a step towards being able to do longer-range deliveries, to extend our health care out even further.
Host Amber Smith: So once the drone arrives, the drone or the larger plane that you described, what happens on the other end? Does a person need to be there to meet it or catch it? Mr. Causey?
Jeff Causey: You've identified one of the biggest opportunities that we currently have, and that's the fact that in the first generation, there is quite a bit of manual interaction with the drones, to load the packages, to receive the deliveries.
But, as Steve mentioned, Upstate is already very far along the path towards having robots in the hospital. And one of the things that will be a natural evolution of these services is to integrate the drones with the robots and with other systems, like pneumatic tubes, so that we can more seamlessly move items around the Upstate health care system.
Host Amber Smith: Now, Mr. Roberts, do you envision a fleet of drones that would regularly transport samples and medications and time-sensitive materials from rural areas into Upstate, in downtown Syracuse?
Steve Roberts: Yeah, that's actually one of the visions of our hospital administration, is to be able to move things around the community more efficiently, cleaner -- it's all green technology and on demand, so it will speed up how we do health care.
So things like being able to fly lab specimens into the lab, for example, or pharmaceuticals around. Yeah, we plan on continuing to build that network out and have the drones be able to do these activities on demand.
So there will be, someday, like a hub or a place where the drones live, and they'll go out and do their job during the day, which is delivering the labs and pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies around, really around the community.
Host Amber Smith: Well, very interesting. I want to thank both of you for making time to tell us about this.
I appreciate it.
Steve Roberts: Amber, thank you so much for having us and giving us an opportunity to talk about the program. It's very exciting, some great work going on, and we appreciate the time to share our experience with everybody.
Jeff Causey: Thank you, Amber. It was a real pleasure to be with you today. And I just want to thank Upstate for the spirit of innovation that exists throughout your health care system. Our drones have been so well received, and everybody is excited about what's going to be possible, and everybody is just so focused on serving patients, and it's inspiring for us to be a part of your community.
Host Amber Smith: My guests have been Steve Roberts -- he's the director of the autonomous machines department at Upstate -- and Jeff Causey of Causey Aviation.
"The Informed Patient" is a podcast covering health, science and medicine, brought to you by Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, and produced by Jim Howe.
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