Ain Shams University in Cairo has announced the testing of its first Arabic-speaking robot nurse.
University President Mahmoud Al-Matini said the idea for the robot stemmed from the conditions imposed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the need to follow preventive measures.
Students from the computers and information faculty were keen to implement a project that would benefit the health sector during the COVID-19 fight.
Al-Matini said the university had supported the project to optimize its capabilities and use.
The faculty of computers and information worked with the faculties of medicine and nursing to ensure it became an integrated project.
Nagwa Badr, dean of the faculty of computers and information, said the robot, named Shams, speaks Arabic and can recognize the faces of patients or doctors. It can also deal with patient needs and enter health status data.
She added that it can take the necessary samples for analysis and deliver them to the laboratory, bring medication from the pharmacy to the patient, and can also carry out communication between the patient and the treating doctor through a video call. It also performs sterilization operations.
Badr said Ain Shams Specialized Hospital was chosen to conduct experiments on the robot. It will develop Shams to carry out larger tasks using artificial intelligence techniques.
Mohamed Marai, assistant professor at the faculty of computers and information, and one of the members of the research team working on Shams, said there are plans to start making 20 more robotic nurses for the hospital.
An assistant professor at the faculty told local media that plans were underway to cooperate with the Arab Organization for Industrialization to produce a large number of these robots.