Engineer Builds World's 1st Robot That Conducts COVID-19 Test, Blood Tests, X-Rays

The spread of the novel Coronavirus across the globe this year inspired several innovations in the medical industry. One such is the use of robots, essentially to carry out menial tasks while decreasing the exposure of medical workers to Covid-19 patients.

In a similar effort, an Egyptian inventor has now come up with a remote-control robot that can not just advise bypassers to wear masks but can also take a patient¡¯s temperature or conduct a test for COVID-19.

Mahmoud El Komy stands beside Cira 3, a remote-controlled robot created by him. (Image: Reuters)

The one-of-a-kind robot is called Cira-03 and has been designed by Mahmoud el-Komy, a 26-year-old Egyptian mechatronics engineer. The intent behind the creation of the robot is the same as mentioned above, limiting exposure to infection and hence preventing the transmission of the virus.

Cira-03 does so with a human-like face and head attached with robotic arms. As for functionality, the unique robot can ¡°take blood tests, perform echocardiograms and X-rays, and display the results to patients on a screen attached to its chest,¡± mentions a report by Reuters.

Cira 3 examines a volunteering patient (Image: Reuters)

It conducts COVID-19 tests for potential patients by cupping their chin and then extending an arm with a swab into their mouth. In addition, the humanoid robot can also take the temperature of patients and even warn them if they don¡¯t wear masks at a private hospital north of Cairo, where it is currently being tested.

¡°I tried to make the robot seem more human, so that the patient doesn¡¯t fear it. So they don¡¯t feel like a box is walking in on them,¡± Mahmoud said. ¡°There has been a positive response from patients. They saw the robot and weren¡¯t afraid. On the contrary, there is more trust in this because the robot is more precise than humans.¡±