With Egypt facing a second coronavirus wave, an inventor is trialing a remote-control robot which can test for COVID-19, take the temperature of patients, and warn them if they don’t wear masks at private hospital north of Cairo.
Mahmoud el-Komy, who designed the robot, called Cira-03, says it can help limit exposure to infection and prevent the transmission of the virus.
His creation, which has a human-like face and head and robotic arms, can take blood tests, perform echocardiograms and X-rays, and display the results to patients on a screen attached to its chest.
“It is able to take blood samples, chest echos, and x-rays, all of this can be done remotely, it can be controlled from anywhere in the world. The robot can conduct all these accurate tests while the doctor is in another room or outside of the hospital entirely,” said Mahmoud.
“This invention is very important during the pandemic, it reduces the infection rate to zero, since everything is automated, via the robot Cira,” said Abu Bakr El-Mihi, head of a private hospital where the robot is being tested. Cira-03 tests a patient for coronavirus by cupping their chin and then extending an arm with a swab into their mouth.
Abu Bakr El-Mihi said they were using the robot to take the temperature of anyone suspected of having COVID-19.
