Far from the jungle, Tarzan and Jane swing quietly into action in a sterile laboratory at St. Paul91裸聊视频檚 Hospital in downtown Vancouver.
They are robots that work with artificial intelligence to handle and process up to 70 per cent of the hospital91裸聊视频檚 microbiology samples.
The pair unscrew specimen tubes and streak the samples onto bacterial culture plates in the new $1-million automated WASPLab, short for 91裸聊视频渨alk-away specimen processor.91裸聊视频�
It91裸聊视频檚 not glamorous work, but it91裸聊视频檚 a big job 91裸聊视频� the St. Paul91裸聊视频檚 lab handles more than 145,000 microbiological samples each year from B.C. and Yukon.
Lab automation is not new, but the hospital says WASPLab91裸聊视频檚 use of AI is a first for Western Canada, assessing and sorting culture plates, separating bacterial cultures and letting staff know if something needs more analysis.
Dr. Marc Romney, head of medical microbiology and virology at St. Paul91裸聊视频檚, said the new level of automation made doctors91裸聊视频� and lab technologists91裸聊视频� lives easier by freeing them from repetitive manual work.
Tarzan and Jane have been working at the lab for two months. Romney said they are 91裸聊视频済reat workers,91裸聊视频� willing to work early morning and late shifts and able to deal with a large batch of samples all at once.
91裸聊视频淲e appreciate the fact that they are allowing the lab staff to perform more complex work .91裸聊视频� So, the more routine work which is sometimes very manual is being replaced by a robot,91裸聊视频� said Romney.
91裸聊视频淚t gives us a lot more flexibility in our workflow,91裸聊视频� he added.
When the robot duo first arrived, there was a lot of excitement, said Romney, as well as a little bit of apprehension from lab staff.
91裸聊视频淏ecause people think, (is) this machine going to take over my job? But ultimately, they realize no, it91裸聊视频檚 going to make my life easier,91裸聊视频� said Romney.
Tarzan and Jane each have their special skills.
Tarzan is good at the 91裸聊视频渉eavy lifting91裸聊视频� of preparing specimens for the next stage of bacterial culture, said Romney.
The robot picks up the specimen 91裸聊视频� it could be either a urine culture or wound swab 91裸聊视频� and scans the bar code to determine what needs to be done with it.
Then Jane does the finer work of applying a precise volume of the specimen onto the surface of the bacterial culture plates.
The plates are placed on a conveyor belt, labelled, then stored in an incubator, allowing the bacterial colonies to grow.
Romney said it91裸聊视频檚 after incubation that the WASPLab91裸聊视频檚 artificial intelligence comes into play, discarding negative culture plates while reporting the positive ones.
91裸聊视频淭his used to be all manual, and now it91裸聊视频檚 automated by these two robots, Tarzan and Jane. It would have taken much longer for humans to do it,91裸聊视频� said Romney.
The robots were created and named by Italy-based lab automation manufacturer Copan.
The hospital said in a statement that doctors and laboratory staff spent months collaborating with Copan to customize the WASPLab to ensure it met the hospital91裸聊视频檚 needs. It was funded by a donor to the St. Paul91裸聊视频檚 Foundation.
The system is not infallible. Romney said the robots occasionally make errors, and Tarzan has been known to drop tubes.
91裸聊视频淚n real life, we know that complicated technology sometimes goes wrong, and we need to supervise it 91裸聊视频� and even Tarzan and Jane sometimes make mistakes, and so we have to have humans there to correct those mistakes when they occur,91裸聊视频� said Romney.
Another WASPLab will be set up when the new St. Paul91裸聊视频檚 Hospital opens its doors in 2027, said Romney.
Could robots and AI completely replace human staff in hospitals of the future?
Romney said both would play a role in health-care settings but would never completely replace medical professionals.
91裸聊视频淚f I were a patient, I91裸聊视频檓 not sure I would have total confidence in robots to provide my entire care,91裸聊视频� he said, admitting he 91裸聊视频渕ight be biased.91裸聊视频�
The vast majority of the time, automated systems 91裸聊视频渨ork really well.91裸聊视频� Romney said.
91裸聊视频淏ut sometimes, it does make some errors 91裸聊视频� AI is a big part of the future in health care, a big part of the future for hospital acute care. But it91裸聊视频檚 not the be-all and end-all.91裸聊视频�
He predicted that AI would instead free the next generation of physicians from 91裸聊视频渟impler work.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淏ut what91裸聊视频檚 happening in health care is that the level of acuity and complexity in our patients is going up significantly 91裸聊视频� and I think it makes it harder for AI to make a definitive answer,91裸聊视频� said Romney.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not impossible. But it requires, I think, some human intervention.91裸聊视频�
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