Robot Swine Flu Patient Sweats, Cries, Moans... and Dies!

TV's Dr. House may casually run one treatment regimen after another past the patients under his care, but Japan's doctors and nurses don't have that luxury - and they'll also be short of time in the event of a possible influenza epidemic.

A new patient simulation robot seeks to hone their diagnostic, therapeutic and curative skills without worrying about the consequences of failure.

As demonstrated at the Security & Safety Trade Expo (RISCON, for short) held recently in Tokyo, the anthropomorphic, animatronic robot displayed rubbery, skin-like epidermis with pores engineered to exude sweat and tears (no blood though).

Other flu symptoms health care professionals will note are moaning and whole-body shaking as the pseudo-patient goes into convulsions, and should worst come to worst the robot will cease breathing - without, unfortunately, its eyes rolling up to flash "game over".

Here's a short video of the flu-bot (heh, flu-bot) acting all infected and virus-ridden:



Patient simulator robots aren't exactly new, but this particular one seems to be the first specialized version programmed to exhibit the symptoms of one certain disease.

Though no replacement for a genuine human patient, the robot should serve its purpose in providing caregivers with a basic understanding of how H1N1 influenza affects people and how to know if treatment is getting results. Or not. (via Pink Tentacle)