When Erin Tally took Aidan, her 2-year-old son, home from Children’s Hospital Boston on the day after his urinary surgery, she brought along a new friend: a 4-foot-6, 17-pound, two-wheeled robot that would help deliver care to her recovering child.

Over about two weeks that included five video consultations, the robot, made by Vgo Communications Inc., of Nashua, eliminated the need for Tally to drive Aidan into Boston every three days for post-surgical checkups.

With cameras, advanced audio gear, and a video screen on its “face,’’ the robot allowed Aidan and his parents to talk with nurses and doctors in Boston. They could see and communicate with Aidan and his parents, take close-up photos of his surgical scars for doctors to review, and help determine what type of medications he needed.

It was kind of comforting to know it was there,’’ said Tally, adding that Aidan was groggy after the surgery and needed the extra care. “He was tired and couldn’t run around like he usually does.

The Vgo device, priced at about $6,000, is part of a five-robot pilot program at Children’s Hospital, testing whether the devices can help monitor patients after they leave the hospital. Such teleconference devices are increasingly being used in limited ways across the nation, but the Children’s program is being conducted on a larger scale and is considered a first in health care.

Eventually, I see a whole fleet of these robots being sent home with patients,’’ said Dr. Hiep T. Nguyen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of Children’s Hospital’s Robotic Surgery Research and Training Center. “With this technology, we’re going to be able to replace hospital monitoring with home-based monitoring.

Including Aidan Tally, eight Children’s patients have been sent home with Vgo robots over the past few months. Children’s hopes to test the robots on about 40 at-home patients before taking the pilot program to the next level: sending patients home early, along with a robotic companion.

Nguyen said he could “only loosely define Vgo as a true robot,’’ because its functions are limited. Communicating over Verizon Wireless’s high-speed 4G LTE network, Vgo robots conduct two-way video and audio consultations. A 5-inch screen, with a camera and microphone attached, serves as the “head’’ of Vgo.

The robot’s movements and functions are controlled by computer by hospital staffers. They can remotely drive the robot around a house, with the Vgo’s camera looking up and down to avoid running into walls, people, or household items.

Source: Boston

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