Robot helping patients navigate Montreal hospital part of pilot project

Don’t be alarmed if a robot is seen roaming the hallways of a Montreal hospital sometime soon.

An autonomous mobile robot at Hôpital Notre-Dame is designed to accompany patients to their appointments.

“The types of patients that would benefit from the service are the kind of people that might not have the best orientation sense,” said Natalia Tourbina, head of the innovation office at the CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.

The idea came after hospital staff noticed patients getting lost navigating the hospital.

“We want to make sure that they’re able to find their destination point smoothly. Sometimes it can already be a stressful experience when you’re about to get operated, when you have an appointment,” adds Tourbina.

It’s the first phase of a pilot project that runs until May 19.

The regional health authority is working in collaboration with a Quebec company, Sir Steward, to build and test the robot. This test period is a chance for the developers to observe the limitations of the robot and receive feedback from its users.

Part of making the robot accessible is to make it simple and easy to use. “We have some different buttons with the name of the place that you want to go,” said Jonathan Auger, CEO of Sir Steward, adding, “So let’s say that you want to go to cardiology. You just have to push on the cardiology button and the robot will start its navigation and it will speak and say to you, okay, follow me to your destination.” 

If the health authority determines the robot is effective, it will look at deploying it permanently.