May 26, 2005— Sister Mary and Doctor Robbie, two robots that allow doctors to consult remotely with patients, are now on duty at St. Mary's Hospital in London.

The robot is a first for Europe, according to a recent Imperial College London press release, but America already has similar devices in Maryland, Virginia and California that have been making the hospital rounds for the past few years.

Sister Mary and Doctor Robbie, also called RP6 to indicate their model number, are squarish machines with computer screens for a face, which displays the doctor.

The real doctor, through cameras and speakers both on the robot and on a laptop, can examine patients, ask questions, read records, view X-rays and look at test results from the console.

The actual doctor controls Sister Mary with a joystick, so the medical expert can operate the unit from an airport, a bedroom or any location suitable for a laptop computer with remote access.

"If a specialist is at a conference in California, but their medical opinion is needed for a St. Mary's patient or to deliver a lecture to junior doctors, the RP6 robot provides an instant and global link at any time of the day or night," said Parv Sains, leader of the project and a surgical specialist registrar and research fellow at the London hospital.

Sains added, "Our robots certainly would never replace all doctors on ward rounds, but they are a communication tool, which allows a doctor to have direct contact with their patient if they are unable to get to them."

The units take advantage of wireless technology that enables teleconferencing. Additional software permits the medical professional to view patient information located at the hospital.

Unlike a stationary computer, the robots have the added advantage of mobility, so they can roll right up to a patient's bedside.

Louis Kavoussi, M.D., a professor of urology and a specialist in robotic surgery, oversees a similar robot doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md.

Kavoussi told Discovery News that all of the robots are manufactured by InTouch Health Incorporated of Santa Barbara, Calif.

He said a recent study of 280 patients who consulted with robots and live doctors at the Baltimore hospital found no major differences.

"The robot is equivalent to a doctor being with the patient in person," Kavoussi said. "In fact, if a robot visits a patient in a shared room, the other patient usually feels disappointed and left out."

He admitted that the newness of the technology still elicits a "wow" response, but he thinks that even if this wears off, patients will appreciate the devices, which he said actually require the doctor to spend more time on the patient because, similar to a telephone conversation with a slight delay, only one person can talk at the same time.

In addition to their use in hospitals, the robots are being tested for fieldwork during military operations, natural or bioterrorist disasters, at sea and in other situations where direct physical contact with a medical expert is difficult or risky.