Efforts on to distribute and manufacture medical robots in EEC
The Office of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) has been working with the Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi to manufacture and distribute “Mod Borirak” (Caregiver Ants) medical robots to hospitals in EEC areas in a bid to help medical professionals in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
“In the pilot phase, Chonburi, Phutthasothorn, Rayong and Bang La Mung hospitals will receive three robots each,” said office secretary-general Kanit Sangsubhan. “They include the “SOFA” robot, which provides remote patient diagnosis via video conferencing system, the “CARVER” robot that transports drugs and foods to patient rooms, and a service robot that provides a lot of medical assistance and is controlled from the hospital’s central control room. The 12 robots to be distributed cost over Bt8 million.”
Kanit added that under the cooperation with FIBO, the EEC office has invited over 200 companies in the robotics industry to participate in technology transfer to develop and manufacture medical robots for commercial purpose.
“FIBO has the innovation and technology, but they still lack manufacturing facilities and investment,” he added. “The project has been well-received, and even hospitals overseas, such as the United States, France and Singapore have expressed their interest in buying the Mod Borirak robots. However, we aim to produce them for domestic hospitals first in order to help minimise the risk of medical professionals contracting diseases from patients.
“Currently there are many private investors, most of which are industrial estate developers, expressing their interest in building hospitals in EEC areas, which will help improve the area’s medical service capability without relying on government budget,” added Kanit.
“New hospitals will also attract future investment in medical technology, such as medical robotics, genomics study and manufacturing of drugs and advanced medical equipment.”