ALTY Orthopaedic Hospital and the Eureka Robotics Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University have joined hands to introduce Malaysia’s first Tokku Zone to enable the offering of service robots in a single-specialty orthopaedic hospital.
The Tokku Zone is a special area for Robotics Empirical Testing and Development (RT Special Zone) originating from Japan. The Zone has already been established in areas such as Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City, Kitakyushu City and Cardiff City.
By entering the Tokku Zone, patients and healthcare staff are able to co-exist with service robots within the area and aid in solving real-life problems with Artificial Intelligence (AI) together. The special area that has been established in ALTY is currently on its Level 6, where patients and staff can interact with the robots in place.
Upon entering the Zone, patients will be given the choice to either interact or decline to engage with the humanoid robots.
Additionally, the Zone further assists in supporting staff, researchers, policymakers and manufacturers to shape the enhancement, practical needs, risks and governance of service robots.
“By integrating this zone into ALTY, our team of experts will be working alongside healthcare service robots to further enrich our patients’ experience when they visit ALTY. Additionally, the technology also provides nurses with assistance on selected routine operational tasks which will in turn have a positive impact on productivity,” said Dr Savitha Dharan, CEO, ALTY Orthopaedic Hospital.
Additionally, the integration of service robots to enhance patient engagement and quality of service is in line with ALTY’s recent accreditation of MSQH which was achieved within a year of official opening.
The service robots currently in place function to assist nurses with services of hospital introduction, patient social engagement and awareness-based education programmes.
