Researchers at Simon Fraser University in Canada unveiled a humanoid robot that can measure blood pressure by touching a patient’s chest. The robot uses sensors on its fingertips to perform the measurements. Inspired by blood-sucking leeches, the dry electrode sensors infer blood pressure by combining electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) readings, although happily, they don’t suck blood.

The Canadian team hopes that the technology could help in automating routine medical procedures, and also provide a measure of safety for patients and healthcare staff by reducing in-person interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assigning routine medical tasks, such as measuring blood pressure, to robots sounds like an attractive way for overburdened healthcare systems to free up healthcare workers for more complex and demanding jobs. This new technology is a step in that direction, and the robot in question can measure blood pressure by simply touching a patient’s chest, thanks to the unique fingertip sensors it possesses. The sensors share unusual design inspirations, combining the ancient art of origami with bioinspiration in the form of a blood-sucking parasite, the leech.

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CONN HASTINGS – FEBRUARY 23RD, 2022