Robots and broadband joining forces to create new possibilities in health care

The world of robots and artificial intelligence has largely lived in imaginations and on the silver screen. Today, an army hospital in San Antonio is applying these new technologies to change the way we provide health care.

At the Brooke Army Medical Center, a medical robot provided a lifeline between Dr. Kevin Chung - on vacation - and Staff Sgt. Juan Amaris who lay in intensive care with third-degree burns covering three-quarters of his body.

The five-foot robot, controlled with a laptop and a joystick, wirelessly transmits images and sound with two camera lenses and antennas that sit atop the screen. Though the robot does not allow doctors to perform procedures remotely, it does give doctors and patients a chance to communicate and allows doctors to give instructions to nurses or residents at the bedside.

Amaris' wife, Jazmin, appreciates the robot and the capabilities it provides.

"You feel more calm. You see so many doctors, so many people every day. It was really important to see him," she said.

The robot used by Dr. Chung is developed by InTouch Health, which has produced about 250 other robots in use throughout the country.

The key, though, to these robots and other new healthcare systems, is adequate broadband. But, there are other challenges - financial and legal - to making these technologies widely available.

In the face of rising medical costs and increasing gaps in insurance coverage, these technologies - and the efficiencies and benefits they enable - are more valuable than ever.

Medical robot makes rounds at Texas Army hospital (Associated Press)

InTouch Health

Benefits - Health Care (Speed Matters)