Drugs, kids, and robots seem an unlikely mixture. However, robotics are helping kids through the stress of doctor visits, helping hospitals dispense medications more accurately, and standing in for a surgeon’s hands.

MEDi is yet another of those cute robots that interact with people. You’ll find him in medical settings where his specific task is to be a companion to children, educate them, and be a pain coach. He’ll greet a child as they come for a vaccination or other injection. He explains the procedure saying that the alcohol swab the nurse uses to clean their skin at the injection site “feels wet like a puppy licking your arm”. You can see the interaction between MEDi and a child in their YouTube segment.

MEDi is child height, slightly less than two feet tall. His 25 degrees of movement, eight pressure sensors, nine tactile sensors, two cameras, and four directional microphones make his interactions lifelike. To distract and entertain, he tells stories, plays games and dances. Together with built in cognitive behavioral skills, the robot is clinically proven to reduce children’s pain and anxiety by 50 percent. His explanations help kids understand and anticipate what a procedure will entail.

MEDi dances to entertain, but mostly to keep a child’s mind off a medical procedure they may be undergoing.

Rx Robots says their mission is to transform pediatrics through robotics. The Canadian based company first put MEDi to work at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. MEDi’s programs are specific to various medical procedures, such as blood tests or vaccinations. The MEDi Kits which contain an NAO Robot, a battery pack and charger, choreographe software and applications can be ordered individually. The University of Calgary with Setareh Aghel Manesh, Tanya Beran, Ehud Sharlin, and Saul Greenberg are credited with MEDi. Beran was providing information and demonstrating their little guy at CES 2015.

Robots have been used in medical settings for some time. The first in 1985 was PUMA 560 which performed a neurosurgical biopsy. It had only six degrees of movement controlled by six brushed DC servo motors. In 1990, the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) got into the picture, approving the AESOP system  for an endoscopic surgical procedure.

More recent is the da Vinci robot typically used in cardiac valve repair, hysterectomy, and prostatectomy procedures. The surgeon controls the robot remotely from a console. Interactive Surgical, the company behind da Vinci, claims that its 3D high definition vision system with magnification up to 10, special instruments, and computer software help the surgeon operate with enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control. However, their website warns that “Patients should understand that risks of surgery include potential for human error and potential for equipment failure. To emphasize the potential problems, in 2013 the company recalled the da Vinci units because of defective Hot Shears where cracks allowed electrosurgical energy to leak to patient tissue.

Robotic equipment helps with drug inventory and dispensing as well. Robot-Rx, not to be confused with the child-focused Rx-Robots, is an automated medication dispensing system. Medications are placed in envelopes or cassettes with bar-codes that links to the computer record of the patient. It updates the drug inventory as prescriptions are filled.

Medicines are stored and dispensed via bar code to the related patient by Robot-Rx.

The vault-like appearance of this robotic system which stores as well as dispenses drugs is far removed from MEDi, the cute humanistic robot.

The Robot-Rx complex stores, dispenses, and inventories medications.

McKesson Corp. sold their hospital pharmacy automation unit Robot-Rx over a year ago to the newly named Aesynt Corporation. The system runs under Windows 7 and provides real time inventory control as well as bar code medication administration.

Whether addressing kids, drugs, or surgery, robots are here to stay in the field of medicine and health care.

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Swiss-based chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli has been selling chocolates since 1845. They launched a new website in November last year. It utilizes a Cloud based order management system which can aggregate orders from online, stores, or call ins while providing a single source of order status information across all three. The benefits to the company and the customer are many, including enabling customers to buy online and pick up in their closest store.

With the new online abilities, Lindt is able to quickly build personalized seasonal promotions around the holidays. With Easter just around the corner, bunnies are populating the website, ready to be scooped up and nestled in baskets to the delight of children worldwide. Thomas Linemayr, president and CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli said: “The new platform helps orchestrate personalized content and promotions across our online and mobile channels, including the look, the feel, the navigation, all in a way that culminates with the checkout process.”

The Lindt Gold Bunny is a familiar, traditional favorite at Easter

The online site is the result of IBM WebSphere Commerce and CrossView. CrossView Cloud Hosting places servers that operate IBM Commerce Order Management  in the cloud, removing the need for companies to have physical data centers, and eliminating equipment and management costs.

Lindt reported a 200 percent increase in conversion rates over the Christmas holiday and hopes for a similar success for Easter. Mobile sales grew almost 300 percent. They credit the partnership with IBM and CrossView with the increases. The cloud-based system helps Lindt quickly scale capacity as demand increases.

Swiss trained Master Chocolatier Ann Czaja advises treating chocolate with respect because it can be very temperamental – a little like software programs maybe??

The new online storefront was delivered in a month. Linemayr complimented IBM, CrossView and Lindt’s internal team. “This was one of the quickest projects we have led. It is very difficult to pull off a collaborative effort like this and not have major issues – yet that is what we achieved.” [Unlike the problem-laden new healthcare system being implemented in the US.]

Linemayer said: “Conversions were up, traffic and basket size were higher. We attribute this to our web solution and our ability to showcase products online that resonate with customers.” He explained that they wanted a solution that made it very easy to manage promotions, scale capacity, and personalize interactions. “We move very quickly between holidays, so we must respond with seasonal promotions just as rapidly.” Because the solution is cloud-based, Lindt can adjust as demand fluctuates.

Lindt & Sprüngli operates eight production facilities in Europe and the United States and employs more than 8,000 worldwide. Lindt USA operates more than 45 retail stores in the US. The stores sell sets of pre-packaged assortments, but on the company’s website, customers can mix and match their favorite sweets and design custom gifts with custom packaging.

So take a look at the website, and see what you think. Then stock up on the Easter eggs and the traditional Gold Bunnies. What are you waiting for?

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