LG Electronics strengthens medical robot services

LG Electronics joined hands Hanllym University Sacred Heart Hospital as part of its effort to strengthen medical robot services with its “affectionate intelligence” robot, Cloi, the company said on Wednesday.

In an agreement, LG and the hospital agreed to collaborate to discover various scenarios of when robots can be used in medical institutes, and establish demonstration cases within domestic and international medical institutions.

"With LG's Cloi robot taking charge of repetitive tasks of such guiding the way and delivery, the medical staffs will be able to work more efficiently, and the visitors will experience differentiated medical service," Noh Gyu-chan, head of LG Electronics' robot unit said.

The tech giant said it expects its two-door or "bi-fold" Cloi serving robot, first unveiled at CES 2024 and currently operating in various business settings, to contribute significantly in optimizing medical service efficiency.

The Cloi serving robot features four compartments, capable of carrying up to 30 kilograms of medical supplies in various sizes. The interior of the robot incorporates antimicrobial materials and ventilation fans for hygiene. The robot also adopted a security technology to prevent theft or loss of transported items, such as medications, specimens and blood.

The robot is also capable of navigating in the complex hospital environments, adopting an advanced obstacle avoidance technology. Using laser-based lidar sensors and cameras, the robot perceives surrounding objects, analyze them precisely through artificial intelligence, map the space and moves, LG said.

The robot also autonomously calls elevators and can recognize hospital beds and safely boards itself onto them, while ensuring safe transportation of items.

With the 10.1 inch touch screen and voice guide, the robot assists patients and visitors in finding their way inside the hospital.

"With LG Electronics, we will come up with various scenarios to raise the quality of the medical services, and I hope our collaboration will set the new standard of medical service robots in and outside of Korea," Yu Kyung-ho, the director of the HUSHH said.

LG Electronics started introducing the Cloi robots in hospitals in 2020, first with Seoul National University Hospital.