Invatare Automata @ UVT: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CHILD HEALTH CARE

Vaccination of children is widely used as a medical procedure for health care. However, procedures and actions such as injections and immobilization cause pain and distress to children. Intense pain and distress in medical procedures are known to cause medical trauma and behavioral problems such as anxiety, depression, fear, and non-compliance with treatment in children and their families, and there is a need for interventions and support aimed at alleviating pain and distress from medical procedures in the pediatric field.

Distraction is one of the ways to alleviate pain in medical treatment.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of distraction by a humanoid robot programmed to interact with 57 children receiving the influenza vaccine during the vaccination process. The distraction effect was examined using a control group. The results showed that compared to the control group, the children in the intervention group did not stop crying but smiled more during vaccination. Other studies have reported that humanoid robots intervening during the procedure can distract children, help reduce anxiety, cope with stress, and improve behavior during the procedure. Such AI-based distraction, as a non-pharmacological method, can be widely applied in the field of pediatric medicine.

Study details:

One children's clinic in Mitaka City, Tokyo, which provides general pediatric care, was asked to cooperate in the study. A staff member (psychologist or physician) from the National Center for Child Health and Development (NCCHD) visited the clinic once a week as an observer and asked the caregivers and children for their cooperation while in a waiting room (small enough to accommodate 3 to 4 pairs of caregivers and children) exclusively for those scheduled for vaccination. Those who visited the clinic in odd-numbered months were assigned to the intervention group, and those who visited the clinic in even-numbered months were assigned to the control group. After obtaining the caregiver’s consent, children and their caregivers were asked to spend time with AIBO or a stuffed dog during the waiting time before and after the child's vaccination (about 5 min each) in a waiting room, and children’s behavior was observed by professional observers. The total survey time for each caregiver-child pair was about 15–20 min.

The dimensions of AIBO used in the intervention group were 180 × 293 × 305 mm and it weighed 2.2 kg. It was able to move freely around the waiting room. Its eyes were equipped with OLED displays, and it showed rich facial expressions as well as various voices and behaviors. It also responded to stimuli from touch sensors on its head, neck, and back with facial expressions and voices.

The stuffed dog used in the control group was a gray-haired stuffed animal measuring 130 × 320 × 330 mm in length. It could change the angle of its limbs and neck but it did not move spontaneously and was not equipped with any special functions, such as voice or behavior.

A total of 57 children were included in the study, of which 32 were in the intervention group and 25 were in the control group. The intervention group had a mean age of 4.41 years (3–12 years, median 3 years) and 10 boys (31%), whereas the control group had a mean age of 3.96 years (3–9 years, median 3 years) and 14 boys (56%).

In this study, children's pain behaviors were attenuated after the treatment by the interactive play intervention with the AIBO compared to the play intervention with the dog-shaped stuffed animal. After the intervention with a humanoid robot with interaction capabilities during a child vaccination procedure, it was found that the group in which the humanoid robot intervened was more likely to smile than the group in which it did not intervene, but the degree of crying did not change.

Specifications:

The robot dog model incorporates features of autonomy, object detection/recognition, tactile sensing, obstacle avoidance, wireless LAN, short-term memory, and communication through speech.

The researchers considered using the AIBO’s camera to recognize facial expressions and o infer emotional state.