When you were a kid, did you ever read the Dawn Rochelle novels written by Lurlene McDaniel? Dawn is a teenager who has leukemia, and the novels follow her as she faces a number of medical and metaphysical challenges.
I remember the books well to this day, including how Dawn's brother Rob gave her a bone marrow transplant and how she and her roommate Sandy, who also had cancer, drew pictures with crayons that represented their bodies fighting off the disease. I also remember how Dawn went to cancer camp and met her first boyfriend. McDaniel had a way of making you feel as though you were right at Dawn's bedside.
Unfortunately, the world is filled with children like Dawn, and their cancers don't disappear when an author hits the "Delete" key. Cancer is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for kids between the ages of one and 14. Approximately 10,450 kids will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and 1,545 will die.
Hospitals take a number of steps to make kids feel comfortable during their cancer treatment. Phys.org is reporting that the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) of Lisbon, Portugal, aims to produce a fleet of robots that will both collaborate with medical personnel and interact with patients. The IST has developed the MOnarCH project, an acronym for Multi-Robot Cognitive Systems Operating in Hospitals.
To study the way that robots and humans intermingle in a social setting, IST is developing a fleet of robots that will interact with kids who have cancer in a hospital setting. Instead of assigning a single robot to every child, the study will utilize robots that can interact with all patients, addressing a wide variety of psychological needs.
The therapeutic robot has been used successfully in other medical settings. Social robots have been developed to engage with autistic children, and the Japanese Paro robot has been shown to improve elderly patients' states of mind.
Scientists from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) will develop and program the robots. The Portuguese Oncological Institute of Lisbon is currently piloting a study within its pediatric ward to determine how well the robots interact with children, how well they play and how they address the needs of each individual child.
A robot can't cure cancer for a child who has been stricken by the disease. However, if the robot makes treatment a little more bearable, then perhaps Dawn Rochelle's dreams for a cure can come true.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
