Far from the jungle, Tarzan and Jane swing quietly into action in a sterile laboratory at St. PaulB次元官网网址檚 Hospital in downtown Vancouver.

They are robots that work with artificial intelligence to handle and process up to 70 per cent of the hospitalB次元官网网址檚 microbiology samples.

The pair unscrew specimen tubes and streak the samples onto bacterial culture plates in the new $1-million automated WASPLab, short for B次元官网网址渨alk-away specimen processor.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 not glamorous work, but itB次元官网网址檚 a big job B次元官网网址� the St. PaulB次元官网网址檚 lab handles more than 145,000 microbiological samples each year from B.C. and Yukon.

Lab automation is not new, but the hospital says WASPLabB次元官网网址檚 use of AI is a first for Western Canada, assessing and sorting culture plates, separating bacterial cultures and letting staff know if something needs more analysis.

Dr. Marc Romney, head of medical microbiology and virology at St. PaulB次元官网网址檚, said the new level of automation made doctorsB次元官网网址� and lab technologistsB次元官网网址� lives easier by freeing them from repetitive manual work.

Tarzan and Jane have been working at the lab for two months. Romney said they are B次元官网网址済reat workers,B次元官网网址� willing to work early morning and late shifts and able to deal with a large batch of samples all at once.

B次元官网网址淲e appreciate the fact that they are allowing the lab staff to perform more complex work .B次元官网网址� So, the more routine work which is sometimes very manual is being replaced by a robot,B次元官网网址� said Romney.

B次元官网网址淚t gives us a lot more flexibility in our workflow,B次元官网网址� he added.

When the robot duo first arrived, there was a lot of excitement, said Romney, as well as a little bit of apprehension from lab staff.

B次元官网网址淏ecause people think, (is) this machine going to take over my job? But ultimately, they realize no, itB次元官网网址檚 going to make my life easier,B次元官网网址� said Romney.

Tarzan and Jane each have their special skills.

Tarzan is good at the B次元官网网址渉eavy liftingB次元官网网址� of preparing specimens for the next stage of bacterial culture, said Romney.

The robot picks up the specimen B次元官网网址� it could be either a urine culture or wound swab B次元官网网址� and scans the bar code to determine what needs to be done with it.

Then Jane does the finer work of applying a precise volume of the specimen onto the surface of the bacterial culture plates.

The plates are placed on a conveyor belt, labelled, then stored in an incubator, allowing the bacterial colonies to grow.

Romney said itB次元官网网址檚 after incubation that the WASPLabB次元官网网址檚 artificial intelligence comes into play, discarding negative culture plates while reporting the positive ones.

B次元官网网址淭his used to be all manual, and now itB次元官网网址檚 automated by these two robots, Tarzan and Jane. It would have taken much longer for humans to do it,B次元官网网址� said Romney.

The robots were created and named by Italy-based lab automation manufacturer Copan.

The hospital said in a statement that doctors and laboratory staff spent months collaborating with Copan to customize the WASPLab to ensure it met the hospitalB次元官网网址檚 needs. It was funded by a donor to the St. PaulB次元官网网址檚 Foundation.

The system is not infallible. Romney said the robots occasionally make errors, and Tarzan has been known to drop tubes.

B次元官网网址淚n real life, we know that complicated technology sometimes goes wrong, and we need to supervise it B次元官网网址� and even Tarzan and Jane sometimes make mistakes, and so we have to have humans there to correct those mistakes when they occur,B次元官网网址� said Romney.

Another WASPLab will be set up when the new St. PaulB次元官网网址檚 Hospital opens its doors in 2027, said Romney.

Could robots and AI completely replace human staff in hospitals of the future?

Romney said both would play a role in health-care settings but would never completely replace medical professionals.

B次元官网网址淚f I were a patient, IB次元官网网址檓 not sure I would have total confidence in robots to provide my entire care,B次元官网网址� he said, admitting he B次元官网网址渕ight be biased.B次元官网网址�

The vast majority of the time, automated systems B次元官网网址渨ork really well.B次元官网网址� Romney said.

B次元官网网址淏ut sometimes, it does make some errors B次元官网网址� AI is a big part of the future in health care, a big part of the future for hospital acute care. But itB次元官网网址檚 not the be-all and end-all.B次元官网网址�

He predicted that AI would instead free the next generation of physicians from B次元官网网址渟impler work.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淏ut whatB次元官网网址檚 happening in health care is that the level of acuity and complexity in our patients is going up significantly B次元官网网址� and I think it makes it harder for AI to make a definitive answer,B次元官网网址� said Romney.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not impossible. But it requires, I think, some human intervention.B次元官网网址�

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