Medical Tech Company Develops Robot To Take COVID-19 Nasal Swabs

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. This is wrong on so many levels. I've seen way too many science fiction movies and 2020 is not the year to try something like this.

If COVID-19 is the problem, this is definitely not the solution.

Brain Navi, a medical technology company based in Taiwan, has come up with a robotic arm that can take nasal swabs to check for coronavirus. As if the test wasn't bad enough when administered by a doctor that we know and trust, now they want it to be administered by a robot.

Here's how it's supposed to work, the patient will first insert a nasal clip into their nose. This is what the robot uses to align the swab before insertion. then the patient places his head into a device similar to one that your optometrist might use to look into your eyes. But while the optometrist might shine a light in your eye, this robotic arm is about to skewer your head with several inches of medical swab. Once aligned, the robotic arm inserts the swab to the appropriate depth. It knows how far to insert the swab by using a depth sensing camera and by measuring the distance from nostril to ear canal.

Once fully inserted the robot twists the swab left and right, leaving it in contact with the back of your sinus cavity for 10 seconds to get a good sample, then removes the swab to be placed in a sample container and be checked for coronavirus.

There are apparently no pressure sensors, the robot is working exclusively on the measurements from the camera and computer calculations.

If that sounds scary, it is. According to a story in The Verge, Brain Navi's founder was one of the first people to have the procedure done and he was terrified. Did you get that? It's his company and he was terrified.

Just watch the video.

If you dare.

I've not had the swab test performed but I know a few who have and they tell me it's every bit as uncomfortable as you'd expect it to be. I cannot imagine having it done by a machine.

Medical advancements are wonderful things but I'm going to give this one a hard pass. In Texas vernacular that's like saying, "Not only 'No' but 'Hhhhhhhaaayyuuullllllllll No.'"