Kanchi Nobukazu, Kawata Megumi, Yoshikawa Yuichiro, Baba Atsushi, Miyashita Takahiro, Ishiguro Hiroshi, Kumazaki Hirokazu
Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine Nagasaki University Nagasaki Japan.
Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science Osaka University Osaka Japan.
PCN Rep. 2024 Jul 29;3(3):e230. doi: 10.1002/pcn5.230. eCollection 2024 Sep.
Providing medical care on isolated islands can be challenging in several ways. Telepsychiatry can potentially offer a solution for accessible psychiatric services on isolated islands. When video conferencing is used in telepsychiatry, the psychiatry specialist, who is remotely located, may find it difficult to establish trust. To address this, we developed a teleoperated robot system termed "Sota 100," which is equipped to convey various elements of nonverbal communication, such as eye contact, in remote settings.
In this report, we introduce the case of a patient with alcohol use disorder who lived on an isolated island and received medical care from a primary care physician at the island's medical clinic and from Sota 100 teleoperated by a psychiatry specialist. Using this system, the patient admitted that he had developed a physical illness and had damaged his relationships partly because of alcohol abuse. At the conclusion of the three-way conversation, the patient understood that stopping drinking alcohol was the only way to prevent worsening his physical condition and damaging his relationships further. Concurrently, the primary care physician gained a deeper understanding of the etiology of alcohol use disorder and of how to support patients with alcohol dependency.
These case findings suggest that our system is helpful for patients with alcohol use disorder who need to receive telepsychiatry services. Future studies should include single-case experimental designs with regular measurements of key outcome variables and other relevant variables over time.
在偏远岛屿上提供医疗服务在多个方面可能具有挑战性。远程精神病学有可能为偏远岛屿上提供可及的精神科服务提供一种解决方案。当在远程精神病学中使用视频会议时，位于远程的精神科专家可能会发现难以建立信任。为了解决这个问题，我们开发了一种名为“Sota 100”的远程操作机器人系统，该系统能够在远程环境中传达非语言交流的各种要素，如眼神交流。
在本报告中，我们介绍了一名酒精使用障碍患者的病例，该患者居住在一个偏远岛屿上，在该岛的医疗诊所接受初级保健医生以及由精神科专家远程操作的Sota 100的治疗。通过使用该系统，患者承认他患上了身体疾病并且部分由于酗酒损害了他的人际关系。在三方对话结束时，患者明白戒酒是防止其身体状况恶化和进一步损害人际关系的唯一方法。同时，初级保健医生对酒精使用障碍的病因以及如何支持酒精依赖患者有了更深入的了解。
这些病例结果表明，我们的系统对需要接受远程精神病学服务的酒精使用障碍患者有帮助。未来的研究应包括单病例实验设计，并随着时间的推移定期测量关键结局变量和其他相关变量。
