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The patients who are admitted with a stroke to several Irish hospitals - Tallaght Hospital (South Dublin County), Naas Hospital (County Kildare) and Mullingar Hospital (County Wesmeath) - can access a specialist stroke physician at evenings and weekends through a remote presence Telemedicine Robot called 'Robo-Doc'.

This has been made possible under the Telestroke pilot project which got underway earlier this year [2010].  It aims to facilitate out of hours acute assessment, diagnoses and intervention care of patients presenting with acute stoke to the three hospitals.

The pilot project treated its first patient on Sunday 19 January 2010, an 81 year old woman who presented at Mullingar Hospital after suffering a stroke that same day. The patient was initially assessed by Emergency Medical personnel while being transferred to the Hospital where staff were awaiting her arrival.

The on call Physician in Tallaght, Professor Des O'Neill expertly guided the onsite team in Mullingar after he assessed the patient using the Robo-Doc, which also allowed him to assess the patients scans, before guiding the onsite doctor to administer the clot busting drugs to the patient.

On 21 January 2010, Professor Sean Murphy at the Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar welcomed the break through and complimented all those involved with the Dublin Midlands Stroke Network, "A lot of work has gone into establishing this stroke network with substantial support across many departments."

In practice, Robo-Doc allows the consultant to remotely see and talk to the patient, via the video camera, microphone and television screen, observe and help conduct the assessment, view computer tomography (CT) images and lab results and make urgent treatment decisions with no delays. The doctor controls the unit through a joystick to change its vantage point, and the unit could be used for other medical emergencies.

Funding for the pilot project has been provided through the Innovation Funds. A resource pool of specialist stroke consultants have come together from an identified network to share information, knowledge and time throughout the pilot period in order to minimise disability, mortality and prevent recurrence associated with ischaemic stroke. The project team comprises consultants in the three participating hospital centres.

It is envisaged that the Robo-Doc capabilities will assist significantly in the overall treatment of recovery for patients.