Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"The best fuzzy rules, the best knowledge, deal with the turning points of the system. If a race-car driver teaches you how to drive, you don't need him to show you how to drive on the straightaway. It's how he handles the curves that matters."
- Bart Kosko
 |
| Autodoc | ||
| An automated physician, a fully autonomous surgical robot. |
The autodoc is an early example of a fully automated device that diagnosed, treated and tended a patient.
| But they got him into the autodoc anyway. It was a puppeteer-shaped coffin, form-fitted to Nessus himself, and bulky Puppeteer surgeons and mechanics must have intended that it should handle any conceivable
circumstance. But had they thought of decapitation?
They had. There were two heads in there, and two more with necks attached, and enough organs and body parts to make several complete puppeteers. Grown from Nessus himself, probably; the faces on the heads looked familiar. |
| From Ringworld,
by Larry Niven. Published by Ballantine in 1970 Additional resources -
|
The first appearance of the word autodoc is in The Warriors, a 1966 story by Niven.
For awhile, Jim Davis was very busy. Everyone, including himself, had a throbbing blinding headache. To each patient, Dr. Davis handed a tiny pink pill from the dispenser slot of the huge autodoc which covered the back wall of the infirmary...
The autodoc also appears in Madness Has Its Place, a 1990 story by Niven. This intriguing story explores the uses of different personalities in society. Are there occasions when you need people who are, well, unbalanced and not very social? Can an automated medical device provide what is needed to keep you balanced - and then unbalance you if needed?
"Run it in an autodoc. Ten personality choices. The chemical differences aren't big, but...infantry, which means killing on foot..."
Be sure to take a look at the entry for crechepod, from The Godmakers, by Frank Herbert.
For the most part, expert systems running on computers may make use of data from EEG or other monitors to provide a better visualization of the data for medical staff (see Penn Researchers Develop Smart Intensive Care Unit System Using Advanced Computer Intelligence. Only a few systems actually allow the hardware itself to make an intervention in the patient's care; for example, if a patient's vital signs merit it, additional drugs may be injected intravenously.
Compare to Robert Silverberg's diagnostat from his 1969 novel The Man in the Maze.
"Nowadays surgery was normally done by autodocs..."
"Something is happening in Aristarchus, something that requires a medic."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Ringworld
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Ringworld
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Autodoc-related
news articles:
- ERNIE The Robot Pharmacist - More Accurate Than Humans
- LSTAT-lite Life Support For Trauma and Transport-lite Demoed
- Doctor-Bots Play 'Operation'
- Robot Surgeon - Autonomous Tabletop Robotic Surgery At Duke
- Shrapnel-Locating Autonomous Robot
- App Turns iPhone Into Autodoc (Almost)
- C-Path Computational Pathologist Better Than Doctors
- AI 'Doctor' System Better Than Human
- AliveCor App Detects Heart Arrhythmias, Has FDA Approval
- Sense.ly Virtual Nurse Will See You Soon
- Radisens' Gemini Instant Blood Tests
- Computer Finds Cancer Doctors Miss
- Surgery In Space
- Human Doctors Still Better Than Computers
- iFlytek Doctor Robot First To Pass Medical Exams
- First 3D Printed Human Corneas From Stem Cells
- Biomind AI Doctor Mops Floor With Human Doctors
- Space Traumapod For Surgery In Spacecraft
| PEDOT Polymer Could Enhance Brain-Machine Interfaces |
| BioVYZR Is Ready, Anti-Covid19 PAPR Lovers |
| Healight Ultraviolet Endotracheal Device Has Covid-19 Treatment Potential |
| Beat Covid-19 With AIR By MicroClimate - At Last I Get My PAPR |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'...just a steady velvety whirr as the taxi sped along.'
'..a wide sheet of clear material suddenly flared with light and swirling colour.'
"I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men...'
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power...'
Okay, sf fans. If you could have some art created from a science fiction sentence, what sentence would you pick?
'There were the cleaners, with large padded feet, who were apparently polishing their way the whole length...'
It's fascinating to me how the Apollo program forced people to think outside their usual boxes.
'Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures, like excavators or centipedes.'
'the hair-fine wire going deep into Owen's brain, down into the pleasure center.'
