Monday, March 5, 2012

iRobot expanded a partnership with InTouch Health







In late January, iRobot expanded a partnership with InTouch Health, a small company that enables doctors at computer screens to treat stroke victims and other patients from afar. And this week, Texas Instruments said it would supply iRobot with powerful new processors that could help the robots be more interactive and gradually lower their cost.

Robot Corp. announced a $6 million investment and expanded partnership with InTouch Health, a remote presence telemedicine solution provider. The $6 million investment represents a minority position in the company.

“We have a firm belief that the robotics market is on the cusp of exploding,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president and general manager of the Texas Instruments unit that makes the processors.

Under the expanded agreement, InTouch Health will provide access to FDA regulated healthcare facilities, providing iRobot with an initial foray into hospitals, emergency care facilities, patient wards and operating and procedure rooms. Working closely together, iRobot and InTouch will collaborate on a wide variety of technologies across each company’s patent portfolio and leverage combined expertise in remote presence telemedicine solutions.

"Currently operating in over eighty hospitals in the U.S. and around the world, InTouch is in a very unique position as one of the first developers of FDA-cleared telemedicine devices," said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. "iRobot's investment will further align these two leaders, creating a best of breed partnership that will develop robots for remote healthcare and assistive technologies for the elderly."

"As evident from the demonstrations of Ava, iRobot is the industry leader in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence." said Yulun Wang, chairman and CEO of InTouch Health. "Working together, InTouch Health and iRobot will pioneer remote presence in healthcare settings, providing anytime anywhere patient care in hospital ICU's, patient wards and operating and procedure rooms."

Sources:
NYTimes.com

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