Investors: Press Release
GeckoSystems Recaps Mobile Robots Conference's Discussion of Professional Health Care Cost Savings
CONYERS, Ga., Nov. 11, 2009 -- GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GCKO) -- announced today that during their first annual "Mobile Robots in Motion" conference attendees learned and discussed the expected cost savings and ROI of personal companion robots in professional health care settings. GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging Mobile Service Robot (MSR) industry revolutionizing their development and usage with "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security and Service™."
Perhaps one of the most easily overlooked realities regarding the economics of mobile robots usage is the impact of their providing cost effective utility seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. For example, vital sign monitoring, such as blood pressure and pulse rate, can be readily performed with a mobile robot solution from GeckoSystems. If the CareBotPro™ is only expensed at the rate of ten dollars per hour, twenty-two hours a day, seven days a week, thirty days a month; its utility can be valued at $79,200 per year. If the CareBotPro sold for as much as $50,000, even with annual maintenance costs of $12,000, the payback period would be only nine to ten months. Since this mobile diagnostic medical system will probably be depreciated over a minimum of three years, the impact to the bottom line of healthcare providers can be very dramatic.
Specialized nurses and nighttime nurses could also use personal robot assistants to improve their productivity, efficiency, and favorable patient outcomes.
"If a specialized nurse (eg. such as wound care) can improve their efficiency by only 15% --while enhancing patient outcomes and reducing hospital stays-- this is a notable cost reduction since that nurse probably costs the hospital $60,000 or more per year fully burdened. When the mobile robot is not assisting a specialist nurse, it can be taking vital signs and running time critical errands for the remaining sixteen hours per day during the week and twenty-four hours a day on weekends. The impact of the foregoing realities was discussed and presented during our recent "Mobile Robots in Motion" conference," commented Martin Spencer, President/CEO, GeckoSystems.
Like an automobile, mobile robots are made from steel, aluminum, plastic, and electronics, but with ten to twenty times the amount of software running. The CareBot has an aluminum frame, plastic shroud, two independently driven wheels, multiple sensor systems, microprocessors and several onboard computers connected in a local area network (LAN). The microprocessors directly interact with the sensor systems and transmit data to the onboard computers. The onboard computers each run independent, highly specialized cooperative/subsumptive artificial intelligence (AI) software programs, GeckoSavants™, which interact to complete tasks in a timely, intelligent and common sense manner. GeckoNav™, GeckoChat™ and GeckoTrak™ are primary GeckoSavants. GeckoNav is responsible for maneuvering, avoiding dynamic and/or static obstacles, seeking waypoints and patrolling. GeckoChat is responsible for interaction with the care-receiver such as answering questions, assisting with daily routines and reminders, and responding to other verbal commands. GeckoTrak, which is mostly transparent to the user, enables the CareBot to maintain proximity to the care-receiver using sensor fusion. The CareBot is an internet appliance that is accessible for remote video/audio monitoring and telepresence.
As predicted in the recent Forbes' article (http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/17/robots-health-care-technology-breakthroughs-telehealth.html), due to the sufficiency and cost effective robustness of GeckoSystems' first product, the CareBot™, near term in home evaluation trials have been recently announced. This conference will enable many industry observers to witness and determine for themselves the proximity to market and consumer acceptance their first product will enjoy.