• To help children placed in isolation as part of their cancer, the Toulouse University Hospital offers families to welcome Buddy, a small robot, to the home, which allows the child to keep in contact with his home.

  • Supported and funded by the Toulouse association “The hope of princess Manon”, this project has already enabled four children to stay in touch with their loved ones through the robot.

  • According to families and doctors, this "intelligent" companion has beneficial effects on the child and helps to break the isolation.

For several days, Alexis was able to play with Carla, when she came home from school at the end of the day. However, several kilometers separated him from his sister. Suffering from leukemia, the 11-year-old boy was in isolation, in the pediatric hematology-oncology service of the Toulouse University Hospital, to which his younger daughter did not have access. But thanks to Buddy, a smart little robot present at the family home, they were able to stay connected and continue to play.

From her hospital room, thanks to a tablet, Alexis could every evening call her sister who saw her brother's face appear instead of Buddy's eyes, a little gem of technology no higher than a cat standing on its paws and who can sneak around.

“It's as if I was at home, I could go to my room and see things that have changed,” explains the boy, who was able to observe from a distance the work carried out in his absence by his parents.

Make the child autonomous

Better than video calls on a cell phone, the electronic companion gives the child the possibility of being independent, of going to see his animals or even to participate in family meals if he wants to. “For the two little ones it was a great moment of sharing. During Alexis' first isolation, they both suffered, they called each other on video but it didn't work so well. There, my daughter was hiding and manipulating Buddy to find her, they had a lot of fun, ”says Sandrine, Alexis' mother, fully behind this technological project launched and funded by“ The Hope of Princess Manon ”.

After the loss of their daughter, Thierry Gauthier and his wife Anne decided to create this association and to get involved in helping children with leukemia to cope better with their isolation. Initially, this aeronautical employee had the idea of ​​creating from A to Z with his colleagues from the Airbus Humanity Lab a prototype robot that could interact with the family unit. Before stumbling upon Buddy, made by the French company Blue Frog Robotics, which with its cute design and large expressive eyes met the needs of a pediatric ward.

“The advantage is also that we can work on software, integrate them into the robot to develop it specifically for the hospital. We therefore tested it initially, and since then, four children have benefited from it, ”explains the co-founder of the association, which intends to buy a second copy of this robot made in France shortly. Then others, who could for example benefit little Toulouse, forced like Alexis to leave for a month in Bordeaux, in a sterile room after having had a bone marrow transplant.

“The advantage of Buddy is that the child is independent, he controls the robot from the tablet, he has the choice to put his face on or have an avatar if he is not in good spirits.

He cannot connect on his own either, this allows parents to keep some privacy… Quite simply because sometimes mum and dad cry and they don't want to do it in front of their child, or when they do. talk to each other, ”assures Thierry Gauthier, for whom the robot helps both young patients and their loved ones.

Benefits soon to be studied

Given his size and weight, Buddy can be taken to family meals, Christmas parties and maybe one day he will allow the child to go to class virtually with his friends, or to participate in school trips to the Museum. Especially since there is a real interaction, when you stroke the robot, hearts appear on the tablet of the little patient. And when the latter has a stroke of blues, he can use an avatar with sad eyes to convey the message to those close to him.

“For us, the idea is really to improve child care and supportive care. We know that the psychological side and the experience of the treatment have an important part in the result. That the child lives better the stage of isolation is part of it. For the moment, on the four families who have tested Buddy, we have very positive feedback, the children are very happy, ”explains Doctor Cécile Boulanger, from the hematology-oncology department of the Toulouse University Hospital. With the association and the nursing team, she has set some rules for the use of the little companion, from the duration of use to the terms of appeal.

To assess the socio-psychological benefits of this new tool, a study will be launched. But already, she sees a use, especially after this long period of Covid-19 where visits were even more limited. “If the parents want to take him to the sibling's year-end show, they can. Budy can talk, take pictures, zoom in if the child wants to see up close, like little Gabin who has an aquarium and can thus follow his fish. The child must be able to be an actor and decide, and that makes them an objective during the day, ”assures the practitioner.

While a previous experiment had been carried out in Lyon with a tabletop system on wheels, with Buddy the doctor was able to appreciate the playful aspect of the robot, its size too and its transportable aspect.

And she's hoping generous patrons will help fund more so other kids can have the chance to have a Buddy in their home to help them stay in touch.

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  • Robotics

  • Care

  • Child

  • Hospital

  • Robot

  • Leukemia

  • Health

  • Cancer

  • Toulouse