Gallery: From robo-pills to cyber-surgeons

While the debate over who's going to pay for health care rages on, technology that will assist the diagnosis and treatment of patients is falling into place.

Here are robots designed to care for patients rather than operate on them. The RP7, a remote presence robot that allows clinicians to communicate with patients and colleagues via a video link without actually having to be in the same location.

Patients can also connect to medical devices via the robot, such as electronic stethoscopes, ECG machines and ultrasound. Data gathered by the instruments can then be accessed by clinicians using a remote control station.

This is part of an exhibition on medical robots from London's Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which chronicles the history of medical treatment.

This gallery was produced by Tim Ferguson of silicon.com.

Photo credit: InTouch Technologies