Keiko the robot patient helps train a new generation of robot doctors

Gifu University's Graduate School of Medicine, long fed up with subjecting the general public to the horrors of teaching hospitals (you've seen Scrubs, right?) has teamed up with the Mizuno Technical Institute in Japan to develop Keiko -- an interactive humanoid robot that mimics a number of neurological disorders, responding to the doctor's touch and even holding rudimentary conversations. The robot gives students the opportunity to observe and diagnose rare brain and nervous system illnesses in a classroom setting, where no one can get hurt -- not a bad idea, so long as this doesn't result in a generation of doctors who confuse "veins" with "wires."

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