Project
Miroki
A world first: a humanoid companion robot inside the pediatric radiotherapy care journey at the ICM Montpellier.
Not to heal. So that no child is ever alone inside the bunker.
Why
In radiotherapy, nobody can stay with the child during irradiation. The beam is too powerful. Not the parents, not the caregivers. Nobody.
A five-year-old girl would cry every day at every session. It took her over an hour to complete a treatment that was supposed to last ten minutes. Tears for her. Tears for her mother, her father. And us, behind the bunker door, unable to do anything.
I started looking for another way. The full story is here: Miroki, the crying child, and the robot that handed me a towel.
How
A three-step care journey, designed so the bond between the child and Miroki forms before the first session.
- The consultation. Miroki waits for the child and parents at the end of the announcement consultation. The child meets him for real.
- The preparation. Miroki goes along with every technical step (simulation scan, positioning, fabrication of a thermoformed mask for brain tumors).
- The treatment. Miroki enters the radiotherapy room with the child. The child is no longer alone.
Where it stands
- 14 children documented, 172+ recorded interactions.
- Dosimetric validation confirmed: first patient accompanied all the way into the irradiation room without disturbing the dose (July 2025).
- Impact on general anesthesia and cooperation quality: a hypothesis to be demonstrated by the continuation of the protocol.
- Publications: in progress.
- KOKORO protocol (心, heart and mind in Japanese), carried by the SIRIC Montpellier Cancer.
- Industrial partner: Enchanted Tools, a young French startup that designs the Miroki robot.