A diagnostic robot based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), named Herbizon, has been presented in Portugal. The equipment, which integrates intelligent diagnostic functions and the preparation of therapeutic herbal beverages, results from a co-operation between the Macao University of Science and Technology (MUST) and a TCM laboratory at Guangdong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, located in the Hengqin special economic zone.

According to the project lead, after more than a year of testing at a clinic in Lisbon, the robot will be formally launched on 17 April at the Egas Moniz School of Health & Sciences in Almada.

Herbizon integrates an internal library of 14 smart tea formulas, selected from over 1,300 substances, and is capable of preparing a personalised beverage within three to eight minutes. The artificial intelligence that powers Herbizon is based on a large language model, trained on extensive medical literature and classical texts, in conjunction with the DeepSeek Pro model.

In addition, the robot incorporates diagnostic functions inspired by the four classic TCM methods — facial and tongue inspection, auscultation, inquiry and pulse analysis — using multimodal perception technologies.

(Source: RTP Notícias, 14 April)