Last Updated Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:08:24 EST

CBC News

A company in Fredericton has designed a computer system to help doctors and nurses talk to patients in a variety of languages.

The program, designed by MedBridge, had a test run in Saint John on Tuesday, where hospital staff watched the computer translate health terminology into Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Portugese, French, Russian and other languages.

Health workers can ask patients questions in different languages through the computer, which also allows the patients to see the words on the screen in their own language.

MedBridge president Robert DiDiodato said the program can deal with a variety of questions.

``When the health provider is using this system they can double-click and ask them things like how bad is your pain? Or...what allergies do you have? There`s an interface that`s available for the patient to select and respond to whatever questions are posed.``

If a patient is deaf, the system can also translate into American Sign Language using video.

Health professionals who watched the demonstration saw potential in the system. But they also had a few concerns.

Dialects could be a roadblock, said Francine Bordage, the administrative director for the New Brunswick Heart Centre. ``If you come from Edmundston, use of terminologies is not quite the same as if you come from Shediac or Richibucto.``

The MedBridge system is already in use at hospitals in New York, Toronto and Halifax.

The Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation is in the market for a system like this and has secured federal funding.