A robot, jointly developed by Macau University of Science and Technology and the Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine in southern China, has modernized and enhanced the accessibility of traditional Chinese medicine.
Suzana Carvalho, a local resident, holds a cup of herbal beverage tailored for her by a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) intelligent robot at the Instituto Universitario Egas Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal, April 17, 2026. (Photo/Xinhua)
Lisbon - Suzana Carvalho, a resident of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, stood before a robot resembling a sleek vending machine.
About five minutes later, she smiled as she held a steaming cup of herbal drink tailored to support her health after undergoing a brief scan and answering a series of questions from the device.
"It's incredible," Carvalho said. "I've always been curious about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), but I didn't expect it to be so advanced."
The demonstration took place on Friday at Instituto Universitario Egas Moniz in Lisbon, where medical professionals from China and Portugal, along with faculty members and students, gathered to witness the robot's campus debut.
The robot was jointly developed by Macau University of Science and Technology and the Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine in southern China, aiming to modernize and enhance the accessibility of traditional Chinese medicine.
A woman tries out a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) intelligent robot at the Instituto Universitario Egas Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal, April 17, 2026. (Photo/Xinhua)
It combines intelligent hardware with a specialized TCM model developed in Hengqin, alongside advanced AI technologies such as DeepSeek, according to the project's leader Han Zitian, a professor at the School of Innovation Engineering of Macau University of Science and Technology.
Han said the robot can store up to 1,300 prescriptions, most drawn from classic TCM formulas and pre-vetted by experienced practitioners.
With health data gathered by built-in cameras, a pulse-sensing device and a question list, the robot can work out a personalized herbal formula and offer tea-like drink, a seamless "consultation-to-consumption" experience.
The robot has become a great hit in the campus in Lisbon and surrounded by the crowd. Its stock of ingredients has been used up within just two to three hours after its debut.
A pharmacist weighs herbs at a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic of Tongrentang in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 13, 2025.(Photo/Xinhua)
"The popularity is beyond our expectation," said Jose Joao Mendes, president of the Portugese institute. "It gives us greater confidence in expanding the collaboration with Chinese partners in this field."
The cooperation between Chinese and Portuguese institutions has been promoted recently in various fields, from joint laboratories and academic programs to clinical practice and professional training.
Looking ahead, Han said the team hopes to introduce more advanced versions of the robot with expanded diagnostic capabilities to Portugal, with Portugal's regulatory approval, to make TCM more accessible and serve the public abroad more efficiently.