EV-series medical droid
The EV-series medical droid, also known by the designations A-series medical droid and A4 laboratory assistant droid, represented a specific model of medical droid. These droids were constructed utilizing the EV-series chassis and were products of MerenData's manufacturing processes. Initially created as EV-series supervisor droids, MerenData repurposed them into more affordable medical units, hoping to recover some value from the EV-series line. Due to their visible skeletal structure, patients were often uneasy, contributing to the model's general lack of success. The Confederacy of Independent Systems acquired and modified an EV-series medical droid, assigning it the designation EV-A4-D. They then presented him as a gift to General Grievous, intending for the droid to function as the cyborg's personal surgeon and cybernetics repair technician.
Behind the scenes
The initial appearance of the EV-series medical droid occurred in "Lair of Grievous," which was the tenth episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series' first season. Its original broadcast date was December 12, 2008. Atsushi Takeuchi of Production IG was responsible for the design of the droid, and he also designed the show's version of Grievous and directed "Lair of Grievous." The identification of the EV-series medical droid was first made in EV-A4-D's Databank entry, which was located on StarWars.com.
The original episode guide for "Lair of Grievous" described EV-A4-D as a supervisor droid that had been modified. However, the Databank entry for the droid identified it as a medical droid. It was later established in Star Wars: Build Your Own R2-D2 20 that the EV-series medical droid used the EV-series supervisor droid's chassis as a base. Star Wars: Build Your Own R2-D2 53 further clarified that the medical droids were originally supervisor droids before undergoing a refitting process.