The Growing Emergence of Robots in Healthcare
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Konica Minolta Deploys AI Robots to Support Patient Care at Hospital in Italy.
Robots are a rapidly growing part of the modern health care landscape. The history of robots in medicine dates back to 1985 when a robotic arm called “PUMA” assisted with surgery for the first time. The operation — a neurosurgical biopsy — was a complete success.
Some of today’s health care robots make PUMA look a little primitive by comparison. Advances in sensor and motion control technologies mean robots are more precise and autonomous than ever, and capable of not just assisting, but carrying out complex surgeries themselves.
Other market drivers of robotic healthcare innovations include devising new care models for a large and rapidly aging population and the challenge of bringing high-quality care to new and undeserved markets in a cost-effective way.
There are several key opportunities and benefits for healthcare providers and patients when robots become part of the services offered. These advantages include:
Provide assistance or comfort to patients or visitors .
Eliminate human error in delicate, high-risk procedures .
Reduce the time required for surgeries .
Improve patient recovery time .
Shorten hospital stays .
Create targeted and personalized treatments .
Use Cases for Robots in Healthcare .
With these unique benefits in mind, let’s look at some real-world use cases for robots in healthcare that exist today or are very close to reaching the market.
1. Robots in Surgery and Orthopedics
Early 2019 saw the first documented case of a surgeon performing surgery over a distance using robotic assistance and a 5G internet connection. Remote surgery wasn’t possible with previous-generation connectivity technologies, since only 5G has the low latency required to maintain parity between the movements of the surgeon and the robotic arm.
The coming years will see this model improved further as the required technologies come of age. That includes 5G connectivity, which is not yet widely available, and the ability for robots to act of their own volition with even less human intervention.
One candidate that points the way forward is Mako Surgical’s knee replacement orthopedic robot. Within a relatively portable package, the robot carries the apparatus required to CT-scan a patient’s knee, 3D-print an accurate model of the joint and assist with pre-surgery planning that’s tailored to each patient. The robot has an arm to keep the angles and placement of surgical tools precise and on target in all three dimensions throughout the surgery.
Even the most advanced surgical robotic systems don’t eliminate human surgeons entirely. But the benefits of the current systems are impressive: Surgeons can perform more surgeries in the same amount of time as they did previously, with higher success rates.
2. Microbots in Disease Detection and Treatment .
Let’s shift gears from large metal arms to tiny, capsule-sized robots that aid in disease detection and treatment. The procedure is known as “capsule endoscopy” received FDA approval years ago, but modern technology may finally deliver on all of its promises.
Capsule endoscopy requires the patient to swallow a tiny camera so physicians can take images of the digestive tract. This camera helps spot the telltale signs of disease or other abnormalities that may require surgery. The trouble with existing efforts is that the capsule cameras move about as the patient’s body continues its normal functions.
The medical community has long needed the right robotic technologies to give these tiny cameras motility as well as remote control after the patient has ingested them. Some of the implications of these medical microbots include:
· Removing plaque from arteries.
· Taking tissue biopsies.
· Attacking cancerous tumors directly.
· Delivering targeted medications .