Medical robots are assisting healthcare providers in giving their patients more intelligent, thorough treatment. The recovery process can be drawn out and emotionally taxing, especially when nurses and medical staff are overworked. For both patients and caregivers, medical robots can assist and fill in the gaps and revolutionize the healing process. Medical robots are becoming integral to healthcare thanks to some amazing advancements made in recent years and many advanced healthcare facilities have already started using Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. The robots can carry out important tasks such as data collection, surgery, cancer research, and genetic testing, etc.
Robotics in healthcare is being used in numerous ways like:
- Nursing Care
Even though nurses work extremely hard, they just aren’t adequate to care for every single patient, especially in hospitals with huge patient load. Robotic nurses are assisting teams that are understaffed. A venipuncture robot, for instance, may create a 3D image of a patient’s arm to show a nurse exactly where the patient’s vein is, making it considerably simpler and quicker to take blood. This enhances the patient experience as well, as many people find needles to be unpleasant and even terrifying. Furthermore, autonomous nursing robots can support with duties like patient lifting and transfers and patient vitals surveillance. These delegated tasks being assigned to a robot permits nurses to spend more time on patient care.
- Sanitation
The importance of cleaning and sanitizing care areas has pointedly amplified during and after the COVID-19 epidemic. Today’s healthcare facilities must reliably carry out high-quality sanitization procedures because it is crucial to the healing process. Sanitation and decontamination tasks are suitable for medical robots. This is an easy, repetitive job that requires lesser specialized skill set. Maintenance staff can concentrate on more crucial activities, like repairs or cleaning up spills or messes, by delegating cleaning to a UV disinfection robot.
- Exoskeletons
Though they might not be the first thing that jumps to your mind when you hear the word “robot,” exoskeletons are fundamentally altering the way that people heal. Patients recovering from injuries that call for extensive physical therapy are most affected by this. Robotic exoskeletons serve as an external set of muscles and bones that teach the body how to move normally once more. Even persons with disabilities may be able to restore their movement with the aid of these exoskeletons. The ability to go outdoors once more thanks to robotic exoskeletons gives patients a sense of freedom and motivation that is essential to the recovery process.
- Healing Companions and Monitors
Support on an emotional level is a key factor in the healing process of a patient recovering from any illness. It has been discovered that patients can receive this emotional support from robots in a remarkably effective way. This can be achieved through soothing and meaningful conversations. The “Stevie” robot, created by academics at Trinity College Dublin, is an excellent illustration of a robotic assistant in action. But it isn’t just about talking to Stevie and playing cards with her. The robot is proving emotional support to the residents while simultaneously watching out for any indications of medical distress. In an emergency, it can recognize spoken instructions such as “help me,” and connect the patient with nursing or medical personnel. For patients of all ages, this variety of capabilities is tremendously valuable.
- AI Doctors and VR Gaming
The best medical robots today are basically computer applications. Over the past few years, as telemedicine has gained popularity, AI physicians and coaches have become increasingly prevalent. For instance, AI systems are assisting doctors in more accurate and early disease diagnosis. AI is even capable of developing a completely unique and tailored treatment plan that is thoroughly fitted to the individual demands of a patient.
AI is already altering the healing process by providing Virtual Reality to recuperating patients. The AI trainers included in virtual reality fitness games serve as a prime illustration of this. VR is a fantastic tool for gamifying the healing process to encourage patients and boost optimism.
- Microbots – For the Future
For many years, scientists have been creating “microbots.” These are microscopic machines that can easily and quickly make repairs while moving throughout the human body. Microbots would do surgery from within the body of the patient as opposed to cutting the patient open. These robots are significantly less likely than traditional surgical techniques to damage tissue or result in other complications because they can be as small as a single human cell. It is exceedingly challenging to build robots this small that can yet be operated precisely. Numerous approaches to the technology are being tested by researchers from all around the world.
For both caregivers and patients, the healing process is becoming quicker, safer, and smarter thanks to medical robots. Medical robots help nurses and healthcare teams by reducing stress and staffing shortages. Robots provide patients with companionship, movement, and personalized care.
An industry that is always evolving is robotics. Medical robots are just getting started, and new discoveries in the future will undoubtedly further transform healthcare by enabling intuitive healing based on cutting-edge technology.
Robotics and AI need to be more advanced and tested thoroughly before they can be fully integrated into the market and depended upon. If both AI and Robotics can be seamlessly combined, the whole healthcare sector will be revolutionized. AI and robotics can assure a quicker launch date, an accurate and efficient operation, and personalized patient care. They can also automate the production of medicine and drugs.
The employment of robots is altering healthcare and will continue to change it in ways we can only fathom, even though the technology is expensive and some of it is still years away from being used.
