How are robots transforming the healthcare industry? — Then, Now & Beyond
Application of robotics in healthcare is certainly not a new concept. The history of robots in medicine dates back to 1985 when a robotic arm called “PUMA” assisted with a neurosurgical biopsy; the operation was a complete success. Since then, several major advancements have been made in the fields of robotics and medicine. Over the years, the medical robots have performed a varied set of functions such as assisting the doctors in surgeries, transportation, and delivery of medical supplies and other sensitive materials within healthcare care units, drawing blood samples, providing comfort and support to patients, and so on.
Read on to find out how mobile robots have transformed the healthcare sector through the years and the future of mobile medical robots.
Robots in healthcare, over the past decade
- Medical transportation
The secure, reliable, on-demand transportation of pharmaceuticals is essential to healthcare units as making several trips each day to and from labs and pharmacies is not the best use of the valuable time of the medical staff.
Some healthcare administrators estimate that up to four hours per shift of a technician’s time is spent carrying specimens between labs and receiving locations.
Aethon’s TUG autonomous robot delivers pharmacy medications and laboratory specimens and heavier loads such as meals, linens, and even trash autonomously, giving the staff more time to focus on patient care. It reduces cost-per-delivery by up to 80%. It also secures and automates deliveries that are normally made through pneumatic tubes or manual couriers, including controlled substances and refilling carts.
2. Medical assistance
Robotic medical assistants monitor patient vital statistics and alert the nurses when there is a need for a human presence in the room, allowing nurses to monitor several patients at once. These robotic assistants also automatically feed the data into the patient’s electronic health record. They work in laboratories to take samples and to transport, analyze, and store them. They can locate that vessel and draw the blood with less pain and anxiety for the patient.
3. Sanitation and disinfection
Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are among the leading causes of death in the US.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics show that in the US, 1 in every 25 patients contract an HAI. Of those, 1 in 9 die.
Apart from the human cost, it has financial implications, too. These infections cost more than $30 billion dollars a year. Xenex, a disinfecting robot, developed by a Texas-based company, Xenex Technologies, uses high-intensity ultraviolet light to disinfect any space in a healthcare facility quickly and efficiently. It is more effective in causing cellular damage to microorganisms than any other device designed for disinfection, and thus it reduces the number of HAIs.
Westchester Medical Center reported a 70% decline in Intensive Care Unit C. difficile infection with the use of Xenex Robots.
During COVID-19
Medical professionals are relying on medical robots, seeking hands-free ways to disinfect hospital settings and control the spread of the virus.
Hospitals in China have ordered over 2,000 UVD Robots from the Denmark-based Blue Ocean Robotics. They move autonomously around patients' rooms and operating theatres, covering critical surfaces with virus-and bacteria-killing ultraviolet light. The more light the robot exposes to a surface, the more harmful microorganisms are destroyed. In a patient room, 99.99% of all viruses and bacteria are destroyed within 10 minutes. They disengage the ultraviolet light when someone enters the room. The units were deployed to Wuhan, the first epicenter of the pandemic, and have since been operating in more than 40 countries - in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
"The immediate demand for medical robots has increased significantly with the outbreak of COVID-19"
-Claus Risager, CEO of Blue Ocean Robotics.
The UVD robots can be operated remotely, protecting staff and patients during the disinfection process as well as freeing up medical professionals for other critical tasks.
UBTECH Robotics’ ATRIS, AIMBOT, and Cruzr robots were deployed at a Shenzhen hospital specialized in treating COVID-19 patients. These robots, which are generally used in retail and hospitality scenarios, were modified to perform tasks that can help keep the hospital safer for everyone, especially front-line healthcare workers. The tasks include providing videoconferencing services between patients and doctors, monitoring the body temperatures of visitors and patients, and disinfecting designated areas.
Apart from UVD units, mobile robots like Phollower from Slovakia-based Photoneo have also been safely distributing hospital material in quarantine zones without personal contact.
In the US, the COVID-19 patients are being kept in isolated areas at the Providence Regional Medical Center in Washington. Doctors are taking the help of a robot, equipped with a microphone, stethoscope, and camera, enabling the doctors to treat patients without coming in contact with them directly.
Berkeley University is using robotics to leverage its "pop-up" testing lab, in which an automated liquid-handling robot is analyzing swabs from patients and diagnoses COVID-19.
Two scientists from the University of California partnered with Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) to create from scratch this diagnostic lab, which can process over 1,000 patient samples per day.
In India
The Robotics Company, Milagrow HumanTech deployed two of its robots to advanced COVID-19 ward of AIIMS Delhi to contain the spread of the pandemic amongst doctors and healthcare workers. The first robot, Humanoid ELF, enables doctors to monitor and interact with COVID-19 patients remotely with no personal contact, thereby significantly reducing the transmission risk. It can navigate around the ward autonomously.
The second robot, iMap 9, is a floor disinfecting robot that can navigate and sanitize the floors without any human intervention. It destroys COVID spores on floor surfaces using a sodium hypochlorite solution, as recommended by ICMR. The robot moves around independently without falling, avoiding obstruction while planning its own path, guided by LIDAR and advanced SLAM technology. Both the Milagrow iMap 9 and Humanoid ELF come with the auto charging feature.
According to UK-based data analytics firm, GlobalData, adoption of robots to treat covid-19 patients is expected to grow in India due to shortage of PPE or personal protective equipment.
The robot at Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru uses face and speech recognition to ask questions and thermal scanners to take temperature reading. Once it has screened and cleared a person, it issues a pass to enter. In case it detects higher body temperature, it will alert the doctors, and patients can consult a hospital doctor directly through the screen on the robot.
The remote-controlled COBOT-Robotics developed by District Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) Aditya Ranjan, serves food and gives medicine to COVID-19 patients in two hospitals in Jharkhand, without human intervention. Adverb Technologies, a global robotics firm based in Noida, deployed a fleet of robots to hospitals to deliver medicines, minimizing the risk for the healthcare workers. Another set of robots supplied by a Gurgaon based robotics company, Hi Tech Robotic Systemz were employed at AIIMS’ Jhajjar facility, to serve food and medicines to patients.
A Case Study on ASIMoV Robotics
ASIMoV Robotics private limited is a Kochi-based startup which was started in April 2012. The startup provides robotic arms and manipulators and design consultancy in robotic simulation and control, machine-vision, training, virtual reality, and navigation applications. ASIMOV also designs robotic configurations for clients as per their requirements. Its clients include TCS, Cognizant, Accenture, Samsung, HCL, DRDO, and HDFC Bank.
Sayabot
One of its flagship products is a robot called ‘Sayabot’, referred to as ‘Saya’, which is also its wakeup code. It is a humanoid torso on wheels and can help with personal assistance (guidance, information, physical assistance), engagement, safety and security, surveillance and tele-operations. Each of these functions is customised as per customer requirements. AI and machine learning are used for autonomous navigation, gesture and speech recognition and battery power management. ASIMoV has customised Sayabot to work for hospitals, banks, hotels, airports, corporate offices, retail stores, and remote education.
Their contribution to the battle against COVID-19
ASIMoV Robotics developed a robot named "KARMI-Bot" which is being used to assist patients at the COVID-19 isolation ward in Ernakulam Government Medical College. KARMI-Bot serves food and medicines to COVID-19 patients, collects trash, performs disinfection and enables video calls between the doctor and patients. It reduces the interaction between COVID-19 patients and health workers and it addresses the shortage of PPE kits by minimising its use.
Further scope- Looking into the future
What are the future possibilities for robots in the field of healthcare?
The COVID crisis has revealed the exceptional functionalities of mobile medical robots. This has provided the necessary thrust needed for hastening the technological advancements to be made in the coming years.
In the near future, robotic surgeries will have enhanced imaging, greater autonomy, and optimized learning. Researchers and medical experts should focus on increasing the levels of autonomy in robotic surgery and on removing the legal and ethical barriers associated with medical robots.
There would be Nanobots swimming in our bloodstream. With the emergence of digestible and digital pills, we are quickly getting closer to Nanobots. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute have been experimenting with exceptionally micro-sized – smaller than a millimeter – robots that swim through your bodily fluids and could be used to deliver drugs or other medical relief in a highly targeted way. These scallop-like microbots are designed to swim through non-Newtonian fluids, like human bloodstream, around the lymphatic system, or across the slippery goo on the surface of the eyeballs. When swallowed, the capsule containing it dissolves in the patient’s stomach and unfolds itself. Controlled by a technician with the help of magnetic fields, it can patch up wounds in the stomach lining or safely remove foreign items such as swallowed toys. One challenge in microbot technology is finding a way to make medical microbots mobile more biocompatible with the human body.
The pandemic has made professionals realize the indispensability of mobile robots in the healthcare sector. However, they not only reduce the risk of transmission of deadly diseases but also present several other benefits such as better precision in surgeries, improved productivity of medical staff, emotional support to elderly patients, reduced infection rates and efficient and timely delivery of medical supplies, enabling the healthcare workers to focus on more vital tasks and procedures. With the rapid advancements made in the field of medical robots, the robot manufacturers and researchers should be prepared to address legal and ethical issues concerning the role of robots in healthcare to provide more assurance and clarity to patients and justify their actions to legislative and administrative bodies.
