The idea of using robots to improve healthcare is not new; a plan to transform industrial robots into precise tools for surgery and beyond was proposed as early as 1985. The introduction and advancement of the DaVinci robot in the early 2000s, as well as this legendary grape surgery film, demonstrate how far technology has progressed.
However, robotics in healthcare, no matter how brilliant, is still a human-controlled system. Artificial intelligence systems that can learn so much that they can exceed the greatest doctors by synthesizing all of the available knowledge in all medical repositories will be the true magic of the 21st-century robo-doctor. Most experts believe, however, that AI will not replace skilled medical personnel; rather, it will improve their efficiency in various areas, including:
1) Improving accuracy
They’re always on top of things, and there’s never a moment when they’re not paying attention. If this seems like the ideal surgeon, it’s because it was the driving force behind a number of robots that are now in use in some of the world’s most prestigious hospitals. These are known as Waldo surgeons, and they can bridge the gap between humans and robots by performing duties with high precision, greater strength, and no knife tremors. The human surgeon assumes a secondary, supervising function as long as the software is correctly set for the undergoing process.
Excellent precision also comes in the form of targeted micro-robots, which go precisely where they are needed and deploy drugs locally or even perform micro-surgery, such as unclogging blood vessels.
2) Precise diagnosis
According to InData Labs specialists, the actual potential of AI resides in recognizing patterns that explain diverse illnesses by researching healthcare records and other data. The machine can examine thousands of cases and hunt for connections between hundreds of variables, some of which aren’t even mentioned in current medical literature.
Areas where I am. An endoscopic technology from Japan, for example, identifies colon cancer in real time and is 86 percent accurate. However, this does not compare to IBM Watson, which has already achieved a 99 percent accuracy rate in cancer diagnosis.
3) Remote treatment
DARPA was the first to propose using a robot for medical reasons remotely in the 1990s, but communication networks at the time were incapable of providing the required support to treat soldiers on the battlefield. This is no longer an issue because to current 4G and impending 5G standards. DARPA continues to support these initiatives, but it appears that robotic surgery still requires human assistance for sanitation and other chores, which complicates matters and makes them uneconomical.
The US Department of Defense recently financed research at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to develop an autonomous robotic trauma care system for treating soldiers injured in remote regions.
Malpractice issues
Probably the most controversial question regarding the use of intelligent robots is the risk of malpractice. As long as the technology is just a tool coordinated by the doctor, the latter carries the risks. The situation changes when the AI system is advanced enough to take its own decisions, without human confirmation.
If one of these decisions has led to a failure of the treatment, who is responsible? The doctor who did not stop the machine at the right time? The programmer who did not foresee that possibility? Right now, due to the novelty of this problem, there is no clear answer yet. As time passes and the AI for the healthcare area becomes more regulated, there will be a more precise way of dealing with these problems.
One way AI, together with some AR capabilities, can help surgeons is by creating a real-time, customized overlay during the surgery, highlighting blood vessels and other sensitive areas. If a robotic arm is used, the knowledge library can suggest various tools to be used based on current best practices.
Another type of remote healthcare robot is a simple bot-pill that performs an endoscopy in a much more comfortable way than previous options. This ‘magical pill’ sends pictures of your intestines as it travels them, and you eliminate it naturally.
4) Augmenting human abilities
In addition to medical personnel, certain medical robots assist patients. Exoskeleton robots, for example, can assist paralyzed individuals in walking again and become self-sufficient.
A smart prosthesis is another technological application. These bionic limbs include sensors that make them more reactive and accurate than natural body parts, with the option of covering them with bionic skin and connecting them to the person’s muscles.
5) Supporting mental health and daily tasks
Service robots can perform human functions like making sick or elderly patients feel less lonely. Conversational and companion robots can help these patients stay positive, remind them to take their medicine and perform simple routine check-ups like temperature, blood pressure, and sugar levels.
These are almost like personal assistants and even come with built-in personality and sentiment analysis capabilities, which are especially helpful for depressed patients.
6) Auxiliary robots
There is a lot of work to be done in a hospital, and not just doctors may use some assistance. Nurses and healthcare employees can benefit from the assistance of robots such as Diligent Robotics’ Moxi robot.
A UV Light disinfectant robot, which enters a hospital room and does not depart until it is germ-free, is another fantastic auxiliary robot.
Moving forward
Many individuals use social networking, Netflix, Siri, Alexa, and other “smart” technologies without realizing that machine learning powers many of these systems. As each of these AI and robotics technologies in healthcare improves, officials should describe the benefits of these advancements rather than the technology to assist smooth the adoption curve and assuage any anxieties regarding the usage of AI and robots in the medical domain.
