Robotics in Healthcare – Types, Application, Pros and Cons

Robots are becoming a part of life. It is making our life very easy as well as comfortable. Robotics in healthcare is taking place of humans as humans are trusting the robots for the surgeries because they are doing their work more perfectly.

The surgery cost is also reduced when done by the robots. It helps the nurses to keep the check on the several patients at a particular period of time and also advise the nurses when there is a need of a human doctor. They are also reducing the risks for the patients in the surgeries.

Robotic carts can easily carry food and medicines from one floor to another for the patients. There are various examples of robotics in healthcare: medical device packaging, lab automation, and many more.

History of robots in healthcare

The tradition in the medical field says that the person doing any surgery should have diagnostic and surgical skills so that the surgeries would be successful. So, in history, surgeries that are done by robots are successful. The history of robotics in healthcare says that robots are more useful in surgeries as they work faster as well as in a safe environment.

Read: How Robotic Surgery is Changing the Way to Treat Diseases?

Future of robotics in healthcare

There are many benefits of robotics in healthcare:

1. They provide proper care and treatment to the patient– In this, the robots give time-to-time proper check-ups and reports to the doctor and the family members. They provide more empathy to the patients so they can recover for a long time.
2. Provide a safe environment for the patient– They lift heavy things to reduce the work strain on the workers. They also supply medicines to the patients where there is a risk for the workers of infection as the robots do not get infected and neither they spread infection.
3. Some clinical settings– they have the proper timetable fit which the doctors have fitted in the mind and they follow that only. They are very punctual and do the work very fast. They sanitized the room very quickly without any damage.

Types of healthcare robots

Robots are playing a vital role in robotic process automation in healthcare. So various robots are divided according to their function in different categories which are as follows:

1. Surgical robots: Nowadays most surgeries are done by humans but as time changes the surgeries would be done by the robots. Robots will do every surgery whether it is internal or external.
2. Care robots: This is another category of robots. They are mostly used for caring the elder persons and even for a disabled person as they need someone almost all the time. These are mostly used in the countries like Japan as fewer people give proper care. They involve the person who does not have people interaction. They are always ready to help the patients when there is a need.
3. Hospital robots: This one of the most important categories of robots. They are mostly found in hospitals for taking the food from one floor to the other and also giving medicines to the patients. They are also used to lift heavy things like beds, boxes of medicines, and many more.

Pros and cons of robots in healthcare

Cons:

1. Robots are very much expensive.
2. Surgery done by robots are expensive than normal surgery.
3. If the mistake is done by robots, then whom do you blame the doctor or the robot as the robot is a machine which is made by humans. If humans can make a mistake, then machines can also make a mistake.
4. The medical staff should be trained if you want to work with robotics in healthcare. It would take a lot of time.

Pros:

1. Service robots in healthcare provide faster diagnosis.
2. They are not getting any disease and even not transferring the disease.
3. They can easily do work without any rest.
4. They do the calculations faster.

Home healthcare robots

Home healthcare robots take proper care without any mistakes and even give treatment if required. It sees the patient’s symptoms and sends the details to the doctors. These are made for the elderly as they cannot do work, and they need someone all the time for their help and the robots are always there for help.

They always keep interaction with them so that they can keep an updated record. They are making the work easier for the people. The home healthcare robots sent updates to the family members or the doctors so that the doctors know each and everything of their patient.

Application of robots in healthcare

There are many applications of robots in healthcare which are as follows:

• Telepresence: Some doctors use robots in rural areas or remote areas to examine the patient and even give the full treatment to the patient when they need them.
• Surgical assistants: In remote areas, these robots assist doctors in surgeries. The doctors can move the hand and legs of the robots while sitting out of the room or on a chair near to the patient. It makes the typical surgery successful and even easier.
• Rehabilitation robots: These are mostly designed to make the recovery of the patient. It also improves the patient mobility, strength, coordination, and responses. They can also improve the patient walking, talking, and many more.
• Medical transportation robots: These are designed to transfer medicines from one place to the other. As the medicines can be skipped from the mind of the doctors or the staff members but the robots can’t forget the medicines and give the patient the proper medicines at the proper time.
• Sanitation and disinfection robots: The infections and bacteria are increasing daily. So, the robots are designed to clean the surfaces and keep sanitation in the hospitals so that the patient should not be infected by any bacteria or any disease because the bacteria are present everywhere and can infect anyone.
• Robotic prescription dispensing system: the main feature of the robots are they give the work with accuracy and very fast.

Some healthcare robotic company

• Diligent robotics: this is the company of Texas that is making the robots for the time-consuming work in the hospitals like making the room of the patient neat and clean, giving proper sanitation and much more work.
• ReWalk robotics: it is from Marlborough. It designs the robots for the persons who cannot walk properly and by using this robot they can move freely without any help. It is having the motor at the hip and the person can wear and move accordingly. It is light in weight.
• Myoma: this is the most famous company in Cambridge. They are designing the robots for the paralyzed person or the person who has a problem due to any infection or other issues. It is having some motors which help the person to do some movements of the arm.
• Intuitive surgeries: these are the robots that are used for invasive surgeries. It is having a well-advanced motor and equipment which is doing the work more easily and faster.
• Softbank robotics: these are designed to engage the patients in some work when they are doing mental and physical work so that the doctors can do their work without any disturbance.
• Embodied: they are used when the patients needed the proper care or attention of someone. This company is located in California.
• Harvard bio-design lab: these are designed to make the people properly move after an accident or person having weak muscle. It is found in Marlborough.

Disadvantages of robots in healthcare

As we know that coins are having two sides robots in healthcare are also having advantages and disadvantages. There are many disadvantages of robotics in healthcare which are as follows:

• It is very much costly. Every hospital cannot afford these robots for the betterment of the hospital.
• It can cause many complications in the surgeries.
• A lot of space is required for setting the robotics healthcare system in the hospital.
• The robots will take place of the people and unemployment would occur in the cities.

Advantages of robots in healthcare

• The surgeries would be done smoothly without any mistakes. The surgery’s success rate would be higher.
• The productivity would be increased.
• The robots will work accurately with the time and the work given to the robot.
• It reduces the stress and workload of the doctor.
• It provides proper monitoring facilities to the patients.
• It is having a lot of demand in the field of medicines and technology as it is doing the work with perfection and without any mistake.
• It works at a punctual time without wasting any time.

Conclusion

Robots are used everywhere in healthcare centres also. They are affecting the life of the patients indirectly or directly. They are used to sanitize the rooms of the patients so that the patients do not get infected. They even diagnose the patients. They also transport the medicines to the patients. They even take care of elderly patients disabled patients and also involve them in conversation so that they should not feel any pain or get bored.