The healthcare industry is undergoing a transformation with the integration of artificial intelligence and robotics in healthcare. From assisting in surgeries to automating repetitive tasks, medical robots are making a significant impact on the way healthcare is delivered. 

As technological advancements continue to happen at an unprecedented pace, it is essential to explore how robotics will affect hospitals and clinical settings in the near and distant future. Since their humble beginnings in the 1980s, medical robotic systems have come a long way in supporting medical procedures and tasks. 

The global medical robotics market is projected to reach $12.7 billion by 2025. In this article, we’ll explore the profound influence of robotic systems in hospitals, highlighting their benefits and potential challenges.

How will Robotics Affect Hospitals?

The integration of robotic assistance into the healthcare industry is set to revolutionize the way hospitals operate, with profound implications for patient care, efficiency, and healthcare professionals. There are several types of healthcare robots currently being employed in hospitals.

Surgical Robots

Surgical robots can be used to assist in performing surgical procedures. Their specific roles within surgery are varied, ranging from instrument control to automated surgical table movement. One of the most prominent and well-established applications of robotics in healthcare is in minimally invasive surgeries. 

Surgical assistance robots, like the Da Vinci Surgical System, have already demonstrated their ability in surgical procedures by enhancing surgical precision, reducing invasiveness, and improving patient outcomes. 

In addition, studies have shown that surgical robots have resulted in far fewer complications following operations. With the help of a surgical robot, surgeons will benefit from these devices greatly. By delivering small, precise incisions, medical robots provide immense value, allowing surgeons to not worry about possible human errors such as fatigue or lack of range of motion. 

These complex robots help surgeons achieve new levels of speed and accuracy while they perform minimally invasive surgery with AI and computer vision‒capable technologies. They predominantly include robotic camera holders and robotic camera controllers in theatre but can also include robotic microscopes, and a robotic scope holder in neurosurgery and transcranial magnetic stimulation robots.

The ability to share a video feed from the operating room to other locations allows surgeons to benefit from consultations with other specialists in their field. As a result, patients have the best surgeons involved in their procedures.

The low-intensity collimated ultrasound (LICU) system falls under the category of interventional robot, primarily used for ablation procedures in conditions like atrial fibrillation. Interestingly, it also involves automated ultrasound imaging capabilities, blurring the line with the imaging assistance category. These versatile functions enable robots to find applications in various healthcare settings.

Another study presents four interventional robots designed to work with MRI, CT, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound imaging devices. The details of each system are given along with any phantom, human, or animal subjects.

Modular Robots

Modular robots are also referred to as rehabilitation and mobility robots. In healthcare, these include therapeutic exoskeleton robots and prosthetic robotic arms and legs. 

Others may be used for posture training through robotic tilt tables or for mobilization through robotic wheelchairs. The most common modular medical robot, Lokomat, is a gait orthosis robot that can be used for rehabilitation in disorders such as stroke.

A randomized controlled pilot study of robotic exoskeleton-assisted exercise rehabilitation (REAER) in multiple sclerosis. The robot evaluated in this study was compared with 4-weeks of conventional gait training as a standard-of-care control condition on functional mobility, walking endurance, cognitive processing speed, and brain connectivity. The comparison revealed that 4 weeks of REAER was associated with large improvements in functional mobility in the control group. 

These specific robot systems support the patient with their rehabilitation, with additional tasks like monitoring a patient’s form as they exercise, the degree of motion as well as tracking progress and accompanying the patient with their rehabilitation journey.

Service Robots

Service robots in healthcare relieve the daily burden on medical staff by handling routine logistical tasks. A service robot can function autonomously and can send a report when it completes its routine tasks. 

These tasks can range from complex tasks like setting up patient rooms, tracking supplies, filing purchase orders, and restocking the medical supply cabinets to basic cleaning and disinfection. There are 2 studies that evaluated the robotic systems Light Strike and Ultra Violet Disinfection Robot (UVD-Robot). Both systems use ultraviolet (UV) light for disinfection of rooms, with the UVD-R being able to move autonomously.

There are also places with pharmacy delivery robots in intensive care units. An example of this is the TUG Automated Delivery System, a robot that after being loaded by an operator was used to autonomously deliver drugs from the pharmacy department to the ICU. 

Social Robots

Social robots interact directly with humans. These socially assistive robots can be used in long-term care environments to provide social interaction and monitoring. In general, a social robot’s form of patient care helps reduce caregiver workloads and improve patients’ emotional well-being.

Autonomous Robots

Autonomous robots help administer remote patient care by physicians and doctors to their patients through remote control. A core feature of the telepresence robotic group is the ability to allow individuals to have a remote presence through means of the robot. They can be taught to self-navigate to their assigned patient rooms, facilitate consultation between the two parties, and perform cleaning and disinfection.

The Impact of Robots on Health

With every newly created or updated robotic system, robotics professionals and enthusiasts can see dozens of opportunities for future growth. Such systems can include remote presence robots for virtual consultations or transportation robots for automated delivery of equipment within hospitals. 

Minimally Invasive Surgery

Robots have been used in minimally invasive procedures including robotic hysterectomy, robotic prostatectomy, bariatric surgery, and other procedures primarily focused on soft tissues. Surgical robots make these procedures easy and accurate, with the goal of reducing infections and other complications. An example is the Corpath 200 system that has been used for procedures such as PCI, with robotic catheter guidance.

The iSR’obot Mona Lisa can assist with visualization and robotic needle guidance in prostate biopsy. One included publication studied this robot prospectively in a group of 86 men undergoing prostate biopsy with the researchers primarily evaluating detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. 

There are also imaging assistance robots that have been specifically used for their ability to assist in carrying out imaging in different areas of medicine. Robot assistance enables the controlled trajectory of the imaging system with high precision and accuracy.

Orthopedic Surgeries

Devices can be preprogrammed to perform common orthopedic surgeries, such as knee and hip replacements. AI modeling enabled robots to be trained in specific orthopedic surgeries, with precise directions for where to go and how to perform the procedures. There are active robotic technologies for total knee arthroplasty.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, if widespread robot adoption in our healthcare systems took place prior, well-established robotic systems that allow for remote surgery or telepresence ward rounds could mean that care can continue to be provided in a consistent manner during a pandemic. This provides a clear example of where telepresence robots may be used to safely conduct remote ward rounds and enhance patient care during a pandemic.

How AI Impacts Healthcare

In today’s environment, the healthcare industry has leaned heavily on technological advancements, particularly through the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in healthcare. Several publications evaluated robots in different aspects of healthcare and assessed their usefulness in the healthcare industry.

Healthcare robots are poised to enhance the quality, operational efficiency, accuracy, and safety of healthcare services through the introduction of new applications and features. The integration of artificial intelligence into robotics represents a significant step forward, promising swifter and safer operations. 

Additionally, the incorporation of data analytics, along with continuous improvements in hardware and software systems in healthcare facilities, will expand the range of applications for medical robots and will further increase the help provided to healthcare professionals.

Collaborative efforts and investments by robotic companies and healthcare facilities are expected to drive the growth of the healthcare robot market. Nonetheless, addressing the cost and ensuring affordability for the general population will remain critical challenges.

Beyond this, there is a range of humanoid robot technology used for various purposes, including personal care, facilitating socialization, and providing training. For instance, in the context of training emergency personnel to respond to traumatic situations, some medical robots are designed to mimic human victims, complete with realistic screams, simulated bleeding, and responsive behavior to treatment.

Friendly-looking robotic personal assistants, particularly championed by Japan, have made significant strides in their development of socially assistive robot technology. One standout example is “Paro,” a machine designed to interact with humans, resembling an endearing baby seal, and responding to human speech.

A remote-controlled robotic system was innovated to address the challenges and occupational risks associated with traditional percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The PRECISE (Percutaneous Robotically Enhanced Coronary Intervention) Study affirmed the safety and feasibility of this robotic system. 

A study presented four cases of complex coronary interventions that exemplify the capabilities of complex robotic enhanced PCI in managing multi-lesion, multivessel coronary disease, saphenous venous graft disease, and ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The robot offers assistance in more complex tasks like augmented visibility, precise measurement, accurate stent placement, improved ergonomics, and heightened operator protection from radiation.

A study presented the first in human use of automated noncontact ultrasound imaging with robotic-guided ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. 

What are the Benefits of Robots in Hospitals?

Medical robots have been discussed in this article plenty of times and several of the benefits they provide to improving the healthcare system are for both the patient and the healthcare professional. Robotics in healthcare provides a different kind of assistance to ones provided by human presence and touch. They are precise inventions, able to help their human workers achieve their jobs of providing care to their patients as effectively as possible.

Robotics in healthcare also comes in many forms aside from the humanoid, physical robot. Many of them are arms, legs, or tables to assist the patient in rehabilitation or the surgeons in the operating room. Other robotic systems provide robotic assessment through remote control by the doctor. Several medical robots are being used for cleaning and disinfection in hospitals.

As a way to offload and provide relief to their current hospital staff, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center integrates 3 TUG robots into its workforce to help deliver medication from its pharmacy to inpatient units. The deployment of the TUG robots came just in time for Dartmouth’s newly opened Patient Pavilion, which will allow the hospital to take in more patients under its care.

The TUG robots were manufactured by Aethon and are intended to be used as mobile robots for healthcare. Aside from being able to deliver medications, the TUG robots are also capable of carrying meals, linens, and other medical supplies that previous employees were tasked to sort out. With the integration of the TUG robots, employees and staff can now focus on patient care and more pressing work that requires their time, attention, and skills.

“We have the opportunity to bring in these types of robots, which will replace that function so that we can have our technician doing higher level, more complex work”, says Robert Maloney, Director of Inpatient Pharmacy at Dartmouth Hitchcock. He also noted how the TUG robots were an added relief concerning the national issue of hiring and laboring shortages, especially within pharmacy departments.

The effectiveness and navigation accuracy of the TUG robots are also no problem for the staff. The TUG robots finished the mapping phases since their arrival in June and can now autonomously navigate around the pavilion, avoid bumping into people, and travel across multi-levels. The work will also be divided among the TUG robots with two making hourly deliveries along a set route and one robot tasked to take on more urgent demands of medications coming from pharmacy technicians themselves.

Waiting for the TUG robots will also not be an issue as these bots can travel at a speed of 30 inches per second and have a 10-hour-long battery life. Once the robots have reached their destination, the nursing staff will be alerted so they may log into the robot to retrieve the items delivered that were kept safely inside the robot’s built-in drawers.

As of writing, Dartmouth Hitchcock is the first medical center in New Hampshire to integrate TUG robots into their workflow. However, with positive results so far, seeing more robots incorporated into other hospitals and medical facilities may soon happen.

One job at a time, service robots are making the lives of consumers, customers, and employers easier. With their cutting-edge service robotics technology, artificial intelligence, and customer service capabilities, service robots can complete tasks that help plenty of human workers and customers in varying industries.

While service robots can accomplish many tasks, this article will be talking about the 5 general things these intelligent robots can do in common service industries.

What Can Service Robots Do?

Thanks to the advancement of robotics technology, service robots can assist human workers and human customers in accomplishing tasks more efficiently — may they be for public or personal use.

A public service robot is often seen working alongside human employees, employed by businesses to help with the assembly lines, take over time-consuming tasks, or handle dangerous jobs in dangerous situations. There are also public service robots that assist humans by way of customer service, healthcare settings, and hospitality.

A personal service robot is usually operated by a human to a certain extent and is used within private quarters. Robot vacuums, robot pets, domestic robots, and leisure social robots are examples of personal service robots as they are still able to provide service to their owners. These can be in the form of cleaning, lawn mowing, home maintenance, companionship, and running errands.

With the ability to operate semi- or fully autonomously, service robots can be useful in accomplishing repetitive, dangerous, and intellectual tasks with or without a human operator or intervention. Ultimately, service robots are used in strenuous, menial, or repetitive tasks where automated robotics technology can outperform the manual labor done by human workers.

What Services Are Provided By a Service Robot?

Depending on the industry they are employed in, service robots can provide a wide array of features and services.

Retail

Service robots in the retail industry help improve in-store operations. On the management side, a service robot can help humans with inventory management. Using machine learning and robotics technology, service robots can keep track of the stock and items running low, and can even place orders for restocking. They can detect problems with the shelf labels by scanning aisles using their cameras.

Service robots in retail can also help drive foot traffic in shopping malls as they can become a “tourist” attraction for customers. For this reason, many businesses would opt to go for service robots with human-like features as they serve as somewhat of a novelty for customer satisfaction and entertainment. Such features also help ease and encourage robot-human interactions.

Service robots also help in delivering tailored promotions and marketing in retail shops and stores. Through the data collected by service robots, store owners can get a deeper insight into their customers and how to get them to go back in the future based on their shopping behavior.

Healthcare

Service robots in the healthcare industry are used in many ways. Healthcare workers, medical professionals, patients, and visitors benefit from what service robots can do and the service that they provide in this particular industry.

Medical robots in the healthcare industry have the main goal of safety. Safety in terms of assisting surgeons in procedures, cleanliness in the environment, relieving physical demands from workers, and in providing care for patients.

In many ways, service robots in the healthcare industry also help boost productivity among workers. Common duties such as restocking shelves, setting up patient rooms, cleaning and sanitizing areas, and making deliveries can be done by service robots so human workers can focus on more pressing tasks. This helps minimize burnout and exposure to risky tasks while boosting productivity among employees. An example of this occurrence was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospitality

Service robots do plenty in the hospitality industry. Namely, hotels, restaurants, and the food service industry.

In the hotel industry, service robots can enhance and personalize the customer experience. Starting from the check-in process, service robots can provide a unique experience by greeting guests as soon as they arrive and improving efficiency by allowing them to check in without the need to talk to a concierge. Service robots can also provide impeccable room service right from bringing the guests’ luggage to the room or delivering food.

In the restaurant industry and service industries, service robots help humans from front-of-house to the backend. A service robot can greet diners and help them get seated. Service robots can also act as waiters and get orders from diners, finalize bills, and charge cards. On the other hand, self-driving service robots can make deliveries, may it be inside a restaurant or to the homes of hungry humans.

For the backend, service robots can also help in preventing food waste by studying the order and consumption behavior of customers. These robots can factually state what orders are in high demand so they can order a high volume of these ingredients when doing inventory management and order fewer ingredients for orders that are not in demand. This entails savings for businesses as they can manage expenses more wisely and focus on the production of high-driving items.

Domestic

Domestic service robots help in household productivity. Service robots can perform household chores and activities such as dishwashing, sweeping, weed control, vacuuming, lawn mowing, and other domestic applications. On-the-go people who live independently can benefit greatly from domestic service robots as maintaining a clean environment is one thing that they can take off of their busy lists.

There are also domestic robots that aim to provide companionship and entertainment for their owners. Socially isolated humans greatly benefit from these types of service robots.

Logistics

Plenty of logistics companies and businesses employ service robots to boost productivity amongst workers, help with inventory management, and perform tasks that otherwise are too repetitive, strenuous, or even dangerous for humans to do.

From sorting packages, packing goods, and delivering items, service robots help plenty with the logistics industry. An example of a service robot developed for these specific tasks is ‘Digit’ by Agility Robotics.

What Are the Benefits of Service Robots?

Due to plenty of external factors such as labor shortages, burnout, supply chain interruptions, and more, service robots are proving to be great employees to have in many businesses. As the International Organization for Standardization defines a ‘service robot’ as a robot “that performs useful tasks for humans”, these intelligent bots have plenty of benefits to offer.

Labor Savings

While service robots are not created to take over the jobs or “manually override” humans, they do provide managers and businesses a somewhat permanent solution to the problem of staff shortages. With the ability to show up to work 24/7 from opening to closing, service robots can provide savings for companies.

Efficiency

Service robots result in the efficiency of things when it comes to accomplishing tasks. These robots can easily be taught and trained in new things depending on the system and program they need to follow. They can also be tasked with plenty of ‘menial’ jobs so human employees can focus on more pressing tasks that require their utmost focus and intellect.

Analytics and Data Collection

Service robots can quickly gather customer data, activity, and sentiments that can be used for the improvement of the business. Managers can find out what customers like and dislike so they can alter their products, services, and systems accordingly to help secure customer loyalty and increase sales.

Final Note

As technology continues to advance, we can only expect that these intelligent service robots can serve and assist us in many more ways in the future. With such a flexible yet forward-thinking robot design, the versatility and functionality of a service robot can go a long way not just in different industries but in many parts of the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

What cool things can robots do?

While “cool” can be subjective, plenty can agree that robots can perform several cool things. From being able to change tires, and concoct drinks, to going on space missions, robots can help humans with plenty of tasks and jobs.

Do all service robots have robotic arms?

Generally, most service robots have robotic arms that will help them perform and accomplish certain tasks. However, robot designs can differ depending on what they are intended for and their main function.

What is the difference between service robots and industrial robots?

In the simplest explanation possible, service robots are designed to assist humans to accomplish daily tasks while industrial robots are used more in the manufacturing industry to carry out more dangerous tasks.

Contrary to popular belief, service robots in the healthcare industry and medical field have already been practiced since the 1980s. The first medical service robots helped healthcare professionals through surgical assistance via robotic arm technologies.

With groundbreaking technology and new artificial intelligence developments, medical service robots are deployed in various sectors of the healthcare industry to assist healthcare workers, provide direct patient care, and help maintain safe work environments.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at why service robots are needed in healthcare and how they can help in the whole medical field of things.

Why Do We Need Robots in Healthcare?

As robotic technologies, autonomous intelligent systems, and artificial intelligence continue to advance, healthcare service robots become more embedded in the healthcare industry. These healthcare service robots are becoming more evolved, and certain tasks are better done by them because of their precision, robotic systems, and advanced intelligent systems.

The type of service robot used will depend on the functions, systems, and tasks that can be performed by it. In the healthcare industry, these are the common service robots used because of what functions and assistance they can provide that are useful to the medical field — both patients and healthcare workers.

Surgical Robots

As surgical robotics advance and improve so does the precision of surgical robots. Using motion control technologies, artificial intelligence technologies, and computer vision-capable technologies, surgical robots are able to assist surgeons to a certain degree of precision and accuracy that otherwise would have been too complex for human medical staff and healthcare professionals to perform on their own. An example of a service robot that can perform surgeries is the DOF Robotic Arm Manipulator.

While most surgical robots assist surgeons and healthcare professionals, there are also service robots that are able to perform surgeries autonomously while surgeons simply oversee the procedure from a console.

Robotic surgery can be categorized into two:

Minimally Invasive Surgeries

A service robot that performs minimally invasive surgeries does so by inserting itself through a small incision, locking itself in place, and creating a stable platform where it can perform the surgery while being controlled by the surgeon via remote control. These types of surgeries are usually done for robotic hysterectomy, bariatric surgery, robotic prostatectomy, and other procedures that are focused on soft tissues.

With the help of service robots, the procedure and recovery time of these surgeries are greatly reduced. These service robots also help in making the procedures easier and because of the accuracy, reduce the chances of infections and other complications to occur.

Orthopedic Surgeries

With surgical service robots being precise and accurate, they are able to perform a few orthopedia procedures like knee and hip replacements. This is made possible thanks to smart robotic arms, 3D imaging, and data analytics that help a surgical service robot be more precise.

Aside from performing or assisting in surgeries, service robots under this category are also able to make use of artificial intelligence and computer vision technologies to provide high-definition 3D computer vision needed for detailed information during procedures. A service robot would be able to differentiate the various types of tissues, nerves, and muscles with the help of these computer vision technologies.

These surgical service robots in healthcare also serve as AI simulation training grounds for healthcare professionals training to be surgeons. Such robots are able to provide simulations and virtual environments that will allow surgeons in training to practice procedures and hone their skills using robotics controls.

As the technology that enables surgical service robots to perform and assist in procedures improves, we can expect more hospitals to widen their scope of procedures. Hospitals in China, for example, are beginning clinical trials of surgical service robots in gynecology which is said to be cost-effective yet accurate for all.

Modular Robots

While modular robots are often seen as industrial robots, modular service robots in the healthcare industry serve as therapeutic exoskeleton robots. Modular medical robots help make up prosthetic robotic arms and legs and help rehabilitate patients with stroke, paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, and impairments brought by sclerosis.

These modular medical robots are able to help with patient monitoring since some of them are also equipped with AI and depth cameras to keep track of a patient’s prescribed exercises and progress in therapy. In a way, these modular medical robots act as smart wearable technologies that can provide accurate data while being able to assist patients in their recovery.

Autonomous Mobile Robots

There are plenty of hospitals and medical clinics that make use of autonomous mobile robots. These types of medical robots are being deployed because of their numerous functions and service robotics capabilities, such as disinfecting areas, telepresence, and making deliveries. The function of these medical robots will depend on the purpose and technology that their manufacturers placed into them.

A common function of an AMR robot in the medical field is to act as a disinfection robot. Depending on the technology and features installed in the disinfection robot, this will generally be able to clean and sanitize work environments and patient rooms — an essential task especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AMR medical robots can also perform an on-screen consultation with patients as doctors and medical staff perform their rounds. AMR medical robots equipped with motion sensors, thermal sensors, a pulsed UVC device, and sick safety laser scanners can help in measuring the vital signs of patients which can be useful to the medical staff at the moment of consultation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the RoomieBot would triage patients by taking their temperature, blood oxygen level, and medical history as soon as they would arrive at the hospital. Not only did this help in reducing potential infectious human interaction, but it helped ease the workflow of things for healthcare workers.

AMR medical robots can be further categorized into two kinds: service robots and social robots.

Service Robots

From the root word alone, service robots “serve” humans. May it be the medical staff, patients, or visitors, service robots aim to help relieve the burden of routine logistical tasks and perform errands with possible risks and safety hazards.

A service robot may be able to help clean, sanitize, and set up patient rooms before use. One of the first disinfecting service robots is the UVD robot. A hospital in Searcy is currently using a UV disinfection robot, the LightStike UV disinfection robot, to clean and sanitize rooms. With a stricter standard of sanitation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, using a UV disinfection robot is becoming a norm that not only makes it safer for patients but for healthcare workers as well.

In order to automate the UV disinfection process safely, disinfection robots are equipped with certain service robotics technologies and features. Disinfection robots use ultraviolet light disinfection (UV light), hydrogen peroxide vapors, and at times air filtration technologies to further enhance their reach in disinfecting areas thus, help keep patients, visitors, and healthcare workers safe from germs, bacteria, and passable infections such as the case during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar to commercial service robots, routine logistical tasks can also be accomplished by a medical service robot. When programmed and trained, service robots can perform a series of tasks that can help free up the time of healthcare workers so they can focus on other duties that require human interaction and care. Service robots can keep track of supplies, alert medical staff if certain medical supplies and stocks are running low, and even restock medical supply cabinets themselves.

Other service robots can also file purchase orders, deliver medicine, and transport items to patient rooms, thus freeing up the time of human staff so they can focus on patient care.

Social Robots

From the word “social” alone, social robots are those that provide emotional support in patient care, help increase the morale of the staff, and contribute to the overall well-being of those they are able to interact with. Social robots are seen as “friendly” medical robots as they directly engage in human-robot interaction.

Given the human-robot interaction element, social robots are often misconstrued as strictly humanoid robots or human robots. However, social robots need simply to engage in human interaction for them to be categorized as one.

Social robots can provide care to patients and help healthcare staff in encouraging slightly more challenging patients to comply with certain treatments and procedures. Nursing robots are great at this particular task and they also provide an element of cognitive engagement and a bit of “entertainment” for patients.

There are also social or nursing robots, such as Grace the Robot Nurse, that are lifelike and specialize in providing care to elderly patients. Nursing robots such as Grace aid in talk therapy. Socially isolated patients also benefit from these social robots because they still get much-needed “human” interaction — such was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social robots are also intelligent robots that can answer questions visitors and patients throw at them. They can greet visitors and provide directions to patients’ rooms. Although it’s great to have a human staff to answer these questions, instances such as the COVID-19 pandemic show that having social robots interact with humans is sometimes safer.

What Are the 3 Advantages of Using Robots in Healthcare?

Using medical robotics technologies to enhance and support the healthcare industry have great benefits and advantages for patients and workers. While human medical staff and healthcare workers are able to provide quality care and service to patients, service robots and medical robots help in further improving the standards and procedures that can be advantageous to all.

Labor-Saving Clinical Workflow

Service robots are one of the best employees to deploy when it comes to simplifying processes and clinical workflow. Similar to industrial robots, service robots, and medical robots can help in streamlining the chain of work systems and reduce the physical demands exerted by healthcare workers.

Medical robots technologies are able to program mobile robots, healthcare robots, and service robots to keep track of hospital inventory, make deliveries, restock medical supply cabinets, and place orders when need be. Service robots also help staff shortages and alleviate burnout, which was a rampant problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. With their ability to be trained and learn new tasks, service robots can be deployed where you need them to be and you are assured that they can be there 24/7.

Sanitized Work and Ward Environment

Disinfection robots help keep hospitals and clinics safe from germ-causing diseases and infections. Hospitals and healthcare facilities have reported that using disinfection robots has helped them reduce cases of patients diagnosed with hospital-acquired infections. With that said, it’s no wonder why disinfection robots were used by many hospitals to help combat the risk of COVID-19 spreading further.

Seeing the effective results of disinfection robots, the demand for them grew so much that they have become commercial service robots. Some popular disinfection robots are the Robots BreezyOne autonomous disinfection, UVD robots, the UVC disinfection robot, mobile UVC light robots, and the LightStike UV robot.

A UV sterilization robot can also be more effective than the use of a conventional germicidal UV light because of its continuous wave irradiation system. Although using only commercial disinfection solution or the conventional commercial disinfection solution capable of killing germ-causing diseases is good, the hydrogen peroxide vapor system of the disinfecting service robots can be more effective.

Depending also on the manufacturer of these disinfecting service robots, there are certain medical robotics technologies that can fight off germ-causing diseases and sicknesses, like the ones found in COVID-19, which can be done more effectively. For example, the xenon ultraviolet device and mercury and xenon lamps are effective at decontamination because of their intensity.

Having these disinfection service robots clean and sanitize patient rooms, hospitals, and common areas certainly provide much-needed assurance and comfort needed by patients, workers, and visitors.

High-Quality and Modernized Patient Care

The level of patient care and medical assistance given by robots in healthcare is definitely high-quality and modernized.

With surgical robotics, service robots are able to assist surgeons and medical professionals in performing certain procedures that may be more difficult to accomplish accurately with just the human eye. Patients can also enjoy reduced surgery and recovery time thanks to these surgical service robots.

Service robots, social robots, and humanoid robots can also provide direct patient care 24/7. Personal service robots can be stationed in patient rooms to act as caregivers or emotional support systems.

A service robot can also become a human support robot that can help man the concierge or information desk system. This helps alleviate the workload of human medical staff.

Mobile robots and service robots can also be equipped with medical robotics technologies and features that help with the customized and frequent monitoring of patients. When doctors and nurses go around patient rooms, these healthcare robots can help record patient data. Using a sensor electronics module and ultrasonic and optical sensors designed for healthcare and medical purposes, these service robots can be an asset to have beside as professionals make their rounds.

How Have Medical Robots Helped Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

During the onset of COVID-19, medical service robots thrived and proved to be successful in many aspects. From acting as a human-support robot to socially isolated COVID-19 patients and workers to providing a sense of safety by disinfecting patient rooms, there were lots of ways healthcare workers were helped by service robots.

Perhaps the biggest way service robots helped healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic was by alleviating them from performing risky tasks. At the time, COVID-19 was highly infectious and can be passed on through human interaction. With that, service robots were able to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for healthcare workers by performing a series of tasks for them.

From the entrance, service robots can already check the temperature of patients and visitors. They can also check and sort possible COVID-19 patients so healthcare workers can minimize their interaction with them as much as possible while still giving them the proper care that they need.

Speaking of interaction, COVID-19 patients are socially isolated. With that, not even healthcare workers can stay with them in rooms for a long period of time. Service robots can provide them with company and entertainment that can help keep their spirits high. The same thing goes with healthcare workers who may not have been able to go back home to their families and loved ones at the risk of exposing them to COVID-19. These service robots provided them with a sense of comfort and helped with their emotional well-being.

To also reduce interaction back then, service robots can be used for online consultations between doctors and COVID-19 patients. Now as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be managed, these service robots still help in aiding online consultations.

One of the most important jobs of service robots during the COVID-19 pandemic and in reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19 is their task to disinfect areas. As COVID-19 is highly infectious and can easily be spread, the task of cleaning rooms, common areas, and hospitals was one that was feared by my healthcare workers. The risk of exposure to COVID-19 was high and so service robots were the ones for the job.

Using advanced cleaning and sanitizing technology, disinfecting service robots would precisely sanitize rooms free from COVID-19. The technology of these service robots was so effective that other germ-causing diseases aside from COVID-19 were also reduced and rates of hospital-acquired infections went down.

Staff shortages and employee burnout were also at an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic. Service robots helped alleviate this and assist healthcare workers to carry on with tasks. With the big advantage of service robots not being able to get infected with COVID-19, they can be placed in areas and stations with high exposure. At the time of COVID-19, service robots also helped ease streamlining workflows and processes that alleviated much of the physical work and logistical tasks of healthcare workers.

Final Note

As a service robot is a freely programmable kinematic device that can semi- or fully perform tasks automatically, employing one in the healthcare industry and the medical field is truly beneficial for both the workers and patients.

Hopefully, with more progress and studies in sensor and actuator development and medical robotics technologies, service robots in the healthcare industry will soon be a norm in many more hospitals and clinics across the globe.