In honor of National Robotics Week, we wanted to provide our colleagues in the Life Sciences LCI on overview of the use of robots in surgery and the health care environment. To do this, let us begin first with some history on robots in the workplace. The first workplace robot was introduced by General Motors in 1956 to perform spot welding. Since then the use of robots has protected humans in a range of hazardous conditions (firefighting, bomb disposal, handling radioactive material and exploring Mars are just a few).
Turning towards healthcare, during the last few years healthcare workers have been an unusually vulnerable group. The integration of a robot to minimize direct contact between the provider and patient is a powerful tool to combat the danger of pathogen contamination. Robots can also perform repetitive tasks with virtually unlimited endurance and without decreased performance, minimizing the risk of fatigue-related errors. In surgery, the most common use of robotics involves mechanical arms with a camera and/or surgical equipment attached to them, which are controlled by a surgeon. In addition to minimizing contact, robot-assisted operations can be completed with more precision and control. They are often minimally invasive too, offering an alternative to open surgeries, which have more associated risks and require a longer period of recovery. Examples of robot-assisted procedures include biopsies, removal of cancerous tumors, repairing heart valves and gastric bypasses. To learn more about the rise of robots in surgical environments, specifically during COVID, read “The rise of robots in surgical environments during COVID-19”.
In the rest of the hospital, robots can serve a range of other functions. This includes distributing medications, lab specimens and other sensitive materials such as patient data around the hospital. Pharmacy robots can automatically process, store, select, return and restock medications. Still other robotic systems use pulsed xenon light to disinfect an entire patient room in less than 20 minutes.
Other robot applications in healthcare include exoskeletons. One hybrid assistive limb (HAL) exoskeleton uses sensors placed on the skin to detect electrical signals in the patient’s body and respond with movement at their joints. It is designed to provide physical rehabilitation for patients recovering from lower limb disorders such as strokes and spinal cord injuries. More recently, “machine-brain connectivity” has come to the fore. In laboratory settings, paralyzed subjects have been able to move all their limbs and walk using an exoskeleton suit that analyzes brain activity and turns it into instructions for movement.
Even though robotic technology is expensive and some of it is not fully proven yet, the use of robots is and will continue to change healthcare in ways we can only imagine. As the use of robots increases and transforms our healthcare environment, we as Project Managers will be managing many of these transformational projects. We hope you enjoyed this article and it inspires you to learn more.
