Introduction
Would you trust a humanoid?
Imagine a hospital where robots attend to you like doctors and nurses. This isn’t just stuff for the movies again. As technology advances, our healthcare system is witnessing the integration of robots into it. In today’s world, robots can perform surgical procedures, monitor patients’ health, and provide companionship.
These advanced machines – humanoids designed to mimic human appearance and behavior- bring efficiency and accuracy to our healthcare sector.
In this article, we will see how humanoids are revolutionizing our health sector, their application, their benefits, the challenges they offer, and their real-world examples of their uses.
The Rise of Humanoids in Healthcare
The integration of Humanoids in healthcare can be traced back to the 19th century. In Greece, the Hero of Alexandria developed mechanical devices that used the principle of physics to perform simple tasks. In 1985, humanoid integration into surgery began with the PUMA 560 robot, which was designed to perform neurosurgical biopsy.
Due to advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence, humanoids are being adopted in our hospitals and clinics worldwide. Because of these advancements, humans can now interact with patients and even provide emotional support. An example is Paro, a therapeutic robot that comforts patients with dementia.
Companies like Softbank Robotics, Boston Dynamics, and Intuitive Surgical are at the forefront of developing humanoids for healthcare. These robots are designed to help healthcare professionals, improve patient care, making a shift in how healthcare services are provided.
Applications of Humanoids in Healthcare
Humanoid robots are being used in various aspects of healthcare, which leads to improved healthcare services.
- Patient Rehabilitation and Therapy: Humanoids are used in human rehabilitation and therapy. Robots like Lokomart are designed to provide support for patients with strokes or spinal cord injuries. The unique thing about these humanoids is that they can provide personalized treatment for each patient depending on their progress.
- Surgery: Humanoids are also used in the field of surgery. These robots provide surgeons with assistance during surgical procedures. They help them with precision and accuracy. They can reduce hand tremors, thereby leading to less recovery time and a lower risk of complications.
- Patient monitoring and care: Humanoids are used in patient monitoring and care, especially for elderly or chronically ill patients. They provide companionship, monitor patient signs, remind them to take their drugs, and also alert the professionals in case of anomalies.
- Diagnostic Assistance: Humanoids are equipped with AI algorithms that enable them to recognize patterns and process data. This ability to recognize patterns and process data helps doctors make better decisions. Robots like Watson by IBM have been used to analyze medical literature and patient data to suggest treatment plans.
- Mental Health Support: Robots like PARO, which are used for patients with dementia, are equipped with the capacity to provide companionship. They can interact with patients through touch and offer emotional support, thereby improving their mental health.
Benefits of Humanoids in Healthcare
Humanoids have a wide range of benefits in healthcare. These advanced robots, with their ability to mimic human behavior, give them the ability to offer advanced assistance to healthcare providers.
- Enhanced Patient Care: Humanoids provide enhanced patient care because they are consistent, accurate, and error-free. With the use of these robots, there’s quick recovery and less pain. A study shows that patients who undergo RAS (Robots assisted surgery) experience less hospital stay and low risk of blood clot
- Efficiency: Humanoids can perform repetitive tasks, which makes them efficient in the tasks they perform. They perform tasks that involve logistics, giving patients their medication, and processing patient records. This allows the doctors to handle some other tasks, overall leading to efficiency.
- Reduces the risk of infection: Humanoids, unlike human beings, don’t harbor viruses or pathogens. Therefore, in their application, there is a reduced risk of infection. Some of them are equipped with UV rays, and they can be sterilized in a way that human hands or medical equipment can’t be sterilized.
Challenges and Ethical Considerations
Although humanoids have many benefits, which have made our healthcare better, there are some concerns and challenges as to the use of these robots.
- Cost: Although, in the long run, integrating Humanoids into healthcare is of great benefit, the initial cost can be overwhelming, running into millions of dollars. Cost is the greatest challenge facing the integration of Humanoids into our healthcare system.
- Training: Healthcare professionals need to be trained in how they relate to Humanoids. This training is time-consuming and has high-cost implications, which affect the integration of humanoids into our healthcare system. Healthcare professionals need a deep understanding of the capacities and abilities of Humanoids to be able to make good use of them.
- Ethical challenge: There is a lack of enough legal frameworks and ethical guidelines to guide the use of Humanoids in our healthcare system. Who takes responsibility in the case of malfunction of these humanoid robots? This type of question must be answered.
- Trust Issues: It might be difficult to convince some patients to trust their lives in the hands of machines. Some patients with unpleasant experiences with machines will never allow machines to attend to them, no matter how efficient the machine is. There’s also the issue of cultural beliefs and backgrounds, which can affect patient’s trust in these robots.
Case studies and real-world World Examples
- Da Vinci Surgical System: The unique thing about this surgical robot is that it is designed to perform complex surgical procedures using minimally invasive methods. This method can eliminate hand tremors that even the best of surgeons can exhibit. A study conducted on patients who had surgery with the Da Vinci surgical system shows that the patient had a quick recovery and less post-surgery discomfort.
- Pepper Robot: This robot is designed to perform social interactions. It can recognize faces, understand emotions, and also provide directions in the hospital. It is widely used as a receptionist in different hospitals across the world. With the use of this Humanoid robot, the overall experience of patients in the hospital is improved.
Conclusion
Humanoid robots are changing the face of our healthcare system, with their applications in surgery, patient care, diagnostics, and patient rehabilitation. With these applications, these Humanoids are changing the way we deliver healthcare services. Although there are challenges with the integration of these robots, there are a lot of advantages to their uses in our healthcare system. The more advanced our technology gets, we can expect to see it being used in our healthcare industry. Thereby leading to better outcomes.
