When it comes to medical robots, everyone should be familiar with them. The most famous ones are the da Vinci surgical robot, rehabilitation exoskeleton robot, CT scanner, and some nursing and medical automation robots.
1. da Vinci Surgical Robot
The da Vinci Surgical System, manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, is the world's most successful and widely used surgical robot. Surgeries performed with the da Vinci typically require only a few small incisions (less than 2 cm in diameter) with extremely high precision, meaning less bleeding, faster healing, and a lower risk of infection. In 2015, the da Vinci Surgical System became an internet sensation for successfully suturing a grape inside a narrow-necked jar. The da Vinci Surgical System has become the standard for robot-assisted surgery.
2. Endoscopic robot
Endoscopy is a procedure that involves inserting a small, long-wire camera through a natural opening into the body to look for damage, foreign objects, or traces of disease. This examination can be very uncomfortable, but that may soon be a thing of the past. Companies have developed slender, flexible robots that doctors can remotely control to precise locations, much like a remote-controlled car. Doctors can then hold the device without trembling hands and deploy various tools, from biopsies to cauterizing wounds. Impressively, there's the "capsule endoscopy," where patients simply swallow a pill-sized robot, allowing doctors to collect data and take images for diagnostic purposes.
3. Exoskeleton Robots
Exoskeleton robots are being used to help paralyzed people walk again, which is nothing short of miraculous. They can also be used to correct deformities and to aid in the rehabilitation of brain or spinal cord injuries by providing movement and healing to muscles. Most exoskeleton robots operate through user input and preset movements, but with advancements in neural interfaces, it's only a matter of time before patients can control them with their thoughts.
4. Disinfection robot
Hospitals are not as clean as people think. People go to hospitals for treatment but may leave with another disease. Due to the extensive use of antibiotics, hospitals can become breeding grounds for stubborn antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making the cleanliness of hospital rooms extremely important! Disinfection robots can automatically move to patient rooms and then irradiate the empty rooms with high-energy ultraviolet light for several minutes until no microorganisms survive.
5. Companion robots
Millions of elderly, frail, or intellectually disabled people worldwide suffer from chronic loneliness and a lack of motivation. These patients also often require regular check-ups by caregivers, a problem in areas with caregiver shortages. Companion robots address both of these issues, truly improving the lives of many. If a patient falls, the companion robot can also call an ambulance.
6. Remote medical robots
Telemedicine robots have already played a crucial role in the medical field, bringing top doctors and expertise to underserved communities and remote areas. Doctors in one region can use remote robots to communicate with patients and doctors in another region, sharing their knowledge and diagnostic advice in real time, at a fraction of the cost and effort of traveling there in person.
7. Medication Dispensing Robot
Vending machines are already very common in daily life. In hospitals, patients usually take a printed prescription from their doctor to pick up their medication, and a staff member in the pharmacy dispenses the medicine for them. Actually, you can think of a pharmacy as a vending machine; it doesn't need a staff member there, just a robot to dispense the medication.
