The health care system is struggling to cope with enormous social and economic pressures, including increasing workers’ burnout rates, aging populations require more professional care, and severe staff shortages. This challenging landscape is not only evident during the 19th pandemic, but also highlights the desire to support this harsh reality.
Now imagine an alternative universe where healthcare workers can focus on value-added care. Encourage innovation and operate the system. Sounds too good to achieve? No – This is the era of healthcare robotics. From the operating room to the front desk, robotics is now integrated into a variety of applications with the goal of freeing up time and services so that healthcare workers can do what they do best, patient care.
Extend your hand (or robot arm) toward the hospital surgery
In hospitals, robots can be used to simplify operational tasks. For example, an automated mobile service robot can be deployed to provide patients with meals and medications, samples to labs, and various other supplies throughout the hospital. They can also track and monitor facility inventory by automatically placing orders when inventory is low, reducing potential shortages in critical supplies caused by human error.
Reducing patient waiting time is another key benefit that robotics can bring to healthcare. Advances such as AI-assisted diagnosis, surgical robots, and robotic rehabilitation tools can reduce treatment and recovery time by increasing surgical accuracy. Through the collaboration of human robots, patients can benefit from fewer post-psychological complications and enhanced health outcomes. Overall, these technologies can ultimately attract faster patient transitions through less crowded hospitals.
Expand healthcare accessibility
In remote or rural areas, access to health care can be limited, especially for specialized treatments. Remote sensitive robots allow doctors to have a more interactive presence with patients while geographically dispersed.
Autonomous drones can also be utilized to bridge gaps in healthcare accessibility, with the ability to immediately provide critical medical supplies and even donor organs. They can also enable faster emergency responses to eliminate traditional restrictions such as traffic or poor weather. Although this may seem small, the results in some patients can be defined by a few minutes, such as those related to organ transplants with a strict feasible time frame.
Trust surgical robotics
Surgeons can use robotics to enhance overall accuracy and control during medical procedures, thereby reducing human errors and thus improving patient safety. Patients undergoing robot-assisted surgery benefit from shortened hospitalization and more minimally invasive procedures, which can improve their long-term outcomes.
Medical majors in need such as urology, orthopedics and gynecology have gradually been incorporated into robot-assisted surgery. For example, in orthopedics, these types of surgery are often used for total hip or knee replacement. The accuracy provided by the robotic system ensures the correct placement of the implant, which can enhance joint function. The popularity of this technology has also grown in obstetrics and gynecology, such as complex procedures such as hysterectomy, as increased agility of robotic instruments allows for smaller incisions and lead to reduced patient recovery time.
Lay the foundation for expanding implementation
Although robotics can transform modern healthcare, there are still some important obstacles, such as patient trust and knowledge. Many patients are unaware of the availability and benefits of robotic surgery. However, when patients increase their knowledge and familiarity with medical robotics, they tend to be more open to their treatment and care. To expand robotic implementation in hospitals, it is crucial for the wider industry to expand available information and expertise to the public.
Multiple regulatory organizations and standards agencies around the world, such as the FDA and ISO, are providing a framework for AI security in medical robotics, which is widely seen as the future of digital surgery. ISO/IEC 5469, published in 2024, is an example of these developments, outlining recommendations for the functional safety of AI-driven systems and providing a roadmap to ensure AI reliability, focusing on comprehensibility, risk mitigation strategies and real-time verification. In the United States, the FDA has created an AI/ML-based medical device action program to develop good machine learning practices (GMLP) targeting fail-safe and consistent AI healthcare systems. Therefore, with technological advances in health care, guidance to ensure human safety and gain trust has been enhanced.
Photo: Phonlamaiphoto, Getty Images
Winston Leung is an experienced innovation strategist with more than a decade of experience that can drive technology and business development in the public and private sectors in North America and Asia. He specializes in transformative industries such as transportation and robotics, leading initiatives for automated, interconnected and electric vehicles, and developing policies and strategies to support its adoption. Winston's notable achievements include leading the first-time connected vehicle test bench in Canada and guiding market strategies for emerging technologies including Quantum, 5G, and more.
Winston is currently a senior manager at QNX, providing embedded systems across robotics, medical and transportation fields with strategy and thought leadership for functional safety, real-time performance, and reliability. He worked with international stakeholders, influenced government policies and achieved entrepreneurial success. Combining technical expertise with strategic insights, Winston shapes the future of automation and robotics through innovative and influential leadership
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