From the 1980s, developments in healthcare robotics were relatively slow and stable. A key breakthrough happened at the turn of the century, with the FDA approval of the da Vinci surgical robot system by Intuitive Surgical in 2000, which enabled complex minimally invasive surgeries. This system has benefitted surgeons as well as patients, enabling surgeons to work more precisely with less strain, and reducing pain, recovery times and stay durations for patients by minimising the site trauma required for a procedure. Additionally, the reduced human contact during surgery, small incision sizes required, and reduced quicker recoveries and discharge all help to reduce risks of both surgical site infections (SSI) and healthcare associated infections (HCAI).
The rise in computational power and artificial intelligence over the past decade, alongside widespread public and private investment in robotic infrastructure across scales, means we are at an exciting inflection point. The field of robotics has greatly diversified, with robotic systems becoming more cost-effective, and increasingly applicable across a variety of healthcare roles and services. The question for healthcare designers, then, is how to integrate this rapidly expanding field into hospitals in ways that can respond to both the daily and long-term pressures of healthcare provision.
Types of healthcare robotics
Hospital robotics encompasses a breadth of services and systems. These can be categorised in three domains: clinical care, facilities management, and supply chain automation.
The first, clinical care, includes a wide range of robotic services in the hospital that can be considered in terms of direct clinical care and clinical care support systems. Direct clinical care includes robotic radiotherapy systems that enable more comfortable treatment positions, and rehabilitation and mobility systems that help patient’s achieve improved outcomes and independence.
Clinical care also encompasses surgical robotics, which enhance surgeon’s precision with less strain and reduce patient recovery times and infection risks. What began as general surgery – originally dominated by the da Vinci system – has since evolved into an ecosystem of robotics developed by numerous companies for a wide range of procedures (such as orthopaedics, neurosurgery, and ophmology). Over the past decade, robot-assisted surgeries have increased from 1.8% to 17% globally, with robotic surgery becoming the standard in particular domains – with 85% of prostate surgeries being performed with robotic assistance in the USA.
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