Robotics in Healthcare Sector - Literature review Example

ROBOTICS IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR Robotics in Healthcare Sector Affiliation Introduction This paper presents an analysis of some of the prime aspects about robotics, which refers to the study of robots. This paper discusses the facts about how robotics has become a significant technology in the medical community. This paper presents an overview of the fields of medical science those have been transformed through the use of robotics. This paper also outlines some of the main advantages those are presently attained through the robotics technology in the medical sector. Medical Robotics Basically, a ‘robot’ is a reprogrammable, multifunctional machine intended to move material, tools, parts or particular devices through a variety of engineered motions for performing various tasks. While the study of these robots is called robotics and medical robotics is an interesting and emerging field which deals with the use of robots in medical field. In fact, the medical robotics is a latest emerging concept in the field of robotics which deals with the development of robots that can carry out a variety of medical tasks. Since the robots can be utilized in medical field to carry out ordinary jobs such as offering patient specimens and records to different departments of the hospital. However, a large number of people believe that medical robotics and surgical robotics are similar, but in reality robots can carry out a number of different activities in medical clinics and hospitals (Dowling, 1996; Newell, 2011; Smith, 2011). Over and above being somewhat exciting to see functioning, medical robotics has the capabilities to reduce burden on a lot of health care systems by automating medical activities and decreasing health care staff. In addition, they can also be extremely dedicated as well as help in examining and treating patients. However, robotics is a new field and there is still much more effort to be done, employing robots can improve medical sector in terms of both the convenience and standard of care. Furthermore, the use of robots can assist in diminishing human error and carrying extremely dedicated information to remote areas without entailing doctors to move (Dowling, 1996; Newell, 2011; Smith, 2011) Usage of Medical Robotics In every medical surgery, doctors are always struggling to offer minimal trauma, enhanced recovery time, and scarring. This can be attained through the minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The new robotic technology is as well aimed to reduce such risks and increase patient’s health (Museum of American Heritage, 2006). Thus, the use of new technology based intelligent robots is becoming essential in the medical sector in case when great accuracy and fragility are required, and the scope for mistake is very small (RobotWorx, 2014). There are several useful areas of medical sector where robots are extensively used. For instance, surgery is a major field of medical where robots are capable to carry out important functions by simply creating little cuts. Thus, using robots in the surgery surgeons can be able to get a maximum advantage of the reduced pain, small curative period, and smaller amount of infections and a quicker ejection from the hospital. Furthermore, new intelligent robots are utilized to carry out heart surgical operation exclusive of tearing patient’s chests. Example of such intelligent robot is Da Vinci Surgical robot. In addition, the robots are extensively utilized in education sector to teach the medical students about the surgery. For example, pregnant humanoid robots are used to teach as well as practice doctors along with students for a variety of birth difficulties. Furthermore, the robots are also very helpful in managing the hospitals. They assure confidence that hospital appointments are small and the danger of sickness and infection is reduced (RobotWorx, 2014). Advantages of Robotic Technology According to (Mack, 2006), the robotics is a disruptive technology since it is not achieving that is expected from this technology. The worth of unique troublesome technology is eventually improved through the supporting technology as well as the capacity to overcome application erudition bends that pursue (for example portable telecommunications as well as digital picture making). At the present time robotics technology is utilized into medical community especially in clinical cardiac surgical procedure. The technology of robot is easy to use and it offers digital friendly user interface. These systems as well offer better support and ease of operating in the overall aspects of surgery (Mack, 2006; Schimpff, 2010). It is strongly assessed that robots are presently playing a significant role and their contribution is increasing day by day in existing medicine sector. Additionally, the new generation of robots are facilitating in providing guidance to the afterward generation of nurses, doctors as well as dentists to reassuring and caring aged patients in the premature phases of dementia. By means of robots, the current medical professionals are able to formulate minor cuts intended for small surgeries; minimizing hospital equipment as well as enhancing patients diagnosis and cutting back huge expenditures. Moreover, the robots have become smaller and developers carry on incorporating the devices with artificial intelligence. In this way the medical area will incessantly enlarge the means in that it employs this technology to collect patients, enhance standard of life as well as avoid health issues. In another way this technology range covers medical schools those are presently extensively using such systems at imitate live patients emotions of pain or else uneasiness to facilitate the next beckon of doctors as well as dentists organize to manage as well as treat a lot public all over the world. Certainly, models and corpses are not novel to the medical learners, however through offering students access to the susceptible patients, medical surgery as well as healthcare instructors expect to sharpen the bedside approaches of potential doctors and dentists (Diana, 2011). Disadvantages of Robotics The disadvantages of Robotics in medical science are due to the incomplete understanding of its uses and efficacy in medical procedure. The disadvantages are attributed to the high cost. The equipment used in the robotic surgery is very expensive. The health care institutions need extra financing to install the equipment. It is possible that with wide usage of robotics in medical Science, cost friendly equipment may be present for surgeries in the near future. Many experts believe that with time the equipment may require upgrade which may also be expensive. As the surgeries are longer due to robotics, the patient needs extra anesthesia for a longer period of time. This adds to the expenditures of the surgery. After the installation of the equipment, the operators need special training to fully comprehend the features of the equipment with the full understanding of the usage. Some procedures take longer to perform. For example the heart surgery done with the help of robotics take twice the time as it used to take in the past without the robotics. But, this disadvantage can be eliminated if the surgeon is expert and has more practice in employing robotics in the surgery. The equipment of robotics in surgery is generally very large size equipment. This equipment fills the space of the operating room and makes it more crowded when other equipment with the medical staff is present. This may cause inflexibility in movement of the staff members and may hinder dexterity of the surgeon. For example the robotic- assisted beating heart surgery needs a large operating room as stabilizers are also needed for the patient. Barrier to Implementation Open surgery has given way to laparoscopy and Robotic assisted surgery. But many surgeons believe in operating under the traditional method of the surgical procedure (Skills for Health, 2011). The three main barriers in adoption of robotic assisted surgery are mentioned below: Perceived ease of use A systematic review found that that the perception of the medical staff about the usage of a new technology can be termed as a barrier to implementation of the technology. If the new technology is easier to use and saves time, it is readily accepted and implemented. On the other hands robotic assisted surgery is a time consuming process. This is a barrier of implementation as robotic surgery is not a very popular practice among surgeons (Skills for Health, 2011). Perceived Complexity Robotic assisted surgery requires staff training as the use of this technology is complex. The capabilities of the staff need to be upgraded for the use of the high tech equipment. As complexity is perceived in the use of this technology, we see that medical staff regards the complexity as one of the barriers and this attitude influences the adoption of the robotic assisted technology (Skills for Health, 2011). Perceived Behavioral Control To help the medical staff in adopting a new technology, it is required that the staff members should work in collaboration and with cooperation with each other. Medical staff needs to be encouraged to assist each other in adopting the new technology. Behavioral control of the staff members can be done by channelizing the perspective that the new technology like robotic assisted surgery can have better outcome in assisting the patients for quick recovery (Skills for Health, 2011). Cost of Robotic Assisted Technology Robotic technology has been adopted rapidly in the Unites States and in Europe in the past 5 years, this surgery is regarded as an expensive procedure and it has been estimated that it has high fixed costs with prices estimated from $1 million to $2.5 Million for each unit as estimated in 2010. Surgeons must perform 150 to 250 procedures to get fully acquainted with the procedure (Barbash & Glied, 2010). The system requires additional cost in maintainance and it demands the use of additional costly appliances to complement the surgery. Consumer Benefits The patients can benefit immensely by the robotic assisted technology. This technology helps surgeon to perform lengthy and life threatening surgeries in a safe and precise fashion. The consumer benefits for the patients include less invasive procedure as this procedure requires incision of 3 or 5 holes. These incisions help in quick recovery and the blood loss is also less as compared to the traditional surgical procedures. The stay at the hospital is for a smaller time period which helps the patient to return to their routine and normal every day activities. The chances of infection are less as the incisions are small. The most important benefit for the patient is that the pain is minimal as compared to the usual surgery. The scarring of the skin is also insignificant which is attributed to the feature of small incision (News Wire Team, 2014). The Future of Robotic Assisted Technology “It is clear that Robotic assisted Technology is here to stay” (Ahmed, Abboudi, Guru, Khan, & Dasgupta, 2013). We see that in the coming years almost all the surgical procedures will be assisted by the robots in a medical facility. In the USA, more than half of the surgeries are already done with the help of Robotic Assisted surgery or minimal invasive surgery. The main challenge for the policy makers is to make this technology cost effiecnt so that many countries around the world can benefit from it. “The market is dominated by the Da Vinci surgical system from Intuitive Surgical Inc. In the coming years we can expect the equipment to get smaller in size” (Ahmed, Abboudi, Guru, Khan, & Dasgupta, 2013). We need more companies manufacturing the medical robotics which may bring the price down. Integrated surgical training programs will be implemented in a few years for the training of the staff. Surgeons can get the training to operate the robotic system easily and without any hassle (Ahmed, Abboudi, Guru, Khan, & Dasgupta, 2013). In conclusion, this paper has presented a detailed analysis of medical robotics, which is a newly emerged field of medical science. Medical robotics is an emerging field of medical science which deals with the use of robots in medical. This paper has discussed a comprehensive analysis of medical robotics. In the past few years, there have been massive developments in the medical sector with respect to robotics. A wide variety of robots are being proposed and designed every day in order to meet varying needs of medical industry. This paper has outlined the role of robots in medical. However, the progress in robotics is still very slow but we are expecting some development in near future. References Ahmed, K., Abboudi, H., Guru, K. A., Khan, M. S., & Dasgupta, P. (2013). Robotic surgical technology is here to stay and evolve. Trends in Urology & Mens Health, Volume 4 Issue 2, 32-36. Barbash, G. I., & Glied, S. A. (2010). 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(2014, August 21). 3 Questions You May Have About Robot-Assisted Surgery. Retrieved from ClevelandClinic.org: http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/08/3-questions-you-may-have-about-robot-assisted-surgery/ RobotWorx. (2014). Hospital Robots. Retrieved from http://www.used-robots.com/education/hospital-robots Schimpff, S. C. (2010, May 04). Medical Megatrends and the Future of Medicine. Retrieved November 18, 2014, from BlogPost.com: http://medicalmegatrends.blogspot.com/2010/05/further-disruptive-trends-in-medicine.html Skills for Health. (2011). How do new technologies impact on workforce organisation? Retrieved from http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/component/docman/doc_view/1834-how-do-new-technologies-impact-on-workforce-organiastion-082011.html Smith, S. (2011). What Should I Know about Medical Robotics? . Retrieved November 18, 2014, from wiseGeek.com: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-should-i-know-about-medical-robotics.htm Read More