Two of the most futuristic technologies that the world is leveraging today are AI and Robotics. Implementing these two technologies can lead to innovations in several industry verticals, including the healthcare industry.
AI Robotics are Transforming the Health Care Industry
AI and Robotics are already working in several healthcare establishments. They’re carrying out tasks such as genetic testing, robotic surgery, cancer research, data collection, and more.
Additionally, in the dermatology sector, AI is detecting skin cancer. The process of detecting skin cancer involves a technology, “MelaFind,” that uses infrared light to evaluate the skin condition. Afterward, with its sophisticated algorithms, AI evaluates the scanned data to determine skin cancer’s seriousness.
When it comes to the healthcare industry, there are several disciplines that AI and Robotics need to cover.
AI and Robotics require more unveiling and continued experimentation to become an integral part of the industry and bring innovations through these emerging technologies.
AI and Robotics can fill in the medical and healthcare industry gaps.
Numerous Innovations and discoveries are going out there due to the implementation of AI and robotics, and the positive experience from these implementations predicts the viability and benefits of deploying and utilizing AI and Robotics in the healthcare sector.
However, the most important question still remains unanswered; “are we ready to hand over the life and death decisions to the machines?”, “can machines decisively indicate whether the care being provided to a patient is enough or not?”
Answering the questions mentioned above may not be easy because there are numerous challenges and difficulties that the application of AI and Robotics may give rise to. However, one thing’s for sure: AI and Robotics are destined to become an integral part of the healthcare industry.
The implementations of AI and Robotics in the healthcare industry.
We’ll be covering several parts of the healthcare industry where this technology could alleviate the overstraining processes in healthcare delivery.
Below are some of the existing examples of implementation of AI and Robotics in the healthcare domain:
- Determining the patient’s priority assessments in emergency service.
- Automated health tracking of patients.
- Quick and continuous supply of medicine and equipment throughout the hospital floors via intelligent robots.
- Interacting with patients via vocals or facial recognition.
- Programming personalized health programs in robots enable users to leverage them for multifunctional purposes.
The benefits mentioned above/implementations are a reality today. After having an overview of the viability, performance, and features of the technology, let’s discuss how AI and Robotics are improving the healthcare sector.
Intro to AI & Robotics in Healthcare Sector
AI and Robotics have already proved to be prevalent in the healthcare industry. The ubiquitous growth of these two technologies has the potential to transform numerous aspects of healthcare.
From providing personal care to patients to automating the drug production process, AI and Robotics can ensure a faster roll-out date and an efficient and accurate operation.
Moreover, there are several big tech firms out there that are capitalizing on AI and Robotics to improve the healthcare infrastructure. For example, Google is collaborating with the healthcare delivery network to build prediction models.
These prediction models by Google are based on big data and machine learning technology. They can warn the clinicians of high-risk conditions of the patient, such as heart failure or sepsis.
Furthermore, Microsoft is also focusing on transforming the healthcare industry by building and fostering a culture of intelligent health through AI and Cloud in healthcare organizations.
With so many tech-savvy companies involved in the fray, the AI and Robotics implementation is destined to prosper and revolutionize how the healthcare industry provides health care. Moreover, here are some way in which AI and Robotics are improving the healthcare industry currently:
1. Supplementary Robots
These robots are generally aimed towards distributing stocks all around the hospital or wherever they’re needed. We’ve discussed these types of robots above as well; however, their importance and viability need to be explained furthermore.
In hospitals, there are times when multiple patients require instant medication or assistance. In such situations, the staff is usually in a hurry to assist the patient instead of carrying out other tasks. Hence, supplementary robots today are quickly taking care of tasks such as restocking, taking out the trash, and cleaning while the humans are spending more time with the patient.
A great example of a supplementary robot would be the automated UV Light Disinfectant Robot that goes into each hospital room and delivers a measured dose of UVC light to disinfect the targeted area. This robot also reduces significant pathogens in direct and shadowed areas.
2. Exceptional Precision
Multiple robotic systems used in the world’s top hospitals today provide immense feasibility in carrying out more complex tasks at a rapid and accurate pace.
Robot’s concrete focus and attentive robots further strengthen their core functionality and enable them to perform tasks with extreme precision. These robots are backed by AI that allows them to learn while performing tasks. Due to such traits of robots, their importance in a health care organization cannot be denied.
As long as the software is correctly programmed within the robots, there are no chances of failure; however, human supervision is necessary. It’s a fact that robots need continual checkups and maintenance to work properly; hence, human intervention is crucial for now.
Moreover, some robots are also tasked to reallocate supplies throughout the hospital using specially designed routes and elevators within a hospital.
Another fine example of excellent precision would be the micro-robots used to perform micro-surgeries such as unclogging blood vessels. However, human intervention or supervision may be required to overlook the entire process or continually maintain the robotic systems.
3. Remote Treatment
The idea of remote treatment has been there for more than a decade now. The technology was initially halted due to the poor network connectivity at the time of its implementation. However, further developments and experiments were conducted after the invention of 4G and 5G networks.
Today, although human intervention is required in the remote treatment sector, machines can perform several complex tasks independently.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense-funded the research at Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh’s University to create a robotic trauma care system for treating soldiers.
Another impressive technological marvel is the bot-pill that performs an endoscopy in a very comfortable way compared to other options. Generally, the bot takes pictures of your intestines as it travels through them, and you can eliminate it naturally.
4. Accurate Diagnostics
The precise and accurate diagnostics of human health conditions is where AI truly shines. The AI detects patterns that are leading the patient towards various health conditions. It determines the patient’s current state by analyzing and studying the healthcare records and data.
Tests so far have concluded that AI is capable of accurately diagnosing diseases in 87% of the cases. In contrast, health condition detection by humans had an 86% accuracy rate. This accuracy is further supported by the fact that Robots and AI can skim through thousands of cases instantly, looking for correlations between hundreds of variables.
Moreover, IBM Watson, healthcare technology, has hit the 99% mark in diagnosing cancer. Hence, considering the percentages mentioned above, I pretty much assume that AI and Robotics can rival even the finest doctors of the world when it comes to diagnostics.
5. Performing Daily Tasks
Robots can perform daily tasks and carry out several functions that were being performed by humans. For example, a robot can make a sick or elderly person/patient feel attended all the time, minimizing the need for human presence. These robots are programmed to act as personal assistance.
Moreover, robots can also engage patients in conversations, help them take their medicine on time by reminding them, and even perform a basic checkup on them to analyze their health condition from time to time. Some simple routine checkups may include evaluating the patient’s blood pressure, sugar levels, and temperature.
Additionally, the technology of robots engaged in the task mentioned above is based on AI and machine learning; hence, they continuously learn from their patients’ experience. This learning further modifies their personality and sentiment analysis capabilities.
6. Assisting Patients & Medical Practitioners
Some specific robots are designed to help the medical staff focus on other essential aspects of the hospital. These robots are helping patients by assisting them in walking or monitoring their health status.
Before the dawn of AI and Robots, tasks such as helping a patient walk, assisting the patient for his/her checkup, taking the history of the patient’s illness were manual and time-consuming. However, today these tasks can be easily automated and quickly carried out by machines.
Moreover, today, robots are helping humans with everything from minimally invasive procedures to complex open-heart surgeries. The technologies integrated within the machines like a built-in camera, mechanical arms, and surgical equipment provide more precision, flexibility, and control beyond human capabilities.
Another excellent example of these robots can be the prosthetic legs designed by Hugh Herr. The biomechatronic feet allow the user to walk independently without human intervention.
The sensors in these bionic feet connect with the person’s muscles and allow more mobility and stability. These sensors perfectly replicate human feet’ functioning and give the user more advantage over the original feet.
The Promising Future of AI & Robotics in Healthcare
Many experts agree that the future of AI and Robotics seems promising. However, AI or robots will not be taking full control over the healthcare industry anytime soon. Human intervention and supervision would still be an essential factor in ensuring 100% accuracy in the overall process.
Also, the patients are known to develop a closer relationship with their doctors, nurses, or other medical staff. This specific relationship gives patients a feeling of not being alone. This feeling can never be replicated by machines or robots. Hence, humans will always be there with AI and robotics to cure patients and deliver a comforting and soothing experience together.
Moreover, the viability of AI and robotics is destined to prosper in upcoming years. The healthcare advantages that machine learning and robotics are unparallel to what we could accomplish manually.
From improving the clinical workflow to pinpointing the exact cause of a patient’s particular medical condition, AI and robotics benefit the healthcare domain. Hence, it is quite apparent that AI will ultimately master the healthcare domain in the future.
Sources/ References/Author: Abeer Raza
