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Robots in the healthcare sector – is it still safe?

date: 21 June 2016
reading time: 3 min

Astounding progress of technology is the very reason why facilitations enter more and more sectors of our everyday life. It comes as no surprise that smartness is all around. But what about robo-nurses being an integral part of healthcare sector’s future?

Robotic research is currently at its best. Even though they are by now a part of many processes surrounding us, they are supposed to become even more complex. The sector that is to be influenced the most is healthcare.

With demographic peaks predicted for the years to come, the demand for doctors, carers and nurses will be much greater than now – and this is the very reason why robotics will come in handy.

What types of robots can we expect?

Robots already exist in the healthcare sector. However, the robots of the future are to be more autonomous and of a greater complexity. The ones we are surrounded by right now, are usually controlled by doctors, but this is yet another aspect that is about to change.

So, let us present three kinds of robots that may become an integral part of our future life:

  • Surgical robots – these types of machines are controlled by surgeons, however in time they are to be autonomous. This means they will have to be very complex not to harm or put patients in danger.
  • Routine task robots – robots responsible for delivering medications and meals to patients. They are very sturdy and can travel up to 12 miles a day. They are typical machines without the ability to talk or behave like a human being. Nevertheless, this may change in time.
  • Personal care robots – the biggest change comes in the home care sector where personal robots are to behave human-like and be fully autonomous. Their main task will be taking care of patients to, in time, perform simple medical tasks.

Is it safe to rely on a machine?

Manufacturing of the above-mentioned machines won’t be an easy task. Engineers must primarily focus on patients’ safety, going hand in hand with providing a feeling of security and independence. User privacy is key, since the robots will be in possession of great amounts of sensitive data.
Speaking of data, machines will be able to insert new information into systems and connect to other devices (wearables, phones) in order to sync.
This is the very reason robots must be in constant control not to overlook any safety breaches.

Even though the questions about the future arise, we have to wait for viable answers. However, if the development and testing is manufacturers’ priority, the rise of the machines may soon come with a positive and loud ‘bang!’.

Source: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2739462
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