Medical Design Briefs - February 2024 - 20

Medical Robotics
Robot - A Stress Buster, a
Friend, and More
When in stress, think of your pet moving
around you, wagging its tail, with
a smile on its face. Isn't it a comforting
and uplifting moment? How about
talking to your friend for a while to relieve
stress? Or think about a companion
who supports you while you recover
from an injury.
Robots now are being programmed
and used to give emotional and physical
support to humans. Just like pets have a
unique way of providing emotional support,
so do some therapeutic robots like
PARO robot.
PARO is equipped with light sensors,
audition sensors, temperature sensors,
tactile sensors, and posture sensors, with
which it can observe people and environment.
The seal-like-robot can wiggle its
flippers, blink its eyes, make funny noises,
and even naps for its owner's comfort.
PARO robot was specially created for
elderly patients with dementia and other
such complex cognitive disorders and
has been proven to reduce stress as it
yields benefits of animal therapy. Every
year, according to the World Health Organization
(WHO) there are nearly 10
million new cases of dementia.3
There are rehabilitation robots for
patients recovering from lost abilities or
trying to regain their bodily control after
any injury or surgery. These robots also
depend on sensors to detect patient's
skin, activities, and movements.
Burt Robot, a rehabilitation robot,
is widely used to support patients with
nerves weakness, paralysis in hands/
arms, strokes, brain injuries, Parkinson's
disease, etc. This robot works along with
the therapists when attached to patient's
forearm. The Ekso Bionic suit, another
kind of rehabilitation robot, is an exoskeleton
designed to help patients with
walking disabilities.
Robotic Radiotherapy to Reduce
Recovery Times of Cancer Patients
The American Cancer Society estimates
that, the global cancer burden
will reach ~28 million new cancer cases
and 16.2 million cancer deaths by 2040,
straining people and health systems.4
Such a growing number of cancer cases
emphasizes the urgent need for quick,
effective, and precise cancer treatment
solutions. CyberKnife, an image-guided
robotic system is one such solution that
was specifically designed to deliver radiation
doses precisely and with high accuracy
in cancer patients.
Benefits offered by robotic surgeries
like smaller incisions, less scarring, reduced
pain, and blood loss, along with
adaptive delivery of a radiation beam
to the tumor tend to be the most pronounced
in complex cancer surgeries.
The CyberKnife noninvasive radiation
technique delivers a high dose in a small
volume with real-time adaptive delivery of
the radiation beam that reduces probable
side effects, thus increasing the survival
rates of patients. CyberKnife treatment
can be completed in just 4-5 sessions over
1-2 weeks, while conventional radiation
therapies take up to 30-40 sessions consuming
over 8-10 weeks' time.
Several analyses demonstrate that
low-to-intermediate-risk prostate cancer
patients had five-year survival rates of
>97 percent after being treated with CyberKnife,
the fully robotic radiotherapy
device. Moreover, robotic arms used in
such surgical systems make it possible
to easily access and deliver radiation to
hard-to-reach places of the body such as
spine, brain, and lung.
Robots for Transporting Things and
Medicines
Hospitals are no less than hives of
activities. While hospitals keep the staff
busy in doing routine tasks, robots come
to ferry supplies across hospitals, freeing
the medical staff from heavy physical
loads, and multiple trips to and fro.
Transporting meals, linens, lab specimens,
and other medical supplies in a
200-bed hospital covers approximately
53 miles a day, states Aethon, a provider
of intralogistics automation through its
autonomous mobile robot platform, including
TUG. TUG robots in healthcare
perform the delivery and transportation
tasks with a payload capacity of up to
1,400 lbs. (635 kg). These robots work
remotely while effectively identifying
potential problems before they become
actual problems.
Robots have proven to reduce stress for elderly patients with dementia and other such complex cognitive disorders. The use of robots has been shown to yield the same
benefits as animal therapy. (Credit: Salsabila Ariadina/AdobeStock)
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Medical Design Briefs, February 2024

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Medical Design Briefs - February 2024

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