Robots serve several different roles in hospitals, from cleaning and carrying equipment to comforting patients and doing actual surgery.
The dream is closer than you think
Robots can do pretty much anything, but would you let a robot operate on you? Would you trust your life to a machine? While your instinct might tell you “No,” maybe it is time you reconsider, as robots are becoming more and more common in hospitals, and they are actually saving lives.
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Take the da Vinci Surgical Robot for example. This futuristic-looking robot was developed and refined over a period of 20 years and is now being used to help surgeons perform complex surgeries all over the world. The system translates the surgeon’s hand movements into even more stable and precise ones while allowing the surgeon to look inside the patient's body in extreme detail. And while it’s true that the robot does not perform the surgery by itself, it’s important to note that the surgeon does not come in direct contact with the patient during the surgery. Only the robot does. In fact, the surgeon could technically be operating from the other side of the earth.
But not all jobs in the hospital are that intense. Other jobs are more mundane but still necessary. Jobs like providing patients with clean sheets, bringing doctors the tools they need, and helping nurses keep an emergency room from devolving into chaos. Meet Tug, an autonomous hospital vehicle that does all those things while allowing the staff to focus on more ‘human’ interactions. So while Tug is running dirty and clean linens back and forth and makes sure every room in the hospital is always fully stacked, the nurses have time for the more important stuff, like taking care of the patients.
Another position robots have been filling in the past few years, primarily due to the covid-19 pandemic, is disinfection. Instead of using dangerous chemicals to make sure rooms are clean and safe for patients and staff workers, many hospitals prefer to use UV light to kill germs and viruses. However, direct exposure to this type of light is very hazardous to humans. These robots can kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria within ten minutes while autonomously navigating through the room. Some of them even shut themselves off automatically if anyone mistakingly walks in, to prevent harmful exposure.
There are a lot of other jobs robots can take around the hospital. From mopping the floors to reminding patients to take their medicine to just being there for them when they feel lonely. The future of the robotic caretaker looks brighter than ever. And although there are some jobs that robots could never replace, like that of a nurse or a doctor, the robots can always be there, in the background, taking care of all the mundane tasks and dangerous jobs people don’t want to do.
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Da Vinci
Tug
UV Robots
If you liked this video and want to hear more about everything interesting in the world of robotics, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified whenever we upload a new one. And as always, stay curious.
