Benefits from robotics applied to medicine

In recent years, robotics applied to medicine has made great progress. There are several medical specialities, especially surgical ones, which have benefited from the use of increasingly precise robots with greater possibilities for diagnosis and treatment of several diseases. Assistance in the rehabilitation of patients and replacement of functions are also other possibilities Robotics bring to us.

Robot-assisted surgical interventions, essentially by the Da Vinci® system, have a number of advantages for both the patient and the medical team that directs the surgical intervention:

• Increased accuracy by preventing human tremor.
• Faster recovery of the patient as it is a less invasive procedure.
• Easier access to complex or delicate anatomical areas.
• Less damage to surrounding tissues in the intervened area.
• Greater ergonomics for the surgeon.

Many advantages in interventions

The use of robotic assistance in the interventions allows the surgeon to integrate different radiological images with the surgical plane that he visualizes for a more precise approach and with greater safety for the patient.

Also, robotic surgical assistance allows minimally invasive surgeries taking advantage of the navel or natural cavities, to access the intervention area, which reduces the risk of bleeding and postoperative complications. These types of robots are also useful for generating patient simulations so that doctors can train before using them in real patients.

Surgery with robotic assistance is ideal for complex interventions and difficult access. Its use has made great advances in surgery such as cancer of the oesophagus, stomach and rectum, in bariatric surgery of obese patients, and in surgery of the liver, bile ducts, pancreas and endocrine glands.

It has also been used successfully in gynaecological interventions of the pelvic floor, as well as in urology, reaping magnificent results in prostate, bladder and renal cancer interventions.

There are now more than 3,000 units of the Da Vinci® surgical assistance robot in the world.

Assistance Robots

Other applications of robotics in the medical field are assistance robots. These robots provide support to sick, disabled or elderly people and allow them to have continuous care and supervision.

Despite being in a very underdeveloped state at the moment, these robots could cover functions such as cleaning, scheduled administration of medications, taking constants such as temperature, blood pressure, heart rate or oxygen saturation, food or assistance to mobilization

Smart prostheses

The development of robotics has allowed the creation of intelligent prostheses, that is to say, artificial elements endowed with a certain degree of autonomy that allows supplying functions partially or totally of amputee members or that have a limited or deficient function, as after an accident or after some type of vascular or neurological injury. These prostheses use the signals that the brain sends to the musculature through the nerves, a signal that is captured by the prosthesis to be able to replace the deficit movements. These prostheses allow for the moment simple movements, not of high complexity such as writing. Prosthetics have also been used in the field of ophthalmology, where bionic eyes have been implanted that, connected to the brain, have allowed vision to be restored in some patients.

In the wake of robotic prostheses are exoskeletons, which are external assistance machines that partially support the function of the skeleton, that is, they provide support, stability and are designed to help wander, as well as increase strength and endurance muscle in people with mobility disorders. Despite the advantages that these mechanisms and prostheses entail, technology is still under development and one of its main drawbacks today is the high cost of this technology.

Similarly, in some hospitals rehabilitation machines are being tested with robotic assistance for patients who have suffered accidents or diseases that have compromised the locomotive function of the different extremities of the body.

What does the future hold?

The future of robotics in the medical field is already a fact. One of the following objectives would be the creation of implants of artificially created tissues and organs, that is, bionic organs that make it possible to replace heart, liver or kidney failure.