Robotics and the Future of Patient Care – Part I  Jem Golden

Robotics and the Future of Patient Care – Part I Jem Golden

Healthcare technicians, doctors and nurses are in the front line to combat pandemics putting themselves at high risk of contracting the disease while treating the sick patients. These risks are substantially increased when there is a shortage of protective personal equipment (PPE) giving the medical team no choice but to reuse or improvise PPE.

Among many unpredictable outcomes of the COVID-19 outbreak has been the increase in robotic solutions for healthcare settings on a scale not previously considered and for compelling reasons: using robots reduces person-to-person contact, which means fewer medical staff get sick. Robotic applications reduce community transmission while consuming fewer supplies of PPE. Telemedicine is also being used more frequently to support doctors and nurses to communicate with patients without the risk of infection.

Hospitals have been using autonomous robots to deliver food, medicine and supplies; transfer specimen samples; disinfect hospital rooms with ultraviolet light, even greet patients and provide information. And while telemedicine is mainly applied to in-home remote consultation; hospitals and nursing homes are increasingly using telepresence robots to facilitate communication with patients, visual inspection, and even ‘driving around’ a patient’s room to 'view' equipment and monitors.

Robots physically interacting with patients is still relatively rare but it is a more common practice in Japan, China and Thailand. It is realistic to project a near future in which this patient-robot interface could become common in healthcare settings worldwide.

For instance, mobile robots are being introduced to do simple tasks like taking a patient’s temperature reducing the burden on human health care providers, letting them keep their distance from the infected. This application could prevent future bottlenecks experienced during this pandemic in which so many workers became sick or quarantined after potential exposure that the hospital staff cannot adequately care for incoming patients.

 In these six articles I aim to examine firstly the ethical dimensions from the patients and carers’ perspective; followed by in-depth analysis of exo-skeleton rehabilitation applications including supporting patients in stroke recovery; ‘sociable’ robots with a focus on nursing homes in Japan and a profile of the robotics company Cyberdyne, pioneer of a wearable Hybrid Assistive Limb, the only approved system of its kind that traps the electrical signals of the brain via the skin surface of the lower limbs and supports the patient to walk.

 Ethical discussions about robots in healthcare often focus on replacing human care givers that will not only put valued and highly trained people out of a job, but also remove the capacity for ‘warm’ and ‘empathetic’ care from the treatment process.

People especially in a vulnerable state have various social and emotional needs that cannot necessarily be attended to by giving them a robot. There is the understandable concern that very elderly people especially who are less familiar with, and intimated by technology will be ‘handed over to robots’ and left devoid of essential human contact.

I interviewed Héctor González-Jiménez, Associate Professor in Marketing at ESCP Business School in Madrid. His wide ranging interdisciplinary research includes human-robot interactions and the use of robotics in diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.

“The discourse in the (European and US) media on robotics typically focuses on robotics replacing human workers, job displacement and so on. But that is not always the case for healthcare applications which is about robots replacing specific tasks and potentially freeing medical staff to do essential roles and this is already happening more in Asian countries and it is seen as a positive development,” explains González-Jiménez

González-Jiménez emphasises the societal, psychological and ethical implications that have to be considered with the integration of robots and AI into healthcare environments.

For instance, the patient’s psychological response to robots may often be determined by the severity of their condition; it can enhance their anxiety and sense of vulnerability.

“From that perspective, I believe that is it integral to introduce these technologies gradually and with sensitivity; and dedicate time to educate staff, patients and stakeholders on the potential benefits of robotics. During the introductory stages, patients need to give their ethical consent if a robot is planned to be used for their treatment regime. Are they willing to receive treatment or care from a robot? Their wishes have to be acknowledged and acted on,” he says.

 The radical potential of robotics brought to the forefront by COVID 19 lies in the fact that it promotes a different conceptualisation of the role of patient care in hospitals and other healthcare settings; as well as in the home as will be explored in later articles.

Sources for article: 

Interview: Héctor González-Jiménez, Associate Professor in Marketing at ESCP Business School in Madrid.

Héctor Linked In Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-gonzalez-jimenez-0825302

Ethics of healthcare robotics: Towards responsible research and innovation by Stahl and Coeckelbergh published in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Dec 2016 issue

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921889016305292

The Covid-19 Pandemic Is a Crisis That Robots Were Built For published in Wired magazine

https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-pandemic-robots/

 

 

 

Tracy Swanton

DMHG Group Operations Project Manager

3y

Hi Jem, some really interesting articles that in my previous neuro rehab role and love sound amazing . I’m now working as clinical services manager so would be applying robotics to areas like cardiac and respiratory physiology. Thanks Tracy

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Steve Kremer

Director, TRN Ltd, technology sector research consultancy

3y

Thanks Jem, It will be interesting to learn about liability issues, and how these are likely to shape service provision in more litigious countries, as well the technological leaps which will be available through 5G connectivity (very low latency, AI etc). Looking forward to the next article!

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