Medical robots were first introduced in the 1980s with them commonly being used first in biopsies in neurosurgery (the first robot was called the Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly 200) to later being developed for use in urologic procedures. ROBODOC was the first robot in the United States to perform surgery on a human patient, it held the ability to perform hip and knee replacement surgeries and was revolutionary due to its pre-programmed nature. Typically during orthopaedic procedures the surgeon manually drills into the femoral shaft for the surgery leading to the implant fitting imperfectly which then requires bone cement to fill the gaps, overtime the cement can cause issues and in the worst case scenario may lead to a revision surgery, ROBODOC meant that implantations without cement became possible ⁽³⁾.

It would be impossible to delve into the future of robotics in healthcare without discussing what is currently one of the most commonly used medical robots in surgery around the world – da Vinci (otherwise known as the robot who could perform surgery on a grape). Developed by Intuitive Surgical Inc, this robot enabled the surgeon as the ‘master’ and itself as the ‘slave’. When first approved in 2000 it consisted of three arms and three components – a patient cart, surgeon console and an image system, later on in 2002 the number of arms increased to four and this prototype was then approved for use in clinics. It proved to have many advantages such as removing the need for a surgical assistant at all times which could lead to a decrease in human error in surgery, the elimination of hand tremors as the surgeon was able to control the arms of the surgical instruments with two handles.⁽¹⁾ Since then 5 generations of the Da Vinci robot have passed with the current model being the da Vinci 5 which was launched in 2024 advertised by Intuitive as offering ‘improved ergonomics’ and ‘first-of-its-kind Force Feedback technology to enhance surgical senses’. ⁽²⁾ The success of this machine has highlighted the growing future for robotics in medicine with millions of dollars being invested into the medical robotic field each year.

Often the association of robots in medicine is limited only to their benefits within the surgical field however they have impacted the world of healthcare far beyond what you may think. They can be used to help connect doctors to patients around the world to places where there may not always be a doctor readily available to offer their assistance and diagnosis. Robots can also be used to aid those who are vulnerable in our society by acting as a virtual companion, they have the ability to especially help those who may suffer from loneliness or depression. The implementation of these kinds of robots simultaneously helps solve the issue of a lack of professional carers as they can be developed to offer regularly scheduled check ups to their patients ⁽⁴⁾. A well-known example of this kind of robot which has been designed to help within hospitality is BUDDY ⁽⁵⁾ which implements artificial intelligence to form an emotional connection with its patients and won the Best of Innovation Award in 2018 for its impact.

Another less well-known development of medical robotics is disinfectant robots. It is common knowledge that hospitals are one of the most difficult places to keep clean, as well as this it can take hours to properly sterilise an operating theatre, disinfectant robots can be used to move autonomously to any areas which need to be cleaned (after being programmed) which means more patients can be seen quicker as less time is spent on sterilisation in between appointments.

While I have discussed a few of the many advantages of medical robots, some may argue their disadvantages outweigh these. Within medicine the connection between a doctor and their patient is vital so many may feel that the growing implementation of robotics in the medical field will lead to less personal consultations. Of course there is always the possibility of complications during surgery, while the probability of robotic malfunction is extremely rare, pre-programmed robots do not account for any patient complications which may require the surgeon having to quickly switch to a more open procedure which can put the patient’s life at risk.

Today robots have been implemented into many common surgical procedures such as:

• Colectomy
• Hysterectomy
• Hernia repair
• Gastric bypass

References:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10683436/#:~:text=The%20first%20da%20Vinci%20robot,was%20approved%20for%20clinical%20use
• https://www.intuitive.com/en-us/about-us/company/history
• https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1842522#:~:text=ROBODOC%20is%20a%20surgical%20robot,over%2028%2C000%20orthopedic%20procedures%20worldwide
• https://interestingengineering.com/lists/15-medical-robots-that-are-changing-the-world
• https://www.bluefrogrobotics.com/buddy-en