ROBOTS IN MEDICAL SCIENCES

   

              ROBOTS IN MEDICAL SCIENCES

Few decades ago, people are aware of robots only through movies and books. Robots are used for the purpose of entertainment in various movies. In these days, robots play a major role in the field of medicine. Scientists are trying to find out new ways for making use of robots in their medical field. Robots can be helpful in the medical world by three ways which includes dealing with diagnosis, surgery and bringing back good health for the patients.

There seems to be high risk of difficulties in most of the surgeries and some times there are chances for mortality. Hence, most of the scientists and doctors made various researches in order to make the surgeries safe and secure. In such situations, robots can help a lot in making the surgery more safer since they could make smaller cuts in the organs or tissues. This would in turn make the patients feel easier and comfortable.

The most important point considered in the medical world is to get accurate and safer diagnosis. Most of the times, the patients are diagnosed in an inaccurate manner and hence they suffer from various problems. The test instruments in robots are able to perform various tests that can be performed by doctors or nurses. These tests include sample collection, CAT scans performance, etc. This would help in reducing the errors and also reduces the malpractices done in case of reports delivered.

Most of the people are injured through accidents. The quality of such patient’s life can be improved by rehabilitation. Robots would help in such process by helping the patients in restoring the function of their legs and hands. Robots can also help in monitoring the progress of each and every patient. Thus robots play a vital role in the field of medicine and it reduces the work of human.

Robots are critical to the medical field where extreme precision and delicacy is necessary, and the margin for error slim. In this section learn how robots are used to keep you healthy.

The first generation of surgical robots are already being installed in a number of operating rooms around the world. Robotics is being introduced to medicine because it allows for unprecedented control and precision of surgical instruments in minimally invasive procedures. So far, robots have been used to position an endoscope, perform gallbladder surgery and correct gastroesophogeal reflux and heartburn. The ultimate goal of the robotic surgery field is to design a robot that can be used to perform closed-chest, beating-heart surgery. The use of robotics in surgery will expand over the next decades without any doubt. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a revolutionary approach in surgery. In MIS, the operation is performed with instruments and viewing equipment inserted into the body through small incisions created by the surgeon, in contrast to open surgery with large incisions. This minimises surgical trauma and damage to healthy tissue, resulting in shorter patient recovery time.

Robots are performing their function in different fields of medical science, such as

SURGERY:

Because robots are able to perform major operations while only making small incisions, patients receive many benefits: lessened trauma, fewer infections, decreased healing time, and a faster discharge from the hospital. Robots are used to perform heart surgery without opening patients chests.

EDUCATION:

Robots are currently used to test medical students. Pregnant humanoid robots, for instance, prepare students for various birth complications.

ADMINISTRATION:

Robots are also affecting the way hospitals are run and medications distributed. They make sure hospital visits are shorter and the risk of infection minimized.

Possibly the most glamorous application of robots in medicine, current state of the art couples a human surgeon with mechanisms that can perform surgery through very small incisions, greatly reducing the risk to patients. The surgeon's ability to control the mechanism is enhanced by providing force feedback to the controls, allowing the operator to have a sense of touch to help control the robot. This type of robot isn't completely independent, and is more properly called a teleoperated device, but uses much of the same technology an independant robot would employ for motion control, imaging and tactile/force feedback. The fully autonomous surgical robot that is a feature of science fiction literature and screen entertainment is unlikely to appear in the near future, and even if technically possible, would be viewed with great skepticism by patients (and their lawyers).

The robots are capable of doing lots of works in hospitals and medicine, some of them are:-

    

Diagnosis

Robotic test instruments range from exotic scanners (such as computerized axial tomography: the CAT scan) to laboratory equipment that processes and analyzes samples of blood and other materials extracted from the body for diagnostic purposes. They provide consistency and accuracy, reducing the possibility of human error that can cause an inaccurate diagnosis. While not the classic industrial robot, they do employ many of the same automation techniques.     

Prosthetics

Mechanical replacements for missing limbs and organs that can interact with the human organic system are a long-standing goal of the medical community. Research into replacement hearts, limbs, eyes, ears and other organs offers hope for the development of effective implanted devices and replacement limbs that can function for long periods of time. Robotic devices can also provide assistance to people with severe restrictions on movement, in many cases allowing them at least some capability to move around or nearby their homes. 

One of the great challenges facing the designers of implantable devices is the need to avoid stimulating the normal immune system response to foreign objects, a response that can cause serious complications or disable the device. It is also necessary for the device to be able to survive in the biological environment without damaging chemical interactions with the body.

Rehabilitation 

Robots can provide exercise platforms to help restore limb function and can monitor the condition of patients undergoing rehabilitation from the effects of injuries, stroke or other brain or nerve damage.

Pharmaceuticals 

Industrial robots used to manufacture drugs provide consistency and cost control in drug production and can perform many process and handling steps without the risk of contamination from human operators or exposing humans to dangerous chemicals or inadvertant drug doses. 

June 24, 2008 The rise of robotic surgery has marked a new age in medical science and one of its pioneers has just reached a major milestone. Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr. has performed his 400th robotic-assisted mitral valve repair at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. A globally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon, Chitwood’s robotic-assisted surgery training center at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (ECU) was the first site in the US to offer formal training in robotic-assisted mitral valve (a dual flap valve in the heart located between the left atrium and left ventricle) repair procedures.

Now robots have been implemented in every aspects of our life and it can not be ignored that how they make our life more better and comfrtable.

"By integrating computer-enhanced technology with the surgeons’ technical skills, robotic-assisted procedures enable surgeons to perform better surgery in a manner never before experienced"

 So now a days they are  integrated part of our life.