Artificial intelligence
The role of AI and robots in healthcare
Before anything can be identified as a robot it needs to have these four essential characteristics: sensing, movement, energy and intelligence.
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A rehabilitation robot is designed to improve the movement of a patient with impaired physical functioning. For example, people physically injured in accidents or soldiers injured in war.
There are two main types of rehabilitation robots, the first type is an assistive robot that substitutes for lost limb movements. For example, a robotic arm The second type of rehabilitation robot is a therapy robot. Therapy robots include mechanical animals which imitate domesticated animal behaviours, such as mechanical cats that purr and meow. Other therapy robots such as Pepper can read a user’s emotional cues. This is done by tracking user’s facial expressions, body language and the words they use. To assist patients to maintain their independenceRobots can be developed to have a similar mobility structure to that of humans along with a friendly humanoid face. Robots can be programmed to perform tasks such as accompanying patients around their homes and reminding them when to take their medication. Artificial intelligence can be incorporated into the design of robot enabling humans and robots to have conversations to help keep ageing minds sharp and reduce loneliness.
To deliver meals and medication in the hospitalAs robots can work tirelessly and are always precise and accurate, tasks that are considered to be the most menial and boring can be made easier with the use of automated systems. Robots can help processes such as the delivery of medicines, food, meal trays and patient records. This can then free up employees to focus on more important tasks related to patient care.
To be used to perform surgery or provide assistance to surgeons whilst operatingRobots can be used in surgery to provide a surgeon with more precision, control and flexibility in comparison to conventional methods. This is why robotic surgery is often used for minimally invasive procedures, where surgery is performed through a small incision.
To help with mental healthThere are currently a number of apps available designed to help people improve their mood and overall mental health. Woebot is one example of an AI therapist chat bot. Watch the video on the right to see how it works.
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Open your presentation on AI and Healthcare.
Add a summary of the videos and text above giving examples of how AI and robots are used.. Find some additional ways AI is being used: Use Google searches such as "robots in healthcare 2021", "healthcare robots examples" and "AI in healthcare" Scroll down all of the results and choose the ones that look most interesting to you and most up to date. Present a summary of your findings IN YOUR OWN WORDS. You may use Google for images but you should include also include the URL from where you got the image as shown on the right. |
The da Vinci Robot is a surgical robot which can perform minimally invasive surgeries.
In 2015 Stephen Pettitt was the first to undergo robotic heart surgery using the da Vinci within the UK, at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. He died after the operation. If Mr Pettitt had conventional surgery (without the use of a robotic surgeon) there was only a 1-2% chance of the operation leading to his death. Stephen Pettitt died as a direct consequence of the operation using the da Vinci, and the subsequent complications. After an inquest, a statement was released revealing that there had been a catalogue of errors. These included a lack of training of the surgeon who led the operation. The surgeon had not received any one-to-one training on how to use the da Vinci device. The Da Vinci robot is a regulated device but still managed to cause harm to the patient through a lack of surgical training. |
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What other disadvantages can you see in using AI and robots in healthcare?
Would you be interested in using apps or AI robots, including chat bots, to diagnose an illness or monitor your health? Perhaps you already use a smart watch that monitor your heart rate and how many steps you do. If you were in hospital, how would you feel about being looked after by a nurse bot rather than a human? Would you trust them to dispense the right medications and change dressings correctly? Would you be comfortable getting treatment such as physiotherapy, from a robot? How would you feel giving your personal medical information to a bot? How secure is your data? What about traditional jobs of nurses, doctors, radiographers etc? There are already apps available that use chat bots and AI to help people deal with mental health issues. Examples of these are Wysa and Woebot. Create a document (could be Word or PowerPoint) that outlines both the advantages and disadvantages of using AI in health care. |
How safe would you feel if you knew that your hospital was solely run using robotics and artificial intelligence? How important do you think it is to have human interaction in healthcare?
Will the hospitals of the future be run by robots??? |