Medical Robots Market: A Multi-Disciplinary Endeavour for Aiding Patients and Healthcare Professionals

Medical robots are medical devices that are programmed to assist medical professionals in a variety of tasks, such as patient interaction, patient welfare assessment, operating in hazardous and emergency circumstances, data mining to enhance the efficiency of a pharmacy, and disinfection of hospital rooms. As a result, these robots are being utilized in medical robots market for different purposes, including carrying out logistic tasks, execute surgical procedures, support patient rehabilitation and provide care to the patients via remote commands to the robot.

Medical robots have enabled complex surgeries to be performed with greater accuracy due to minimally invasive surgery, enhanced dexterity, reduced post-surgical trauma and faster recovery times for patients. Beyond the surgical applications of robots, medical robots have been instrumental in development of robots that can perform other kind of tasks, such as drug dispensing, diagnostics, sanitization and disinfection of hospitals and rehabilitation therapies.

Evolution of Medical Robots Market

The evolution of medical robots has played a transformative role in revolutionizing the healthcare industry. The advancements in the field of medical robotics commenced around the mid-1980s as the technology sector started to set its rhythm with design engineering leading to the development of a surgical robot, namely PUMA 560 (developed by Westinghouse Electric). In 1985, a computer program was developed by Dr. Yik San Kwoh working in Memorial Medical Center, California that successfully placed a needle for a human brain biopsy using CT system for guidance. This prudent discovery unveiled the era of medical robotics across the globe.

In 2000, the da Vinci robotic surgical system (developed by Intuitive Surgical) was approved for use in various surgical procedures by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Since then, in the medical robots market, this advanced system has been used in an array of surgical procedures, spanning from prostate surgeries to coronary artery bypass operations, marking a notable advancement in the field of surgical technology.

Applications of Medical Robots

Medical robots have revolutionized the way surgeries are conducted, stroke patients are supported, and hospital-related tasks (including disinfection and supply delivery) are streamlined in order to allow healthcare providers to better concentrate on patient engagement and care. These categories allow the medical professionals to flexibly leverage the robotic platforms as per their unique operational requirements, thereby fostering efficiency, accuracy and innovation across the medical robots market.

Moreover, the medical robots market is rapidly gaining traction due to their ability to overcome transportation barriers. The Zealand University Hospital in Denmark claims to autonomously receive deliveries daily from the hospital’s sterilization center. The mobile industrial robot (MiR), named Optimus  has been contributing to the flexible and automated logistics for the new 190,000 sq. ft. super hospital. On the other hand, Omnicell , a US-based healthcare company claims to support the efficient distribution of medications to over 50,000 institutional and retail pharmacies across the US and the UK leveraging its robotic drug dispensing solutions. Hence, with the expanding use cases and continuous advancements in the medical robots market, the adoption of robotics in healthcare is poised to transform the way medical care is delivered, bringing about significant benefits for patients, healthcare providers, and society as a whole.

Types of Healthcare Robots in Medical Robots Market

In healthcare, several distinct categories of medical robots have emerged, each having proficiency in performing the designated functions in various fields related to medical science.

A. Surgical Robots

The conventional approach followed by the surgeons to conduct invasive surgeries involves the usage of their hands and wide range of surgical instruments. However, it involves the need to make larger incision in the patient’s body resulting in heavy blood loss, post-surgical scarring, increased risk of infection (even during the healing period) and some other medical complications associated with surgeries that are being conducted on different anatomical areas. The incorporation of surgical robots in such interventional surgical procedures has led to circumvention of the aforementioned challenges of conventional surgeries by performing procedures through small incisions (even in hard-to-reach areas).

B. Rehabilitation Robots

A rehabilitation robot (exoskeleton robot) is an automated device designed to help people with physical disabilities move more easily. Such robots are now finding wider applications in industries, such as construction and warehousing. Broadly, wearable exoskeletons can be classified into two major categories, namely medical and non-medical exoskeletons. The medical exoskeletons are aimed to provide guided movement to patients with mobility impairments (therapeutic), provide support to regain strength, mobility and endurance after an injury (rehabilitation) or help people with disabilities perform daily tasks more independently than they could otherwise manage (assistive).

C. Hospital Robots

Hospital robots are equipped with built-in sensors for delivering medications, meals, and specimens around the hospital. Post pandemic, the usage of contactless robots performing sanitization has increased to maintain safety of healthcare workers and patients. Further, nurses are required to carry out a variety of routine tasks on a daily basis, including blood drawing and monitoring of vital signs. These tasks are essential; however, the sheer number of these tasks can be physically and emotionally draining for nurses. Medical robots can now carry out some of these routine tasks.

D. Care Robots 

Care robots have been designed to tweak the quality of life among elderly people and people who are on bed rest due to some chronic illnesses. These types of robots are able to provide physical and emotional care by providing assistance in daily living, cognitive support, social interactions and remote medical triage in both autonomous and semi-autonomous ways. Further, it is interesting to note that, these robots are majorly being used in the US, Japan and some European countries.

Future Perspective: Medical Robots Market

Medical robots have emerged as a groundbreaking advancement in modern healthcare, offering various advantages that redefine the landscape of medical procedures. The continuous evolution of surgical robots, outlining a trajectory from early experimentation to sophisticated, adaptable systems underpin a collaboration between human surgeons and robotic assistants. This ultimately helps in achieving optimal patient outcomes thereby reducing the limitations of the conventional surgical techniques. With the ongoing advancements in the robotic platforms / technologies and presence of stringent regulatory guidelines for the approval of such robotic systems, the stakeholders have been vigorously putting in efforts to be at par for the development of robotic systems. These stakeholders in the medical robots market have been making consistent efforts for improvising the technologies, for the development of robots in order to enhance the dexterity, expand the clinical applications and refine automation in robots.

Further, it is worth highlighting that as of now, there is no precise clinical proof of use for rehabilitation robots. Nevertheless, extensive research and development efforts are underway to overcome the current difficulties associated with rehabilitation robots (restricted range of motion, lack of universal design, requirement of training and coordination issues). Another significant issue is the prohibitive price of hospital robots, which may need to be reduced in the near future in order to motivate healthcare firms to adopt these robots for the purpose of improving the management of the facilities provided to patients.

Lately, the companies engaged in the medical robots market have also comprehended the current limitations of robotic systems and advancing the software / techniques to provide new robotic systems intended for better outcomes. Additionally, government support in the form of transparent regulatory guidelines and robust policies will be crucial for the rise in the number of commercialized medical robots in the near future. With the amalgamation of technological advancement and ongoing activity in medical robots market, we anticipate that effective, reliable medical robots are set to play a pivotal role in enhancing precise treatment, diagnosis, and patient well-being, along with automation of redundant tasks in surgery centers / hospitals.

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