Emerging Technology Market Intelligence Blog

Is Robotic Technology the Future of the Healthcare System?

Written by BIS Research | Feb 3, 2022 11:26:00 AM

The healthcare industry is now integrating more advanced, informed, and connected technologies. The healthcare business is rapidly innovating to enhance or maintain high-quality treatment while keeping costs down. Factors such as an aging population and variations in care standards across developed and emerging nations make it challenging to address healthcare concerns.

Therefore, robotics has grown in popularity in the healthcare industry in recent years. Robotic-assisted imaging technologies, for instance, are making diagnosis and surgery precise, minimally invasive, and safer for patients.

Robots revolutionize surgery, speed up supply delivery and cleaning, and free up time for doctors to spend with patients in the medical industry. Robots that specialize in human care include surgical robots and rehabilitation robots. Robots will grow increasingly autonomous as technology progresses, eventually performing several tasks entirely on their own.

As a result, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers may be more focused on treating patients with empathy. Medical robots can assist with minimally invasive procedures, individualized and regular monitoring for chronic illness patients, intelligent drugs, and social engagement for the elderly.

According to BIS Research, the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market was worth $617.7 million in 2020 and is expected to reach $2,207.8 million by the end of 2030, rising at a CAGR of 13.74 percent between 2021 and 2030.

Following factors can help the growth of robotic-assisted surgeries:

• Enhancing clinical and research capacities
• Targeting specialized and emergent surgical applications
• Software development innovation (AI and haptics implementation)
• A regulatory framework that encourages innovation

Robotics Applications in the Medical Field

1. Microbots and Diagnosis: Patients can safely swallow remote-controllable camera-equipped microbots to aid doctors in diagnosing illnesses.

2. Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation robots can help wounded or immobilized individuals begin robot-assisted workouts and recover sooner.

3. Hospital Sterilization and Delivery: In hospitals, robots can sterilize surroundings to help prevent infections and perform routine deliveries to free up human time for the healthcare givers to focus on patients.

4. Minimally Invasive Surgery: Robotic-assisted surgical equipment can aid surgeons in making less invasive incisions and performing more accurately in smaller places.

5. Prosthetics: Technological advancements are making bionic limbs lighter, more accessible, and more connected to the human brain.

6. Telemedicine and Communication: Robots are facilitating remote communication between physicians, medical personnel, and patients.

Evolution of Medical Imaging Technologies

Medical imaging is utilized at numerous stages of the patient care process, including screening, diagnosis, staging, therapy administration, and therapy follow-up. Despite their limitations, medical imaging modalities such as endoscopy, X-Ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, and, more recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are increasingly being utilized for interventional diagnostic and therapeutic reasons.

Patients who get ineffective or incorrect therapy face fewer repercussions because of more accurate diagnoses. Due to automation, doctors no longer have to second-guess their recommendations, and patients can rest assured that they will always receive the treatment they require.

Few firms provide devices that integrate two modalities, such as CT and X-Ray or ultrasound and X-Ray. With the right automated technology, it is possible to diagnose the illnesses of more patients, resulting in more treatments in a given amount of time.

Increased Use of Robotics in the Medical Field

In recent years, robots have moved closer to diagnosis and patient care than their previous role as suppliers of services in the medical infrastructure. The increased need for robots in minimally invasive operations, notably in neurologic, orthopedic, and laparoscopic procedures, is a major key cause of a rise in the application of robots. As a result, a wide range of robots is being created to perform tasks in the medical industry. Intel, for instance, has a diverse portfolio of health robotics technologies, including surgical aid, modular, service, social, mobile, and autonomous robots.

In addition, the domain of assistive and therapeutic robotic devices is rapidly expanding. Robots assist patients recovering from severe diseases such as strokes, empathic robots that assist with the care of the elderly or physically/mentally challenged, and industrial robots that perform a variety of routine tasks such as sterilizing rooms and delivering medical supplies and equipment, including medications.

To summarize, as technology advances, medical institutions are expected to provide high-quality treatment options by performing quick and accurate surgical operations with minimum patient discomfort. This will lead to an increased demand for robotic-assisted imaging and surgical procedures.