Innovation, Knowledge, and an Understanding of Medical Marvels.

Medical Robots are becoming more and more of a beneficial asset to the medical industry these days. It is a booming industry with a bright future for doctors, and patients. I have attended a few seminars that have been very intriguing and interesting. This has provoked me to dig deeper into medical robotics, and their impact on a global scale. To verify my previous statement about medical robotics being a beneficial asset to the medical industry, I refer to Russell Taylors work on Medical Robotics; he wrote that “Robots are reducing surgeon hand-tremor, assisting in spine and joint-replacement, positioning surgical needle guides, and coordinating medical imaging with surgical procedures.” Taylor is a well known critic, and Electrical Engineer. His article A Perspective on Medical Robotics has proven to be a very informational passage. The goal of this paper is to enlighten and enrich a general audience on what medical robots are, why they are important and what they are achieving in the medical industry now and in the future. I plan to do this by sharing with you a variety of information that I have accumulated from a number of individuals who are connected to the Medical Industry or Electrical Engineering. On this note, I would like to say that I think medical robots are a complex and intricate creation. They are proving to be a great help in the form of patient care, and have become a great advancement in the medical industry.

In my opinion, Medical robots are enabling components in much broader computer integrated systems such as diagnostics, pre-op, and post-op patient care. They can be thought of as complex surgical tools, or instruments, that assist surgeons to perform more effectively and precisely in their environments. They are being used to replace missing limbs, deliver neuro-rehabilitation therapy to stroke patients, and teach children with learning disabilities. Personally I cannot believe that we are capable of this right now. I mean think about where the human race was 30 years, 50 years, or even 100 years ago. Not only is the rate of our technological advancement astonishing, but it is constantly perfecting and improving the latest and greatest technologies to make them even more effective.

An example of a recent development that has been very beneficial to the medical industry is an extremely precise robotic “smart” drill. This drill is able to penetrate the shell of an egg, and automatically stop drilling when it reaches the thin membrane that surrounds the egg. This drill is a huge breakthrough for Neuro-surgeons. “The robotic micro-drill beats the human competition in both cleanliness and reaction time,” says Michael Rosenwald, of Popular Science magazine. This is just one of the many supporting articles that endorse my thesis on Medical Robots. All of this means better care, higher safety yields, and improved efficiency.

As I stated earlier, I think that medical robots are a complex and intricate creation, mainly because they are a great help in the form of patient care. An example that shows what a great aid that medical robots are becoming is the pacemaker, or artificial defibrillator. Boston Scientific is 1 of the 3 leading producers, and manufacturers of this device. I recently attended a seminar held by Joe Bange, and Greg Carpenter, two leading engineers and innovators of this company. They are part of the team that designed and implemented the pacemaker into the medical industry. Joe and Greg discussed the technology and innovation behind this tiny creation. As an end result, /Boston Scientific was able to engineer a “Medical Robot,” that is able to keep your heart operating on a regular rhythm for the duration of its battery life cycle. This can be from 7 to 10 years, depending on the model. They were also able to integrate an antenna into this device. This allows doctors to monitor the patient’s heart from anywhere in the world, via the internet. Doctors are able to view vital signs and monitor conditions of the heart. In addition to all this, they are also able to check the battery life of the pacemaker. In doing this they can give the patient notice of any irregularities, faults, or red flags that may occur.

In A Perspective on Medical Robotics, Russell states “The ability of robotic systems to couple information to physical action in complex ways has had a profound influence on our society”. His research shows that medical robotics have a similar potential to fundamentally change interventional medicine by enabling components in much broader computer integrated systems. This includes diagnostics, preoperative planning, post-op care and medical planning. Medical robots can also be programmed to perform simple or complex tasks to speed along recovery of a patient. This can be done through these computer integrated systems. This will make them very beneficial time savers for doctors, and also a great advancement to the medical industry. Russell hits the nail right on the head when talking about the beneficial effects of MR’s. This translates into effectively saving lives faster and more effectively. In addition to lightening the workload of already overstressed surgeons and doctors.

A man named Kevin Cleary wrote a similar article relating to medical robotics that I think can better explain the more technical side of MR’s. Cleary covers a lot of the same aspects of medical robotics that Russell does, however he steers his views in a different direction. His paper focuses somewhat on the different platforms of research and development. This area consists of Operational Efficiency, Workflow, and Tele-collaboration, Surgical Robotics, System Integration and Technical Standards, and Surgical Informatics. I like how Cleary teaches us about how important the software and programming is, because without an effective operating platform they would be ineffective and useless. I find it interesting that in, Medical robotics and the operating room of the future. Leary made the statement “Nevertheless, medical robotics show great promise for improving patient care and may become a key component in the Operating Room of the Future (ORF), where high technology equipment will be integrated with medical imaging.” This is appealing because of how closely it relates to Russell’s article and not to mention my views and objectives.

These sources collectively offer an important set of perspectives about Medical robotics. Not only are they extremely informational, but they are also very interesting. All of these men are well respected engineers who have either had a hand in these great innovations, or have a great deal of understanding of what kind of impact these creations have on the medical industry and society. I was especially intrigued by the seminar held by Boston Scientific mainly because I have a close friend of the family that just received a heart transplant. He had to deal with a pacemaker/heart pump for a year. I find their methods useful in the light that they attack their research from two different standpoints. They focus on the general audience by speaking in a less techno language thus allowing the general audience to come to a better understanding of the content. They also touch on the more complex, and intricate sides of these technicalities.

Why should anyone care? Or better yet, why shouldn’t you? First, medical robots are a great help in the form of patient care, diagnostics, and surgical precision. But more importantly, medical robots are a great advancement in the medical industry because they are allowing doctors and surgeons to bring a safer and more effective environment to the operating and recovery room. They are enabling the medical industry to advance for the betterment of us all. This is not only beneficial for these surgeons, and the medical industry, but it is also beneficial to whoever is laying on an operating table. You never know when these technological advancements will be responsible for saving either your life, or the life of a loved one