Robots in Healthcare - What Can They Do For Us?
The population of the United Kingdom is getting older. This may sound obvious but by 2050 one in four people in the UK will be over the age of 65. The National Health Service will be hard pushed to cope with the increase in the amount of chronic illnesses.
One way of dealing with this problem is through technology, namely Robots. Community care can go a long way to looking after those who can’t look after themselves, but perhaps there is some artificial intelligence which can assist them live their life more easily.
Robots are quicker to train than humans, cheaper to run, easier to refuel, repair and are much more predictable and reliable. They can reduce the need for the elderly and chronically ill to have carers and hep them to live their life independently.
Robots in Japan
The population in Japan is the most rapidly ageing in the world. Thirty million people, or a quarter of the population are over the age of 65. The Japanese have begun to implement robots in care although they have progressed a long way since the mechanical karakuri entertained the upper classes in Victorian times. Japan currently controls nearly half of the world’s robots and is utilising those robots to take care of its elderly.
It’s still 15 years before they will be used in healthcare, but Honda’s ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is the most advanced bipedal robots in the world. This means it has two legs, imitating the movement of humans.
It may sound like something from Wallace & Gromit’s ‘The Wrong Trousers’ but the ASIMO is a new form of mobility, which could revolutionalise health and social care. Honda see ASIMO as a nurses assistant, taking care of the heavy and more physical elements of their duties allowing them more time to personally relate to the patient.
There are many ways these robots could help the elderly or chronically ill, from addressing cognitive decline, reminding patients of routine tasks they must keep up with, such as medication or nutrition. They can also enable patients and caregivers to interact and stay in touch, reducing the need for frequent visits. They can also collect data and monitor patients health, alert anyone in case of emergency like a heart failure or dangerously low blood sugar in diabetics. These revolutionary new robots could even help the patients with domestic chores, helping the patient live an independent life.
The needs and wants of people we meet vary from person to person from tasks that make life more manageable, to essential services vital to health and well being.
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