These robots also undertake simple tasks like drawing blood, check patients’ vital signs and conditions, and take care of the patients’ hygiene if needed. Robots also prepare and dispense medications in pharmacological labs. There are also “gears and wires” robotic assistants that help paraplegics move and administer physical therapy.
With a vision of higher production rates and the need for human interaction with machine automation, Universal Robots launched the first commercially viable collaborative robot in 2008. Universal Robots is the leading manufacturer of advanced user-friendly and light industrial robotic arms. The collaborative robots - or cobots – are finding their place in the Industrial 4.0 automated revolution now propelling the healthcare industry.
Over the past three years, however, a vision-guided robotic system called the CBot has been under development in the Northern part of Spain that can apply several types of such physiotherapy automatically. While the condition of the patient is still diagnosed by a trained physician, the robotic system emulates the role of the physiotherapist, relieving heavily-burdened clinics from their workload.
Three robotic arms from Universal Robots were incorporated into this piece of technology so engineers could easily adapt the software to the specific needs of the patient and the required tasks. The easy programming, installation and collaborative nature of the industrial robot arms allow surgeons, nurses, theater staff, and robots to work side-by-side and care for patients.
The collaborative robots have also been of help in various sections of the healthcare industry such as:
Rehabilitation from injuries caused by blood clots and strokes
The Patient@Home Project was developed by the Odense University Hospital Neuro-rehabilitation Centre in Ringe, and Universal Robots, to assist people rehabilitating from blood clot and stroke related injuries. The service robot is called Rainer and is designed to help patients with repetitive functional movements as part of their rehabilitation process. This technology can support therapists by allowing them to set up specific training programs that the patients can undertake safely with the robot. There are a lot of opportunities as part of this initiative.