Medical Robotics: The Future is Now
Navigating Medical Device Industry Trends by Adopting the Digital Thread
Although the concept of medical robots may still seem futuristic, their increasing viability is driven by numerous advancements in robotic engineering and related technologies. They are now popular in fields like orthopedics, gynecology and neurosurgery.
Medical robots can improve the precision, accuracy and efficacy of surgeries and reduce the invasiveness of and recovery time from these procedures. Better safety and efficacy measures are also resulting in accelerated procedure times and growing regulatory support, fostering increased trust in and reliance on these systems.
Growth of the Medical Robotics Market
The global medical robotics market will reach $30.41 Billion in 2027 from $9.69 Billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 21%.
This growth can be attributed to things such as:
- Enhanced artificial intelligence
- Component miniaturization
- Improved compute power
- 5G and other wireless communication capabilities
- Cloud computing
- Improved battery life
New innovations for these robots are being continuously developed, including advanced data analytics from devices, increased integrated components and improved user interfaces such as better displays and forced-feedback mechanisms that allow the surgeon to “feel” the robot’s movements.
Medical Robotics and Clinical Applications
Robots are also showing promise in improving clinical workflow efficiency and overall accuracy. In a future entry, we’ll discuss how they can help with the shortage of clinical workers. We anticipate that the diversity and adoption of medical robotics, as well as the integration of medical and surgical robotics into existing product platforms, will continue to expand at an accelerating pace.
Examples of medical robotics and clinical applications include:
- Surgical robots
- Orthopedic robots
- “Soft robots” that can adapt to a patient’s uniquely shaped organs
- Exoskeletons to help with rehabilitation
- Telerobots to deliver medical care remotely (see more below)
- Clinical support droids to, for example, deliver linens and medicines around a hospital
- Sanitation robots to help clean hospitals
- AI-driven diagnostic robots
- Surgical preparation robots
Telerobots
Telerobots such as InTouch Health or Intuitive’s da Vinci system are particularly interesting. Although the idea isn’t exactly new, the first transatlantic operation was conducted in 2001 by surgeons in New York on a patient in France, these robots could increasingly allow surgeons to conduct or proctor other surgeons during robotic-assisted procedures. This could democratize access to care. We’ll touch more on telerobots in a later blog dedicated to telehealth.
Relevance to Digital Thread
MedTech companies are learning how to incorporate surgical and medical robotics into their product portfolio, increasing the need for digital capabilities to manage more complex designs versus traditional products. A robot has complex hardware and software configuration management.
This complexity increases the need for digital thread capabilities to manage:
- Device development
- Regulatory approval
- Quality issues
- Manufacturing data
- Real-world data capture
Digital twins of robotic operations within the clinical setting further allow companies to offer services to remote monitor, issue robotic missions and understand the operations of large fleets of robots at scale.
As robots are integrated into traditional product portfolios, they must effectively coexist with conventional device systems, such as orthopedic implants, alongside orthopedic robotic platforms. This necessitates the development of compatible configuration management, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tools, which can support various product release methodologies, with hardware, software engineering and AI model development.
By ensuring seamless configuration management and change management interoperability between cutting-edge robotic systems and traditional medical devices, healthcare providers can effectively leverage the benefits of both technologies to improve patient outcomes as well as drive agility and integration within engineering, quality, regulatory and manufacturing teams.
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