The Mysteries of Medical Robots
Robots are now commonplace, doing some of the jobs we hate or are physically under equipped to perform, but you might be surprised to learn that they are also in medical care and even assisting with surgical operations, helping stop disease and saving lives. In the last 50 years we have been on a technology roller-coaster. From floppy discs to pen drives, the world of technology surprised many. However, in the next 50 years, we are only stepping into the mystery of the unknown. Who knows what will happen. The question is, is the development of technology a good or a bad thing? So let’s explore the medical world and see how it revolves around technology and what the future holds for technology and the NHS. Huge advancements in technology are just around the corner. But are we ready to let the machines take over?
Firstly, robots are getting very advanced and we are always finding new features and possibilities. Is it really a surprise that all our procedures will be carried out by technologically advanced people? Since 2000, around 2 million operations have been successful, with 3,000 Da Vinci medical robots. There is a possibility this could start to develop on a much larger scale. According to medical specialists we can already order medicine and see a doctor using apps such as push doctor so why can't technology become an even bigger part of a medics' life. The most amazing part of a robot is the long distance availability. For example a doctor in London could control an operation in Australia. This means if there was only a specific doctor or medicine in one country, there is no need to fly over there as they can control it from the other side of the world. Therefore it saves a lot time and money for a speedy recovery.
You may not believe it but a staggering amount of infection is spread in hospitals each year. Already there are some known robots reducing the spread of infection. One of these is the Xenex Robot and due to this marvellous creation there has been a 70% drop in the hospital infection rate. Because of this, nurses and doctors don’t get infections or illnesses causing them to be off work, and it has also decreased the number of patients getting illnesses from hospital grounds. Another factor of this is also that as doctors and medical staff are not absent from work, the waiting time will be lowered so more emergency patients can be seen and quickly treated. Another way that the infection rate has dropped is due to the TUG Robotic system: This robot can carry over 400 kilograms of medicine. This helps the medical world as the treatment can be carried around the hospital at a faster rate and it will carry the exact amount of medicine, therefore no patient will be overdosed or get less medicine than they need.
Cyber technology has started to spread into the outer world, outside the NHS and into our own home. The Riba robot is a technically advanced person who is prescribed to those who need round-the-clock care in their house. This radical robot can provide 24/7 care for seriously ill people. This beneficial creation means staff can be in hospitals for the people who are really ill and in need of emergency care. Another really helpful robot, the millimetre robot, carries drugs through the blood stream and is a millimetre in size and the vee bot, which draws blood and does blood tests in less than a minute.
Another positive is the ability of the robots being able to do surgery. By robots doing the procedures, the operation could be done more effectively, quickly and safely. Although the doctor will still have full control of the robot, the Da Vinci Robot surgical system, the hands of the robot can “bend and rotate far better than a human hand.” This can give a more precise and “3D high-definition vision” which a human hand could never give. For the future this could give the surgical industry a more qualified and delicate operation which reduces the risk of an operation potentially going wrong.
In the near future, many jobs will be taken over by robots, as the rise of intelligent robots has increased. In the next 50 years, this will not only become out of control, but robots could dominate our work force as they could potentially do a better job than humans. As a result of this, parents won’t be able to earn money and afford the essentials like food and drink for their family. As well, due to the money issue they are in, it can cause depression due to the worries of financial difficulties which could take a toll on their family and social life.
With more and more hackers evolving in this world, our cyber security is in danger. If we trust mechanised projects like robots with private details, who is to say that the information will be safe? These robots and our cyber security goes down our medical history, names and addresses are no longer enclosed, in the wrong hands everything can go wrong and become dangerous very quickly. If your information gets put into the wrong hands hackers will know everything about you and can easily get into your house or do some unimaginable, horrible things. A good solution to this problem could be to have special technicians to keep hackers out and everyone's information in.
How Robots Will Affect Future Generations- Robots in everyday life- Let's start with life as we know it. Did you know that your life is affected virtually every day by robots?
If you ride in a car, an industrial robot helped build it. If you eat cookies, such as those transported from Manchester, there are robot assembly lines to help make and pack them. The computer you use to send e-mails and use for research almost certainly owes its existence, in part, to industrial robots. Industrial robots are even used in the medical field, from drug manufacturers to surgery.
From the manufacturing of pagers and phones to space exploration, robots are part of everyday life!
But what does this mean for the future generation? With the rise of jobs in computing, it is estimated that almost one in three construction jobs could be eliminated over the next two decades as advances in robotics and digital technology mean human builders are replaced.
New research from Mace predicts 600,000 of the current 2.2 million positions in the industry could be automated by 2040 as the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ turns the sector on its head.
One of the hardest-hit jobs in the industry is forecast to be bricklaying, with the current 73,000 people doing the job on UK building sites expected to tumble to just 4,300.
By 2040 there will be just 15,500 carpenters and internal fitters, down from 263,000 now, and the number of labourers will plummet from 127,000 to 7,500. This means that the importance of computing is increasing.
But what are children learning in computing? In primary school children are learning the importance of using computers and coding, using the popular software 'scratch'. One of the benefits of children learning computer skills and coding is that it helps them to be problem solvers. Critical thinking skills can be developed out of teaching your kids the basic computer skills and coding. Computer skills teaches your kids how to solve issues by looking at the bigger picture, and then develop ways of how to break them down into smaller and more manageable tasks.
Coding helps the kids to be in a position to relate issues with what they have learned directly to their environment. Out of the acquired skills kids can analyse different situations and be able to come up with solutions not just at their age but also when they grow up.
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, has expressed the importance of teaching computer science skills — to all students — starting at an early age. “The kids of today tap, swipe and pinch their way through the world. But unless we give them tools to build with computers, we are raising only consumers instead of creators,”
There’s a huge demand for programmers in the workforce. Yet the benefits of teaching every kid to love computer science goes beyond future career opportunities. “Everyone deserves a chance at learning about technology innovation,” says Kimberly Lane, a programmer, teacher and TED-Ed Innovative Educator, in Texas. “We live and breathe technology everyday,” adds Lane. “If the current generation doesn’t leave a lasting legacy of technology inventions, what will happen to the generations to come?”
In conclusion, the medical robots can be both positive and negative: They help us perform safe, healthy operations and help us to recover as best as we can. But the question is: can we rely on these programmed inventions in the future yet to come?
By Niamh, Kate and Aimee
