• Question: What is the future of robotics in medicine .

    Asked by huntsop to Mel, Jill, Jen on 6 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Jill Magee

      Jill Magee answered on 6 Mar 2013:

      If we think back thousands of years, medicine has improved greatly. Now a days we can do very complicated surgeries and invent cures for various illnesses. But can we take things further?

      Medical robots that can carry out surgery sounds pretty good. Right now there are some existing surgery robots which are controlled by medical staff. Such as robots that perform surgery due to a doctor controlling them at a distance. The only problem of having a robot perform medical surgery with no assistance from medical staff is can we achieve the high level of artificial intelligence that will be required? Once we can overcome this problem, I think the uses will be limitless!

    • Photo: Melissa Brereton

      Melissa Brereton answered on 10 Mar 2013:

      Do I think doctors will ever be replaced by robots? No…. well not all of them!

      I think robots will continue to assist in medicine. They are really useful in helping surgeons in challenging operations. One of the best known examples of robotics is keyhole surgery where the doctors use high tech equipment to guide small cameras and tools into a patient’s body without having to make a huge cut in their skin.

      I don’t think doctors will be replaced by robots as medicine requires flexibility and impulse. Everyone is different and responds differently to a disease, a drug, an operation so the doctor has to mould their knowledge and skills according to the situation. Robots on the other hand need to be programmed and everything is black and white so they currently can’t adapt to changes on a minute by minute basis! I think that in the future, robotics will continue to make doctor’s lives easier which is always a good thing!

Comments