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“Medical Robots: From Science Fiction to Science Fact” Transcript
Maureen Schrader lay on the operating table at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New
Jersey. Four mechanical arms moved with precision around her abdomen. One arm held a high-
definition camera. The other three arms used small surgical instruments to make a five-centimeter
incision just below her ribcage. It was a tiny opening, but it was big enough to put a new kidney into
Maureen’s body.
At no point in the operation did the surgeon touch Maureen. In fact, he sat several feet away peering
into a monitor and holding what looked like video game controls. The movements of surgeon’s hands
were digitally captured and sent to the robotic arms, which mimicked his every movement. The robot
became an extension of the surgeon, and together they transplanted the kidney.
Robots in the operating room are now a reality, and the next operation you or a family member
undergoes may well involve a robot. But surgery is just one area in which robots are changing modern
medicine. As a pre-med student interested in becoming a surgeon, I have long been fascinated by
medical robots. After researching the topic for this speech, I’d like to introduce you to the world of
medical robots.
TUG robots can also communicate with one another about the best route to a location given current
hallway conditions. They are highly efficient and make fewer delivery errors than people. Mark Weigel,
director of food services at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Maryland, notes that the TUG robot “never
argues with patients, takes no breaks, is always polite and always on time.”
But orderly robots are not the only robots transforming modern medicine. Remote-presence robots help
doctors visit their patients even when they are not in the same room. “Remote presence” means that
the doctor is able to be “present” with the patient even when the doctor is in a “remote” location.
Imagine sitting in a hospital room when in comes this—the RP-7. A 2009 story in US News and World
Report explains that physicians can pilot these robots from a laptop anywhere in the hospital—or in the
world. A screen, camera, microphone and speaker system, like the ones shown in this photograph, allow
the doctor to interview the patient. Hospital staff can attach medical devices like electronic
stethoscopes to the robot so the doctor can review a patient’s vital signs.
According to a 2010 article in Hospital Management, the RP-7 is used in more than 250 U.S. hospitals
and has performed more than 100,000 clinic sessions. They are particularly important in hospitals with a
high patient-to-doctor ratio.
In addition to orderly robots and remote-presence robots, a third kind of robot is changing modern
medicine. Surgical robots, like the kind I mentioned at the start of my speech, are increasingly being
used in operating rooms around the world. Most popular is the one you see here—the daVinci.
According to a 2010 article in the Miami Herald, there are more than 1,400 daVinci robots in hospitals
worldwide, and they are used in 200,000 operations every year.
