Medical robots… intelligence that enhances the future of health care in the Emirates

Abu Dhabi, July 27 / WAM / The UAE is witnessing an accelerated employment of medical robots, as part of its trend towards establishing a more intelligent health system, based on advanced health infrastructure and continuous investments in future technologies.

This expansion comes as one of the most prominent foundations of modern medicine, enhancing the quality of health services, supporting the efficiency of medical care, and consolidating the country’s position as a pioneer in adopting advanced medical solutions.

Medical robots play advanced roles in the system of services provided by the health sector in the country, as their tasks extend from blood drawing and micro-surgery to joint replacement and cardiac catheterization, all the way to dispensing medications, remote diagnosis, and rehabilitation. This development embodies the accelerating shift towards health care based on innovation and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Shafiq Sidani, Director of the Robotic Surgery Program at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, confirmed to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, that robot-assisted surgery represents a qualitative leap in minimally invasive surgery, as it allows large and complex operations to be performed through small incisions, which contributes to reducing surgical intervention, accelerating recovery, and reducing pain, blood loss, and potential complications in appropriate cases.

He explained that Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi adopts an advanced program for robotic surgery that includes modern platforms, including the “Da Vinci” surgical systems, which provide a high-resolution three-dimensional view with magnification of the surgical site, and include highly flexible robotic arms that carry precise surgical tools that move within spaces that are difficult to reach using traditional methods, while the surgeon controls these tools via a special control unit, so that the robotic platform translates his hand movements into precise and filtered movements within the patient’s body, while reducing the effect of natural vibrations of the hand, which enhances the accuracy of surgical performance.

For its part, health facilities affiliated with the Emirates Health Services Corporation employ “blood drawing robots” based on artificial intelligence and infrared technologies, with the aim of drawing a three-dimensional map of the veins, including veins that are not visible to the naked eye. This technology works to determine the most suitable vein and the depth of the needle with high accuracy before drawing the sample within a few seconds, which reduces pain and bruising, and contributes to reducing patients’ waiting time by up to 50%.

Many hospitals in the Emirates use “joint replacement robots” to help orthopedic surgeons sculpt bones and install artificial knee or pelvic joints with millimeter accuracy, based on three-dimensional models created from CT scan images of the patient, while robotic guidance systems provide protection for healthy tissues and ligaments by automatically stopping the robotic arm when it exceeds the safe range.

The “cardiac catheterization robots” used at Al Qasimi Hospital enhance the accuracy of therapeutic interventions inside the arteries, through a digital platform that allows the doctor to control medical tools, while the robotic arms guide wires and stents with millimeter precision, thus reducing the possibility of error and limiting doctors’ exposure to radiation during the catheterization procedure.

The “smart robotic pharmacies”, approved in a number of hospitals in the country, represent an advanced model for the automation of pharmaceutical services, as they store and arrange medications, monitor their expiration dates, and dispense them automatically based on electronic prescriptions and barcodes, while robotic arms move inside the smart warehouses to pick up the required medication and deliver it within seconds, which reduces medication errors and increases the efficiency and accuracy of medication dispensing operations.

The “remote ultrasound diagnosis robots” have contributed to opening new horizons to expand the scope of health services in the Emirates, especially in remote mountainous regions, as they use a robotic arm that moves in sync with the movement of the doctor’s hand through high-speed communication networks, and transmits examination images directly to conduct the diagnosis, which saves patients from having to travel to obtain the service.

On the other hand, “robotic exoskeleton” has created a qualitative shift in the field of rehabilitation, by helping paralysis and stroke patients regain the ability to stand and walk, through robotic suits equipped with sensors that read muscle signals and body movement, while precise electric motors provide the necessary force to support the joints and help the patient move in a more balanced and safe manner.

This integrated system of medical robots embodies the rapid transformation witnessed by the health sector in the UAE, as robotic technologies have become part of medical practice in an increasing number of specialties, by employing artificial intelligence and advanced medical engineering to improve the quality of health care, raise the efficiency of services, and achieve more accurate treatment results, while continuing the pivotal role of medical personnel in supervision and making therapeutic decisions.

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