Page 144 - 2023-Vol19-Issue2
P. 144
140 | Sabeeh & Alfurati
of swabs from patients. Cross-infection between health work- have motor learning effects and may give systematic feedback
ers and patients could be avoided with an oropharyngeal swab regarding voluntary ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion.
robot. Li et al. demonstrated that oropharyngeal swab robots
detected pathogens at the same rate as a manual swab. The C. Surgery and Rehabilitation Robots
oropharyngeal swab robot witnessed high patronage during Surgery robots are designated for complicated and min-
the COVID-19 pandemic [23]. Another kind of examination
robot is one that performs robotic ultrasonography. During imally invasive operations. During the epidemic, surgery
robot-assisted ultrasonography, exposure to illness between robots attained notable success at reducing the length of
the patient and the sonographer is restricted by separating patient care and boosting the availability of other patients.
them using remote robotic ultrasound instruments. Network The benefits of surgical robots, including less interaction and
robotic ultrasound is necessary for remote or low-volume fa- contamination, a shorter hospital stay, less blood loss, and
cilities because it helps patients in getting ultrasound services smaller incisions, promote surgical use, particularly in a pan-
more quickly without having to travel to distant imaging cen- demic [28] [29]. Patients and medical staff could securely
ters [24]. Demand for radiologist robots is also high due to use surgical robots. The study by [28] tested sixty mem-
the issue of human exposure to high radiation levels and other bers of the medical team who came into direct contact with
safety concerns [6]. patients during robotic surgery for COVID-19 virus transmis-
sion and found no evidence of virus contamination among
B. Medicine Production and Sample Test Robot them. Similar research by Zemmar et al. showed that pre-
and post-surgery contamination can be reduced using surgery
Following the sample collection, the next stage is to imme- robots [29].
diately test them and acquire the results. A robotic technique
that can perform high-throughput screening for the discovery Surgery and rehabilitation robots are needed to prevent
of critical therapeutic targets against the COVID-19 virus has the spread of infection during a pandemic. Patients with
been described [25]. The virus and its related drug targets are disabilities can benefit from rehabilitation robots through re-
typically detected using a robot and an automated platform. duced patient-caregiver contact, decreased infectious disease
Once the virus has been identified and the sickness has been transmission through home rehabilitation equipment, and as-
confirmed, it is vital to provide treatments and immuniza- sistance for patients with impairments [7] [30]. Additionally,
tions as soon as feasible. Robots and automated machines are as the elderly population grows and the number of people with
used to manufacture medicines and vaccines for such clinical disabilities increases, there is a growing demand for rehabil-
interventions [12]. itation robots. These rehabilitation robots come in a variety
of forms, including autonomous collaborative robots, teleop-
Medical robotics have only recently begun to expand in erated robots, exoskeleton robots, hand-held robots, smart
patient-facing scenarios, despite their immense potential in wearable mechatronic systems, and social robots [31].
SARS-CoV-2 situations. The robot’s expensive price, limited
patient-facing functionality, and potentially detrimental ef- D. COVID-19 Monitoring Robot
fects on patients, medical personnel, and interactions between The ways of minimizing COVID-19 infection includes reg-
them are the main causes of concern. On the contrary, the
lab-based robot is anticipated to provide appreciable advance- ular use of face masks, social distancing, and regular hand
ments in sample extraction and amplification [26]. washing. Infected persons often come down with a fever
which is the most common sign of COVID-19 infection [32].
Another study is [27], where the researchers showed two Remote monitoring of public spaces for early signs of the
examples of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation after equinus disease and ensuring the maintenance of social distancing
surgery in children utilising the HAL-SJ. Case 1 was an 8- may therefore help guarantee public safety and reduce the
year-old child, whereas case 2 was a 6-year-old boy. After they workload on medical workers. Also, if a person displays signs
were able to walk without braces, they received postoperative of an infection, they should be examined promptly, but the ad-
training with the HAL-SJ for 20 minutes per session, a total ministration of swab sampling for testing could be dangerous
of eight times (2–4 sessions per week). Assessments were to healthcare professionals due to close person-to-person con-
carried out both before and after HAL-SJ training. Case 1 tact [33]. To tackle this, nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal
showed improved joint angles during the stance phase on swabbing robots can limit infection spread while also allowing
the operated side during gait analysis, whereas case 2 had healthcare workers to focus on higher-priority activities. The
improved joint angles during the stance and swing phases. COVID-19 pandemic elicited a high demand for robot-based
The co-activation index values of the medial gastrocnemius tests and diagnosis of cases related to the virus [34]. A good re-
and tibialis anterior muscles dropped following training and search study on robotics-based COVID-19 testing has recently
approximated the standard value. The HAL-SJ is thought to been published by Shanti & Lugli [35]. The study defined