Should you want a programmed robot to operate on you instead of a trained doctor?
Persuasive Essay
Charlie McKee
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Trusting Technology: Saving Lives, Money, and Time with Robotic Surgeons
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From self-driving cars to Chick-fil-a trash cans that open when people stand in front of them, the integration of artificial intelligence is literally changing the way people go about day to day life. Company powerhouses, such as Amazon, utilize robots to automatically ship, sort and restock products in their warehouses. Colleges are beginning to use delivery robots for late-night snacks and cuisines. The applications of robots and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) are truly endless and, for the most part, relatively simple.
Robots are redesigning the way humans live for the better one aspect at a time. Thus, the transition to robotics-assisted surgery seems a logical evolution in the medical field. Simply said, thoroughly and properly programmed robots would conduct surgery better than any highly trained medical professional. Robots are more efficient, more effective, and robots are not hindered by physical and emotional limitations that humans have.
Efficiency is critical to the workplace, and time is money. In the grand scheme of things, hospitals are businesses, and businesses rely heavily on producing to stay open. More surgeries per day mean more money for hospitals, but potentially also more lives saved for society.
Robots would be a driving factor in the reduction of time spent in surgery. A Minimally Invasive Surgery(MIS), also known as endoscopic surgery, utilizes robotics for efficiency. MIS surgery is “[An] operation that has been developed to reduce trauma [by removing] large open incisions” (Piltan). By limiting the incision and hence reducing the trauma associated with the opening, the patient will recover faster and the surgery will take less time. Mechanical Engineers, De Momi and Ferrigno, say in the Journal of Engineering in Medicine, “The advantages of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for the patient are unquestionable.”. The engineers attribute the advantages to smaller opening resulting in “less pain and stress... faster recovery, lower risk of infection, less scarring, and shorter illness time” (De Momi & Ferrigno). These benefits are undeniably a highlight in the benefits of robotic surgery as a means of reducing the time doctors spend operating and time patients spend in recovery.
Time remains the crux of many surgical issues. In many cases, time is a surgeon’s worst nightmare. But time is not just an issue for them; it is an issue for the patient too. Every minute that passes by, the patient strays closer and closer to death. The big problem, however, is that surgeons often do not know how much time they have. Biomedical Engineers from a healthcare company, OSF Ventures, worked to tackle the issue of split-second decisions in the OR with their newly developed predictive bloodloss technology, Triton. Triton’s goal is to predict the amount of blood the patient is likely to experience in a given surgery. Currently, doctors and physicians assess the patient and decide if a blood transplant is needed after the operation has ended. However, Triton can run these assessments while the operation is going on. The engineers have said that Triton “will assist us... and certainly better inform our clinicians at critical times” (“OSF Ventures”). The issue of split-second decision making, especially at critical moments, has troubled surgeons forever, but with the help of powerful Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, surgeons can tackle the issue with ease.
Multiple variables are capable of swaying the success of an operation. Slight variations in bone structure, tissue and muscle disruption, and blood flow have the potential to cause serious complications during surgery. To counteract these slight variations, Dr. Vipul Gupta, Director at the Agrim Institute of Neurosciences, worked to develop a technology he calls “The O-arm” (“How Artificial Intelligence”). When questioned, Dr. Vipul defined his invention as “A progressive and innovative surgical imaging system...with greater precision, accuracy, and most importantly safety (“How Artificial Intelligence”). The technology has “potential to eliminate tissue and muscle disruption, blood loss during the surgery and post-operative deformities that makes it safer for the patients with better outcome and recovery” according to the doctor (“How Artificial Intelligence”). He attributes the device’s success to its “high power magnification” that will capture improved “visualization and intervention” which he says “is essential for safe and effective performance” (“How Artificial Intelligence”). The device’s enhancements will not only prove to be more efficient and at dealing with anatomical complications, but more effective overall in reducing cases in which a follow-up surgery is required.
Other technological innovations have tackled the care and navigation of the body’s most complicated organ: the brain. This technology, formally known as neuronavigation technology works to “create an accurate image of the brain” and capture the precise location of tumors and other possible abnormalities so that the cells can be removed “directly, safely, and effectively” (“How Artificial Intelligence”). The larger benefit, according to the design team, is the reduction in the need for patients to have a second surgery and varying risks of operation (“How Artificial Intelligence”).
One of the largest factors in becoming a doctor and successful surgeon is the depth of knowledge one must have about the field. Doctors go through extensive training and are met with multiple hurdles to jump over before picking up the scalpel or prescribing medicine. Machines, on the other hand, do not go through extensive training. Machines are thoroughly tested to make sure they are properly programmed; however, the speed at which a machine can learn is significantly greater than that of a human. Another significant factor is wages. Doctors are not only expensive to train and educate, but pay as well. In short, humans need to be paid for their work while robots do not. As a result, hospitals would greatly cut down on their financial expenses by substituting the lower level doctors with higher and professionally programmed machines.
Overall, the most important benefit to robotic surgeons in comparison to humans is a human limitation and human error. Humans make mistakes, a lot of mistakes. In surgical situations, mistakes-- even small mistakes-- can be fatal. The AARP followed 800 patient records over the course of one year and found that over 350 of the 800 patients had some sort of surgical error. Several patients were also found to have multiple surgical errors. Overall, the surgical and prescription error is attributed to the death of over 250,000 patients within the United States each year (AARP). Robotics is suited to counteract the many errors of humans with ease. Simply stated, robots cannot make mistakes by design. Robots are computers that do exactly what they are told every time. If a robot makes a mistake, it is because there is an error in the code and not the behavior of the computer.
Although the rationality behind robotic surgeons- efficiency, effectiveness, and lack of physical and emotional limitations of humans- are three distinct reasonings, they work together to become one idea. Each of the three individual advantages works to create a robotic surgeon more powerful than a highly-trained human because a robot can do all of this work simultaneously. That, is the biggest advantage robots have over humans: they can multitask. Humans are only capable of doing one thing at a time. Even in cases in which someone is supposedly multitasking, such as rubbing the belly and patting the head,. what is actually going on is that the brain is rapidly switching between the two tasks, not doing both tasks at the same time. Robots, however, can multitask. They can perform multiple procedures not only at the same time but instantaneously. In addition, Robots are capable of handling tasks with which even the most talented humans would struggle.
Robotics has continued to innovate the world we live in and make light work out of even the most challenging tasks. From traveling and shopping to storage and navigation, technology and robotics have made a more efficient and effective world. Within the world of medicine, robotics is starting to take a leading charge. Seen occupying one of three possible roles, robotics has offered sufficient aid to doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners. It is only with time that robotics breaks the barrier into more assertive roles in operation acting to cut down on time with excellence in both efficiency and effectiveness due to their unbound limitations and extensive programming resulting in a flawless surgical execution every time.
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Annotated Bibliography
De Momi, E., and G. Ferrigno. "Robotic and Artificial Intelligence for Keyhole Neurosurgery: The ROBOCAST Project, a Multi-Modal Autonomous Path Planner." Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, vol. 224, 2010, pp. 715-27. ProQuest, www.search.proquest.com/docview/366018721?accountid=338.
The purpose of this paper is to address how robotics is currently being used in Keyhole Neurosurgery, a very difficult technique in brain surgery where multiple holes are drilled into the skull all having less than 2cm diameter to relieve blood pressure. The paper will greatly aid my research because the paper exemplifies the potential and use of robotics within a very challenging part of the surgical field.
"How Artificial Intelligence can Help Doctors." Asian News International, Feb 25, 2018. ProQuest, www.search.proquest.com/docview/2007802405?accountid=338.
The paper goes over the basic involvement and integration of robotics in surgery and examines the ideas of potential benefits in operations and hospitals as well. The source is useful to me because the literary work gives a simple look at robotics within the surgical world.
"OSF Ventures Invests in Gauss Artificial Intelligence Technology to Identify Postpartum Bleeding Early."PR Newswire, Oct 17, 2018. ProQuest,www.search.proquest.com /docview/2120722765?accountid=338.
The importance of a safe child delivery operation could never be accurately expressed. And in order to keep the child safe, the doctors have to keep the mother safe too. Triton is a fully computerized machine that is able to monitor and analyze the amount of blood loss during delivery. This source is important to my research because the source shows the possible impact of allowing more AI robots into the medical and surgical fields.
Piltan, Farzin, et al. "Adaptive Artificial Intelligence Based Model Base Controller: Applied to Surgical Endoscopy Telemanipulator." International Journal of Intelligent Systems and Applications, vol. 5, no. 9, 2013, pp. 103-115. ProQuest, www.search.proquest.com/docview/1627095848?accountid=338.
Piltan’s paper examines Endoscopic Surgery, a form of surgery done on a small scale via small cuts and incisions. Piltan’s views offer me an understanding of how robotics can be utilized in surgery to make a normally difficult task seamless. This is beneficial to me because the paper provides an excellent example of robotic utility in surgery.
Sagon, Candy. “Medical Errors No. 3 Cause of Death in the U.S.” AARP, 4 May 2016, www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2016/medical-errors-leading-cause-of-death-cs.html.
The AARP is an independent organization that follows, helps, and studies healthcare and medicare distributions across varying age groups. Most commonly the AARP deals with elders between the ages of 65-75 and 76-85. This organization has proven to be useful to my research as a trustworthy source for statistics and other important information I can use to further and support my statements on medical error and healthcare-related issues.