Robotic surgeries contributed significantly to the limited surgical intervention
It is no longer an option but a necessity
With the advancement of technology and the use of computers in the health sector, medicine has witnessed a radical transformation with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in assisting physicians in diagnosis, which pushed the field of healthcare and medicine forward. These techniques only supported the doctor but did not replace him.
This support provided to the doctor by Artificial Intelligence techniques played a pivotal role in supporting the diagnosis of diseases and became more accurate, which contributed to reducing the psychological pressure on the doctor as well as the physical effort to reach his goal, which reflected positively on strengthening the communication and interaction between him and the patient while boosting patient morale in general. Powerful AI techniques can unlock clinically relevant information hidden in the massive amount of data, which in turn can assist clinical decision-making, making the next diagnosis using the patient’s medical AI techniques more accurate because of having a previous comprehensive idea of the patient’s health history.
There is no doubt that AI and robots together shape the future of the healthcare sector. Hospitals in the Middle East and the Gulf States have been aware of this new reality since its inception and have worked to introduce state-of-the-art and sophisticated technologies. Our Arab world today is full of technologies and robots urging the patient not to travel abroad to get the medical service that he wants given its possible availability in his country. Artificial intelligence has contributed to radical change through its applications in all fields of medicine, for example, supporting decision-making processes, analyzing diagnostic images, and sorting patients based on the need for medical care.
It also helps doctors make clearer decisions while providing medical care to patients, which contributes to facilitating the procedures of patient examination and raising the level of accuracy while reducing fatigue and exhaustion in doctors.
Accurate diagnostics and machine learning techniques, for instance, have the ability to pinpoint health problems on diagnostic images, help with patient screening procedures, and benefit from valuable information from the vast amounts of data available in the doctor’s electronic medical records.
Artificial intelligence analyzes the data available in electronic medical records, which in turn helps the doctor to make appropriate decisions and analyze the patients’ diagnostic images.
Healthcare institutions seek to harness artificial intelligence techniques to serve patients, use and analyze their data, focus on and interact with data even after the patient is discharged from hospital. Services are not limited to treatment but also on integrated healthcare and patient welfare. The components of artificial intelligence in medicine are beyond what people might think.
AI can quickly and more accurately spot signs of disease in medical images. Hence, doctors can make quicker decisions and patients can be diagnosed faster and can begin treatment sooner. AI will assist doctors and not replace them.
When artificial intelligence is used correctly, doctors can detect diseases at an early stage, thus reducing expenditures on governments as this field holds great potential for growth in the healthcare sector.
Robots in the Operating Room
Robots are used during surgery, called “robotic surgery”. It is an advanced form of minimally invasive or laparoscopic (small incision) surgery where surgeons use a computer-controlled robot to assist them in certain surgical procedures.
The robot’s “hands” have a high degree of dexterity, allowing surgeons the ability to operate in very tight spaces in the body that would otherwise only be accessible through open (long incision) surgery. Remote surgery (or telesurgery) is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location.
It requires the availability of the latest communication technology and the effective exchange of management information systems. Other future applications include the implementation of microprocessors or secondary treatments in the body to perform medical and surgical functions, as well as the use of biological sensors that can read and convert responses to natural and chemical changes for patients with chronic diseases.
Surgeons who use the robotic system find that for many procedures it enhances precision, flexibility and control during the operation and allows them to better see the site, compared with traditional techniques. Using robotic surgery, surgeons can perform delicate and complex procedures that may have been difficult or impossible with other methods.
Often, robotic surgery makes minimally invasive surgery possible. The benefits of minimally invasive surgery include fewer complications, such as surgical site infection, less pain and blood loss, quicker recovery and smaller, less noticeable scars.
To operate using the robotic system, your surgeon makes tiny incisions in your body and inserts miniaturized instruments and a high-definition three-dimensional camera, and sometimes skin incisions are not required at all. Then, from a nearby console, your surgeon manipulates those instruments to perform the operation.
Compared to traditional techniques, the very small incisions created by robotic surgery drastically reduce patients’ time in the hospital and their risk of infections.
The use of high-definition 3D cameras allows surgeons close-up views of areas they aren’t able to see during open surgery. Fully articulating robotic arms mimic the movement of hands, allowing surgeons to have greater dexterity and control than is possible with conventional laparoscopic instruments.
Virtual Healthcare
Telemedicine is the remote delivery of healthcare services, such as health assessments or consultations, over the telecommunications infrastructure. It allows healthcare providers to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients using common technology, such as video conferencing and smartphones, without the need for an in-person visit. It is often a time-saving way for a consumer to see and speak to a clinician for minor and non-urgent medical needs instead of going to a primary care physician’s office or emergency department.
Information and communications technology in the field of health and telemedicine (virtual healthcare) aims to increase access to quality health services for people in rural areas in order to reduce treatment and travel expenses while helping the patient avoid the difficult access to treatment centers in the cities. Hospitals can be linked to each other through a communications network that enables doctors to diagnose diseases by sharing photos and reports as well as providing medical advice in complicated cases. A remote patient monitoring device collects data on a patient–such as weight, blood sugar, heart rate, etc.–and submits it to a nurse, doctor, or caregiver in another location. This helps eliminate the need for frequent travel and makes it easier for older adults to live independently longer.
Cloud Computing in Healthcare
Healthcare institutions that use cloud computing with the aim to improve their performance are the most successful, especially as the sector shifts to value-based healthcare. Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. These resources include tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. Cloud-based storage makes it possible to save files to a remote database and retrieve them on demand.
Cloud computing is an important technology that provides the storage, operation flexibility, and analytical capabilities necessary to implement and operate AI systems, machine learning and innovation. The AWS cloud platform facilitates data assimilation and processing, whether coordinated or not or continuously streaming, as well as the ability to simplify the process of developing, training and spreading models based on machine learning technology. This technology will also allow medical centers to maintain patient data while allowing health clinics around the world to share information on genetic medical tests.
