ITRI announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Medical University Hospital (CMUH). At the same time, ITRI is expected to join hands with the medical device manufacturer, Remex Medical Corp., the subsidiary of INTAI Technology Corp., and Techman Robot, the subsidiary of Quanta Storage Inc. to integrate the two advantageous industries in Taiwan, namely medical and information and communication, with cross-field technology and introduce hospital robots into CMUH. ITRI Executive Vice President Pei-Zen Chang said that the collaboration focuses on the robot to provide intelligent surgery, transportation management and infection control and cleaning related solutions, working towards the goal of hospital automation and intelligence.
According to a new report published by Market Research Future in 2022, the global medical robotics market will grow to over NT$700 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 15.8%. The collaboration between ITRI and CMUH focuses on the integration of high-tech hospital application management and is divided into two parts, the first of which is the introduction of a surgical robotics guidance system combined with bionic 3D printing medical material technology, with the goal of achieving surgical automation.
Der-Yang Chou, Superintendent of the hospital, pointed out that from international experience, the introduction of robots into medical treatment and the execution of surgery by robotic arms can be said to be a watershed for smart hospitals, but at the same time, the threshold is quite high. As human surgery is different from factory processing, it is very complicated as the human muscle tissue will move during the operation.
In this regard, Shaw-Ji Shiah, Director of Techman Robot, said that although existing robotic technology is used in medical applications, entering the non-medical industry requires specialist industry knowledge, such as feedback from doctors, hospitals and patients, in order to design a robot that meets the needs of the application, so cooperation with medical institutions is crucial. He also admits that it was only after extensive testing that he learnt what situations the robot arm would experience in the operating room, and was able to improve the design according to the needs.
Chang, Executive VP of ITRI said that the combination of Remex's medical equipment development technology and Techman's robotic arm positioning system will enable more accurate and rapid surgery.
The second part of the project is hospital management, with the introduction of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to assist with cleaning and disinfection, transport and other operations.
If these tasks can be carried out by robots, the workload of nursing staff will be reduced and the manpower gap will be filled, said Chou, Superintendent of CMUH.
In addition, Chang said that when the time comes, the institute will develop towards patient transport. He pointed out that, from the perspective of the patient's family, due to aging and fewer children, when the elderly need to go to the hospital frequently, children need to work and can not accompany to the hospital, the ultimate goal of hospital automation is to allow patients to go to the hospital process can be their own return, the entire process of medical treatment fully automated.
The short-term goal is to first apply autonomous mobile robots to the emergency and nursing departments, and to provide logistics, infection control, cleaning and medical administrative efficiency in the operating room, emergency room and isolation ward, etc. The surgical part will first be introduced to orthopedics and neurosurgery, and later on technology will be applied to other departments of the hospital. There are plans to introduce the technology to other hospitals in the future.
Source (in Chinese): https://www.digitimes.com.tw/iot/article.asp?id=0000655025_VCX130DN1MG3J263MQA8X
