Medical robots improve quality of life

Under the careful operation of a nearby human, four robotic arms methodically and carefully remove the shell from a quail egg.

Liu Dongsheng, an engineer from Beijing Surgerii Technology Co., Ltd and the operator in question, said this setup in a surgical environment could extend the hands of a doctor and avoid common problems such as hand vibrations. The robot has already been applied in urinary, chest and gynecological surgery, with a stellar record of performance.

That's only one of the many displays to be found at the World Robot Conference, being held from Thursday to Sunday in Beijing. There is the RM-50 robot, a 1-meter-tall square box with a robotic arm attached to one side. The device assists neurosurgical doctors in their delicate operations on the brain.

Zhou Xiaoming, a senior executive of producer Remebot, showed how the robot does its job: It constructs a three-dimensional model of the patient's brain with a cerebral hemorrhage, clearly showing where the hemorrhage happened. Then it sends out a needle via the robotic arm that penetrates the virtual patient's cranium, allowing the doctor to insert a tube and drain the hematoma out.

"There was a time when neurosurgical doctors had to open the cranium to operate on a cerebral hemorrhage, mainly because they had to see the actual condition to know where the hemorrhage happened," Zhou said. "Now, with our precise 3D modeling and robotic arm, doctors can do with a hole with a diameter of only 1 millimeter."

"Our services can cover over 100 kinds of diseases," said Nie Zhi, CEO of Remebot on a CCTV News Broadcast interview in 2015. Zhou said now the number is much higher. Their cerebral hemorrhage robot has already passed certification at over 100 domestic hospitals and been applied in over 30,000 surgeries.

There are also ectoskeleton robots, which enable patients suffering from paralysis to walk with an electric motor attached at the knee, and blood vessel interposition robots that make it possible for doctors to avoid exposure to X-ray radiation. "We hope to make life easier for both patients and doctors," Zhou said. "After all, it is the job of technology to serve humanity."