Artificial Intelligence technology and health care

This was my last semester report about artificial intelligence in our lives.


Abstract: this report will talk about the definition and history of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in the health care system. Then illustrate the many different applications of (A.I.) and robotics and the development and evolution from simple computer science applications to successfully use this technology in military support, space exploration, and entertainments, personal and special services and also in medicine to increase the success rate of operations and diagnosing illness in procedures. This report will also show the increasing use of robots in nursing homes and with patients with mental illness. This report will talk in depth about the use of robots as therapeutic pets and how they are built and their uses.



Report outline

1. Introduction
1.1. Definition
1.2. History

3

2. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (A.I.M.)
3

2.1. Robotic applications in hospitals
4

2.1.1. Data processing
4

2.1.2. Scanning machines
4

2.1.3. Surgical robotics systems
4

2.1.4. Nursing and personal assistant robots
4

2.1.5. Therapeutic robots
5

3. Conclusion
6

4. References
6









Introduction


Artificial intelligence has been expanding in every passing day since computer science was introduced to the world. Developers kept crating new technologies and improving other to fit our needs. In the past decade, robotic technology made a notable progress especially in probabilistic software which is used to operate the robots to help them tackle uncertainty problems. With flexibility, autonomy and human interaction attributes, the probability software was able to give robots the opportunity to be involved in many new fields, such as space exploration, entertainment, personal services, military support and medical applications [1].

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (A.I.M.)
What does artificial intelligence in medicine (A.I.M.) mean? Artificial intelligence is “the branch of computer science concerned with the development of machines having this ability”. [2]


With the continuous increasing number of patients, hospitals had to find a different way of filing that does not take a lot of space. Hence, electronic records were developed to store the patient’s information. Robotics were used in health care ever since, but they just do not have the humanoid stereotype shape that people have in their minds of robots. Computer tomography (C.T.) scan and magnetic resonance information (M.R.I.) have been used in hospitals for a long time. In the late 90’s, engineers introduced surgical robotic systems to hospitals. However, “they introduced a lot of technology at once and

failed to take into account operation room work flow, sterilization, and even how much space was available” [3] but now that they learned from that mistake, hospitals depend on using robotic systems. Thanks to this technology, doctors can perform surgeries and procedures with the help of robots because they are less invasive and have a higher success rate. They help doctors by displaying large three-dimension images of the surgery for more accurate actions while other robotic systems use nano-motion stabilizers laser projectors and light-emitting diode to give the doctors more precision[4].



Another uses of robotics in health care are the nursing and therapeutic robots used to interact with patients. Nursebot pearl is a mobile robot which is used in nursing homes to help guide and monitor elderly patients and patients with health problems. However, Paro is a therapeutic robot used in nursing houses and patients with mental illness, such as Down syndrome and autistic children. It is designed in the shape of a baby harp seal which was originally chosen to make people familiarize with rare animals. The robot is covered with white and soft fur that gives a natural feel. Under that it hides a complex network of sensors that respond to three different senses: vision, audio and touch. [5] The eyes can sense light and react to day and night, so it sleeps when there is no light. The robot can react to the source of sound and turn its head towards it. [5] It also has a voice recognition program that interacts with differently depending on how much time the patient spent with it.


Paro also has its own physiological life so when it has been working for a long time it will move slower and show tiredness which means that its internal batteries are low on power, but when recharged, it would be active and interact more lively. Its touching sensors can give the patients the feeling of a real pet while holding, stroking or touching it. The robot gives a different respond to how it is treated. All these sensors are linked with each other to give a realistic response. For example, the eyelids close when there is no light and the robot goes into sleeping mode. From my personal experience, since I was promoting this robot in particular I’ve learned the effects of animal therapy and the goals that paro was designed to serve. It was proven that animal therapy is helping special medical patients, such as patients suffering from autism or Down syndrome. But because animals could cause allergies or if upset or frustrated could attack patients, hospitals and nursing homes could not allow having animals for treatment. Instead, robotic pets such as paro are being used to take the real pet’s place to help patients relax, be motivated, improve their vital signs and help them improve their social and communication skills among inpatients and caregivers. After testing paro in hospitals and nursing homes, the results came to confirm the studies that these robots can improve patient’s Psychological, Physiological and Social communication. The tests were made to study the depression of patients. The test results were similar to the animal therapy, which means that therapeutic robots can replace animals in hospitals, nursing homes and apartments that do not allow residents to have a pet animal. [6]

Conclusion
Robotic system is the futuristic tools that will help the human race advance with technology and have a better and healthier lifestyle. It may save more lives and possibly reduce the death rate. From my past experience at the showroom and my observation, therapeutic robots such as paro can help improve the lives of not only elderly patients in nursing homes, but even autistic children as the cause and cure to this syndrome are still unknown. But after seeing an autistic child interacting with paro in the exhibition, I think doctors have a method to hopefully make studying the causes of autism easier.

References:
[1] Thrun, S. (2002). Probabilistic robotics. Communications of the ACM, 45(3).
[2] www.answers.com
[3] Brown, A. (2008). Calling doctor roboto. Mechanical engineering- CIME, (130.5). 18(1).
[4] Krupa, A., Gangloff, J., Doignon, C., Mathelin, M., Morel, G., Leroy, J., Soler, L., Marescaux, J. (2003). Autonomous 3-D positioning of surgical instruments in robotized laparoscopic surgery using visual servoing. IEEE transactions on robotics and automation, (19.5). 842.
[5] Marti, P., Pollini, A., Rullo, A. Engaging with artificial pets.
[6] http://paro.jp/english/therapy.html. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology