Robotics entered our daily lives much earlier than we think. From automotive assembly lines to the packaging sector, industrial robots have shown their efficiency in numerous activities. But today, robotic technology is going beyond the edges of industry to enter more complex areas where human-touch is key: hospitals.
Demographic aging is increasingly a reality. Countries like Japan and Italy show this trend markedly, with a constant increase in the number of elderly people and a decrease in the young workforce. Caregivers – often family members or healthcare workers – are also aging, making it more difficult to physically manage patients.
Robots in the ward to address demographic challenges
In this scenario, robotics can be a structural and sustainable solution. With new developments in conversational models of artificial intelligence and increasingly high-performance, compact and affordable computational hardware, robots are increasingly becoming ward-based.
Today, robots can compensate for the lack of manpower, performing repetitive or strenuous physical tasks in place of human caregivers, thus reducing the risk of injuries and the care burden.
A few months ago, news came from Japan that a robot, called AIREC, had safely reproduced a maneuver used to change diapers or prevent bedsores on elderly people. Although AIREC is still a prototype and its commercial version could be available only in 2030, in the context of an aging population and caregivers, the advancement of robotic technologies is certainly encouraging.
Furthermore, the automation of some tasks allows healthcare personnel to focus on more complex and relational activities, also improving the overall patient experience.
Social robots are increasingly used in care settings. Designed to interact with people and support entertainment activities, these robots help in cognitive stimulation or simple companionship, especially towards patients with emotional fragility or particular communication needs.
New perspectives thanks to all-purpose hospital robots
In fact, robots are being designed that are capable not only of moving autonomously, manipulating objects and moving loads, but also of interacting verbally with patients and operators.
With the arrival of conversational models of artificial intelligence (such as Large Language Models) and the evolution of computational hardware, the boundary between care and social robots is becoming thinner.
A significant example comes from Taiwan where, thanks to a collaboration between industrial giants Foxconn and Kawasaki, a robot capable of carrying out various precision tasks, such as manipulating and transporting objects and trays, or conversing with patients, has been tested in some hospitals. The project is still in the research phase and it may take a few years to see these robots in hospitals.
In the meantime, there are applications in which ward robots are already an operational reality. In fact, in addition to the well-known drug warehouse management robots and surgical robots, there are service and social robots, such as Aphel Hermes and Aphel Helios, for transporting objects, enabling video calls between patients in the ward and caregivers, gathering data and entertaining patients.
The same robots can perform more social activities to reduce anxiety in pediatric patients or children with autism spectrum disorder. For healthcare facilities, these robots represent not only an opportunity for operational efficiency, but also an investment in quality of care and relational well-being.
A silent revolution, but already underway
Hospital robotics is no longer a futuristic promise, but an expanding reality. From experimental prototypes to already operational solutions such as Hermes and Helios, technology is changing the face of healthcare. In a context of demographic challenges, scarcity of human resources, and growing demands for quality of service, integrating robotics into the ward is not only useful, but necessary.
The future of care will not only be made up of doctors, nurses and medical technologies, but also of robots capable of supporting, assisting and even physically taking care of patients.
