Fusing AI and Robotics: The Future of Smarter Healthcare is Within Reach

Global healthcare is facing a wide range of challenges, including ageing populations and an increase in chronic diseases, which are putting immense strain on healthcare systems. The demand for advanced medical technologies like less invasive and more precise surgical tools has never been more urgent. The situation prompted a global wave of innovation in micro-scale medical robotics designed to assist clinicians with unprecedented accuracy and effectiveness. 

This ambition drives Professor SHEN Yajing and his research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)’s Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering on their journey toward medical innovation. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies, they have recently developed three pioneering smart medical devices for health monitoring, surgical assistance, and rehabilitation, ushering in a new era of smart healthcare.

The Tiny Titans: World’s Smallest Multifunctional Surgical Robot

Driven by the need for precise, minimally invasive procedures to access hard-to-reach areas of the human body without causing any collateral damage, the team has made significant strides in crafting the world’s smallest multifunctional surgical robot. With a diameter of just 0.95mm, the micro-robot is 60% smaller than comparable devices.

This tiny “surgeon” is more than a feat of miniaturization. It integrates imaging and precise navigation functions, allowing it to navigate narrow pathways within the human body, such as bronchial tubes and fallopian tubes. It can then assist medical professionals in sampling tissues, delivering drugs, and performing laser thermal therapy, making it a versatile surgical assistant for both diagnosis and treatment.

Helping Hands

Thanks to a dense network of nerves, human hands are remarkably sensitive, but conditions like stroke can lead to loss of function, numbness, or tingling. Early detection and accurate assessment of the severity of these conditions can significantly reduce their impact on patients’ daily lives, while the traditional assessments primarily rely on doctors’ observations, which can vary between doctors.

To address this issue, the research team drew inspiration from the spiral pattern of Aloe polyphylla and developed PhyTac, an AI-powered cone-shaped device fitted with 368 sensors. By simply gripping the device, the force distribution across specific regions of the patient’s hand can be immediately visualized, allowing doctors to easily assess patients’ rehabilitation progress.

Gamifying Exhalation Testing

There is a surging demand for regular lung monitoring in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers have developed a portable wireless spirometer, measuring just 8cm in diameter and weighing around 78g. To make at-home exhalation tests and breathing training more enjoyable, the device incorporates a game where patients use their breath output to control a virtual bird navigating obstacles. The collected data can be shared with doctors to monitor patients’ progress remotely.

“In this era of AI and robotics, technology advances rapidly, and there is ample room for the development of human-machine interaction, which will become a trend for the future,” Prof. Shen remarked. “Leveraging HKUST’s strengths in robotics and AI research, our team will continue to enhance the perceptiveness of robots so as to enable safer and more natural interactions between robots and humans, paving the way for impactful research that supports transformation across various industries, including healthcare.”