Use of Robotics in a Pandemic

The recent coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the unpreparedness of current global healthcare systems to handle similar scenarios in the future. In most cases, patient care fell short as the infected population rapidly surged, leading to countless deaths. The identified issues include a shortage of healthcare professionals, a high rate of cross-infection, and insufficient personal protective equipment. Additionally, there was inadequate capacity in intensive care units, scarcity of required equipment, and inefficiencies in logistics operations. By evaluating past experiences and examining potential solutions, experts have suggested exploring technology-driven solutions led by robotics and artificial intelligence to respond better to future pandemics and alleviate the burden on healthcare workers, hospital systems, and the general public. This chapter will discuss how those technologies can improve healthcare delivery in a pandemic by underlining current shortcomings and suggesting possible technology-driven solutions to overcome challenges. By examining the status of robotic systems and artificial intelligence methods used in today’s healthcare industry, potential application areas and new developments for clinical management and logistics operation of hospitals are highlighted. The discussion emphasizes the importance of the involvement of all stakeholders, including technology developers, healthcare providers, as well as local, federal, and global agencies, in future development and implementation of robotic and artificial intelligence technologies.