Robots and Intelligent Medical Devices in the Intensive Care Unit: Vision, State of the Art, and Economic Analysis

Robotics is widely seen as a key enabling technology for the society of tomorrow. We examine the role of robotics and intelligent medical devices in Intensive Care Medicine. Demographics predict that more elderly patients will need to be treated with fewer healthcare personnel, calling for innovations in ICU management. Robotics is a key enabling technology for this century and may help smoothing the foreseeable workload/manpower disparity in medicine. While robotics cannot replace the crucial human interactions in healthcare, it’s important to identify those areas where it can contribute in the near and foreseeable future. Studying the application of robotics in the ICU in a manner beneficial for patients and accepted by ICU team is therefore desirable. Financial sustainability is essential for the introduction of new technologies to the ICU. This study assesses the state-of-the-art of robotics in intensive care medicine and identifies opportunities for progress, using an observational approach in a teaching hospital ICU in combination with an in-depth review of the literature and a survey of the market. Tasks potentially amenable to robotics are identified, their acceptability to patients and caregivers are examined and their quantitative contribution to future management of an intensive care unit is assessed.