Robotics to expand beyond surgery into diagnostics and multiple medical specialities

Robotics is set to expand beyond surgical proce­dures and become an in­creasingly important tool across different medical specialities, including diagnostics, treatment and therapy, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said on Friday.

Addressing the inaugural session of the International Con­ference of the Society of Robot­ic Surgery, Singh said robotics, along with AI and nanoscience, would create a larger ecosystem for precision health delivery and precision medicine. He said ro­botics should not be viewed as a technology limited to surgery and would increasingly find applica­tions across different branches of medicine.

“It’s a tool. It will happen everywhere,” Singh said, adding that while the current focus is on robotic surgery, the future could see the emergence of robotic medicine, robotic endocrinology and robotic cardiology, similar to the expanding use of AI across medical specialities. The Minis­ter said medicine is entering a new phase driven by technologies such as AI, biotechnology, nuclear medicine, quantum technologies, nanomedicine and robotics.

He said precision medicine would increasingly require treat­ment to be tailored to individual patients, even when they are di­agnosed with the same disease. Genetic profile, environmental conditions, lifestyle and dietary patterns could increasingly influ­ence medical decision-making, he added. Referring to the Genome India Programme, Singh said 10,000 individuals have already been sequenced and expressed hope that India could eventually move towards gene sequencing for every newborn.

He said carrying out genetic sequencing on a population of 1.4 billion would require the optimal use of AI and robotics. Singh also highlighted the potential of nano­medicine in addressing health­care challenges.

Referring to efforts towards developing oral insulin, he said advances at the nano level could help overcome some limitations associated with conventional drug delivery and create new possibil­ities for treatment.

The Minister also highlight­ed the potential of tele-robotics in improving access to specialist healthcare, particularly in a coun­try as geographically diverse as India. Sharing his experience with robotic ultrasonography, Singh said he had performed an ultra­sound on a person located 10,000 kilometres away in Antarctica, demonstrating the possibilities of remotely enabled medical tech­nologies. “Instead of the patient being referred to the doctor, it will be the doctor being referred to the patient,” he said.

Singh said tele-robotics could allow specialist expertise to reach patients across geo­graphical boundaries, reducing the need for patients to travel to specialists for advanced medical care. He also pointed to India's changing disease profile, where infectious diseases continue to coexist with metabolic and life­style-related disorders. Diseases traditionally associated with later stages of life are increasingly be­ing seen among younger people, he said.

The Minister said India's scale and diversity make tech­nologies such as AI, robotics and tele-robotics particularly relevant for healthcare delivery and could support the transition towards more precise and personalized medicine.

SOURCE: ANI