How convenient would it be to use robots to take care of you after retirement?

On September 13, the decision to gradually delay retirement was officially announced. With the acceleration of the global aging process, how to provide for the elderly has gradually become a hot topic in society.
Everyone hopes to have a safe, comfortable and healthy life in old age, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence and robotics technology has brought new possibilities to the elderly care industry. How will they be applied in the elderly care field? Let's talk about it today.

01 Life assistant for the elderly

In old age, the most important thing is spiritual companionship and helpers in life. Currently, Japan's NEC Corporation has developed an intelligent robot called a life-assisting robot . It can have a verbal conversation with people, accompany the elderly tirelessly to "chat", and can also complete the support or embrace behavior, assist the elderly with limited mobility to do physical exercises, and help the elderly squat, stand, sit and lie down. At present, this type of intelligent robot has been widely used in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, homes, communities and other places for the elderly.

Robear, a humanoid robot that can take care of the elderly. Source: White Paper on Smart Elderly Care Industry

In the future, intelligent robots can also serve as family nannies. Robot nannies can be operated through face-to-face instructions or remotely controlled through mobile phones and other network devices. They can be controlled at any time to complete various household chores, such as cooking, washing clothes, folding quilts, etc., to realize the freedom of home-based elderly care.

The robot that takes care of the elderly in the movie "Robot and Frank"

Image source: New Intelligence

At the same time, in terms of appearance, intelligent robots can be designed into cute animal images, or designed into human appearance to provide visual and spiritual comfort, which is closer to the function of human nannies and can become life assistants for the elderly.

Smart Toys

Image source: White Paper on Smart Elderly Care Industry

The balance and coordination abilities of the elderly gradually decline, especially when accompanied by chronic diseases. The risk of falling is very high, which leads to slow healing after fractures and brings a certain burden to their families. It is reported that intelligent robots have been used in outpatient continuing care for patients with osteoporosis fractures. Through the dialogue between patients and robots, not only can patients be effectively guided in medication and daily life precautions, but also humorous language can be used to encourage patients, reduce their worries and anxiety, and provide personalized services.

In the future, robots can also perform nursing tasks autonomously, such as turning patients over, bathing them, bringing them water, feeding them, performing rehabilitation exercises, and even making appointments for medical treatment , providing all-round care for the elderly.

Pathological diagnosis is the "gold standard" of clinical diagnosis and is a diagnostic method based on image analysis. Artificial intelligence image recognition software can effectively improve the efficiency of pathological diagnosis in identifying cell lesions, assisting pathologists in finding lesions on pathological sections containing 100,000 cells that they may miss, greatly reducing missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis rates. Artificial intelligence can also use "big data" to link pathological image analysis results with the patient's clinical history, thereby more accurately diagnosing diseases and guiding clinical treatment.

Head and neck CT angiography image-assisted evaluation software can assist doctors in quickly completing head and neck CT vascular image processing. Image source: Military Industry Research Society

Medical imaging techniques such as X-rays, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are painless and less invasive. They can clearly provide information such as the location, size, and structure of lesions and are an important aid in disease diagnosis.

The AI ​​medical imaging tools currently under development can reduce the invalid noise generated by the instruments during examinations and reduce artifacts, thereby improving image quality. Based on the clear and effective images of the patients, they can assist doctors in accurately generating imaging diagnostic reports, increase the number and efficiency of imaging examinations, and shorten the time patients wait for examination results.

03 Intelligent robots are massage acupuncturists

Acupuncture and massage of meridian points are the characteristics and innovations of traditional Chinese medicine. Intelligent identification and positioning of human acupoints is a key link in intelligent robots. Although human body parts and postures are different, massage robots and acupuncture robots are being developed for acupoints in hands, ears, face, neck, back and other parts.

The neck massage robot is designed based on the massage theory of traditional Chinese medicine. When in use, it is placed behind the neck, and the proximal knuckles drive the distal knuckles. According to the requirements of different people for massage intensity, the distal knuckles are made to fit the user's neck skin. The robot mainly uses pinching and rolling movements to meet the massage requirements.

Of course, currently, intelligent robots are expensive and their functions are not perfect. But with the continuous development of new technologies, I believe that in the near future, with the assistance of intelligent robots, every elderly person will be able to live a more comfortable life.

References [1] Wang Kexin, Qiu Jianxing. Research progress of non-diagnostic artificial intelligence (AI) in medical imaging. Radiology Practice, 2023 (2): 222-225.

[2] Li Fangjie, Gao Ming, Yang Yuzhen, Wen Junling. Application of artificial intelligence in TCM acupoint positioning technology. Shanghai Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2024(2): 17-22.

[3] Wu Fengfeng, Zhang Shehong, Xu Yan, Ning Meng. Research on design and optimization of neck massage robot[J/OL]. Mechanical Design and Manufacturing, 2024, first published online.

Author: Dai Mingcheng, Clinical Medicine, Harbin Medical University Scientific review: Liu Yan, Associate Professor, School of Data Science and Engineering, East China Normal University Editor: Yiren Bai