Surgical Infections May Be Reduced by Robotic Nurses
Posted on Fri, Feb 04, 2011
Reducing surgical infections is a primary concern for hospitals throughout the world. Introducing robotic nurses into the operating room may be an effective solution for reducing infection.
This article was originally published on February 3, 2011 by Purdue University. Read the article in its entirety at Purdue University News Service.
Operating rooms of the future may include robotic scrub nurses or hand-gesture recognition, both of which could reduce the length of surgeries and the potential for infection.
"It's a concept Tom Cruise demonstrated vividly in the film 'Minority Report,'" says Juan Pablo Wachs, assistant professor of industrial engineering at Purdue University.
Surgeons often refer to patient images during surgery, but stepping away from the table to touch a mouse or keyboard adds to surgery time and increases risk for infection. Hand-gesture technology may be used to control a robotic scrub nurse or tell a computer screen what to do. Robotic nurses may also be useful in coordinating emergency response during disasters.
New research findings on the technology will be detailed in a paper appearing in the February issue of Communications of the ACM.
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