Make way for rolling assistants! More robotics within hospital logistics

Increasingly, hospitals are faced with the task of working efficiently despite staff shortages and cost pressure. Increasing automation, which is already widespread in other sectors, could offer solutions. While attention on medical robotics has been focused primarily on highly specialized tasks in the operating theatre, handling logistical tasks in hospital operations and for cleaning and disinfection is becoming increasingly important.

Among the numerous areas of application, it is primarily the routine tasks far away from the patient that machine support offers an attractive solution. Well-trained staff in clinics are still being used to transport samples, medication or meals throughout vast medical campuses. This presents a clear opportunity for improvement through automation.

The use of transport and logistics robots is therefore currently being intensively tested. At LMU Hospital München Großhadern, the use of a service robot and its implementation in everyday clinical practice was investigated. Some of the several hundred thousand medical samples that must be taken from the wards to the laboratory were handled by the Jeeves robot, which was in operation around the clock. At Münster's St. Franziskus Hospital, an autonomous service robot was also used on a trial basis in the hospital logistics department to transport small-volume materials to the wards and functional areas like laboratories.

In contrast to its use in industry, the handling of the robot in a clinical environment proved to be challenging, according to Prof. Uli Fischer from LMU Klinikum München. The hospital environment presented high hurdles with strict regulations for fire protection, data protection and IT security. The structural conditions, in particular, meant that implementation costs were significantly higher and implementation times longer than in other environments.

Interaction with staff did not pose any problems. "In view of the staff shortage, I believe it is imperative that we try to automate and allocate resources," says Fischer, Head of Clinical Nursing Research and Quality Management.

The use of robotics also proved its worth at Münster's St. Franziskus Hospital in a test with FACT GmbH and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML): "By using artificial intelligence and appropriate sensor technology, the service robot moved autonomously around the hospital," says Nadine van Wüllen, Project Manager for Innovation and Digital Transformation at FACT GmbH, describing the experience. Solutions have been designed and, in some cases, already implemented for the challenges that arise, such as elevator rides, opening automatic doors and route frequency.

The clinic is currently involved in the further development of service robots. "We hope that a small swarm of service robots will eventually be able to support our employees in their day-to-day work," says Annika Wolter, Managing Director of St. Franziskus Hospital. "However, the sensor box with the AI cannot yet be purchased and our service robot therefore cannot be used."

In addition, it is difficult to purchase expensive service robots with the already very limited investment funds, she continues. In contrast, there are interesting rental and leasing models for the recently tested cleaning robots.

The representatives of both hospitals with experience in robotics outside of the operating theatre and rehabilitation are unanimous in recognizing a clear trend: an increased use of robotics is foreseeable and necessary. Cost pressure and a shortage of skilled staff made it increasingly necessary to relieve staff of repetitive routine tasks. At the very least, the use of transport robots will increase in the future.

The consequences are also undisputed in both clinics. Prof. Fischer emphasizes that it is by no means a question of saving on staff: "Direct intervention on patients is so complex that no automated system will be able to do it in the coming decades." More automation is needed, as well as the restructuring of buildings for the necessary use of transport robots. But: "No one will lose their job in the next 20 years because of a robot. On the contrary, there will have to be many new jobs because we will have to care for many more people."