Modern technological advancement allows people worldwide to live longer, resulting in ageing populations everywhere. Moreover, studies indicate that in Asia, where around 60 per cent of the world’s population live, people are ageing faster than in the west.
For instance, the over 65s in Asia are expected to increase an incredible 314 per cent from 207 million in 2000 to 857 million in 2050. As people age, the world is witnessing a decline in the working-age population from another perspective. Asian workforces, in particular, are expected to reduce by hundreds of millions of people in the coming years.
China expects to see a 170 million decline in its working-age population in the next three decades. Likewise, in Singapore, the over-65 population is predicted to surge from 14 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent in the next decade.
Meanwhile, Selina Seah, Director at Singapore’s Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), said that the country is significantly exposed to the “three tsunamis” in healthcare– an ageing population, a shrinking workforce, and rising chronic diseases.
Thus, healthcare is a particularly vulnerable area, with the World Health Organization (WHO) predicting a shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030, primarily in low and middle-income countries.
The situation is further exacerbated by the drastic fall in population growth in the region, which is already negative in Japan and projected to be zero for the entire Asian region by 2050.
Meanwhile, the robotics industry is on a rapid rise, with robots handling everything from doctors to firing employees. So, it stands to reason that the proactive Asian countries, especially Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan, should focus on robotics technology to handle their citizens’ healthcare needs in the challenging years ahead.
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Asia is therefore using an estimated 65 per cent of the world’s robots, also becoming the region with the highest robot production. Japan is the world’s leading adopter of robots and its leading producer and exporter of robots, at 55 per cent of total manufacture.
Furthermore, Japan’s innovative strategies are combining AI and robotics to enable robots to solve complex social issues and increase economic growth. One project focuses on developing service robots to ensure adequate services for elderly homecare needs and for caring for seniors in healthcare settings.
Moreover, Toyota’s Human Support Robot (HSR) is an existing platform that combines robots with human factors to offer basic care and support nursing in long-term care facilities.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Changi General Hospital (CGH, a 1000-bed, academic medical institution caring for over 1 million people, has installed over 50 robots as staff members, engaged in a diverse array of duties, from performing surgeries to handling administration.
As CHART’s Selina Seah said, “we thought the aged patients would not take well to the robots. However, we discovered in our research that elderly patients look at robots like life-sized toys. So, they are brought back to their childhood and, in fact, able to interact and respond better to therapy with robots than they do with a human.”
Likewise, South Korea’s Seoul Medical Center engages three types of robots to help medical staff treat coronavirus patients. One robot type checks visitors’ temperature before allowing them in; the second robot type sterilises negative pressure rooms. The third robot delivers clothes and other soiled and used items to a disposal area.
In Taiwan, a startup, Brain Navi Biotechnology, has created surgical robots for brain surgery. The platform uses machine vision, robotic technology, and algorithms for real-time imaging, precise surgery, and minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Also, through robotic technology, the machines recognise surgical instruments within seconds and register patients through a contactless machine vision process.
With the pandemic uppermost in all activities, Thailand too has engaged AI and robotics innovation to support medical professionals. Innovations by Thai companies have created a 3-in-1 negative pressure patient transport capsule that generates negative pressure, removes harmful particles in the air, and disinfects itself.
Another innovation, the IoT Cold Chain monitors and controls the icy temperatures required for vaccine storage, while the CARA Robot assists medical staff to deliver medicine and food supplies within hospitals and isolation venues, and the Xterlizer can disinfect 25 square meters and destroy bacteria and fungi with UV-C light within five minutes.
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China too has stepped up its robot use following the pandemic, using robots to deliver food to ensure social distancing, monitor mask-wearing,o monitor temperature of people, and guide patients while promoting public awareness of preventing epidemics.
In the same vein, Southeast Asian countries appear to engage exoskeleton rehabilitation robotics for patients’ physiotherapy sessions. Singapore’s National University Health System spent US$1.34 million to buy exoskeletons and to train twelve physiotherapists for two years.
The exclusive challenges each country in the Southeast Asian region faces and its unique culture are reflected in the projects undertaken by each country. However, what appears to overwrite all of it is that Southeast Asian nations significantly outperform other regions of the world, especially the US. and Europe.
Equally apparent is that these service robots are a key mechanism to boost productivity, global competitiveness and enhance living standards. And the widespread adoption of these service robots is recognized as a positive sign of growth and progress.
Moreover, as CEO and co-founder of iRobot, Colin Angle, said, “People are fascinated by robots because they’re machines that can mimic life.”
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