Ethical Issues Surrounding Healthcare Robotics

Introduction

Advancements in technology during the 21st Century has seen the rapid development in robotics. The use of this robotic technology has now shifted in to the healthcare sector and debate for its use has ensued. Trials of the use of robotics by elderly patients have been conducted as reported by Banks et al. (2008) and Wada and Shibata (2006). However, the effectiveness of these technologies has come in to question when compared to Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) (Banks et al., 2008) and when investigating the ethical concerns surrounding healthcare robotics (Stahl & Coeckelbergh, 2016). This essay will evaluate the arguments in favour for the use of robotics within healthcare and the counterargument in which robotics should not be

The method of this study enabled residents at a care home to undergo AAT or the use of a robotic dog, AIBO (Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) (ibid). Banks et al. (2008) presented their findings which showed that “interactive robotics dogs are effective in decreasing loneliness in residents of LTCF”. This suggests that there are positive effects on healthcare when robotics is involved as residents had increased social interactions within the care home. The residents who were not given either type of therapy showed that their loneliness further developed. This further supports the claim that robotics should be used in

As reported by Sharkey and Sharkey (2012) robotics are able to improve the lifestyles of the less able and elderly. The report (ibid) mentions a Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) suit created by Cyberdene which has the ability to move muscles of the user by detecting nerve impulses, increasing strength by a “factor of 2-10”. This shows that people who have may have muscle related illness or poor mobility will not be disadvantaged and can carry on living life as normal, implying the use of robotics in healthcare can improve quality of life. However, the ethics of this control are also used to counter the argument for this type of technology in healthcare. Sharkey and Sharkey (2016) mention an exoskeleton suit for the highly frail and whether the user or the suit would be held accountable for risks and dangers. This means there could be many legal complications when using robotics in