Xiaoyi, a Chinese AI-powered robot recently became the first robot to pass a national medical licensing examination. It achieved a score of 456 points – 96 points above the required pass mark.

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Dontics has patented a unique automated handheld dental drill. It allows perfect preparations in fewer and 80% shorter visits, with no surgical skill required. Example Crowns: 15min in 1-visit down from 2hrs over 2-visits. Management includes leading medical device developer and practising dentist.

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Two Caltech researchers have developed a prototype microscale processor that can respond to magnetic fields as atoms in the human body do under MRI, thereby demonstrating their exact location and delivering drugs exactly the site they’re needed, with sub-millimetre precision. ATOMS (Addressable Transmitters Operated as Magnetic Spins) devices can give its location accurate to 360 microns. Next steps are to add sensors to transmit data as it travels, and to handle disposal when finished.

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A form of robotic-guided spine surgery results in a 5-fold reduction in surgical complications and a 7-fold reduction in revision surgeries compared to freehand methods. That’s according to the interim results of a multi-center prospective study that includes 379 spine surgery patients. The guided-surgery tech used in the spinal surgery study is called the Renaissance Guided System by Mazor Robotics. Mazor is a publicly-traded Israeli company.

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A robot dentist created in China has successfully performed dental surgery on a patient without human input. The robot implanted two artificial teeth within the margin of error required for the specific type of operation it was performing. The artificial teeth were created using 3D printing technology. Medical staff were needed to position orientation equipment, program the robot’s movements, and determine the angle and depth needed to properly implant the teeth.

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Caltech scientists have developed the proof-of-concept for a “cargo sorting” DNA nanorobot programmed to autonomously “walk” around a surface, pick up certain molecules, and drop them off in designated locations. Future uses could include creating programmable drugs or delivering them when a specific signal is received in the bloodstream or cells.

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The robot has wheels, visual sensors, and an articulating arm appendage. It can perform simple tasks around the house like opening/closing doors and fetching water bottles. Toyota also has projects underway targeting improved mobility for users with limited or impaired capacities, including a wearable robotic leg brace, help for those with sight problems gain improved surrounding awareness, robots to help transfer patients between beds and chairs, and a device to help transfer in/out of car seats.

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Surgeons successfully used a remote-controlled robotic system operating inside the human eye, paving the way for robotic assistance in clinical treatments requiring extreme precision and stability, e.g. Controlled delivery of gene therapy & stem cells.

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Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a computer-driven automated drill, similar to those used to machine auto parts, that produces fast, clean and safe cuts, reducing the time the wound is open and the patient is anesthetized, thereby decreasing the incidence of infection, human error, and surgical cost. The new machine can make one type of complex cranial surgery 50 times faster than standard procedures.

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Northwestern University mechanical engineering professor Todd Murphey and his team are engineering robots to make robotic assistance seamless by teaching them the tasks that humans do and helping them to adapt to human unpredictability. This approach may be helpful in stroke rehabilitation.

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Panasonic has developed a proof-of-concept robot that boasts “human-like” movements and communication skills. The desktop companion robot connects via Wi-Fi to natural language processing technology. The robot can access and use cloud data, and communicate with devices in other locations. The size of a standard kitchen countertop blender, the robot includes an embedded projector that is enclosed within the eggshell-shaped device.

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