The Ministry of Health is looking at robotics as a promising technology to meet future challenges in the healthcare sector.
"Robotics will help healthcare and we need to adopt such a technology. Any new technologies that help to improve the system are welcome," Dr Shyam Bawikar, advisor to MoH told Muscat Daily.
The MoH in its recent draft document on 'Health Vision 2050 in Sultanate of Oman' had states: "By 2050, Omani population will be aged and health services will be unable to cope with the likely increase in chronic illness.
"To meet that challenge, health and local authority services must reconfigure, placing greater emphasis on community care and effective use of technology. One promising technology is robotics."
According to MoH, robots can be used in addressing cognitive decline like reminding patients to take medicine or of an appointment; collecting data and monitoring patients, emergencies such as heart failure and assisting people with domestic tasks as many people give up independent living because of arthritis.
Application of robotics technology in healthcare sector is not new and many developed countries are using it. Oman is adopting it now and doctors at The Royal Hospital are looking at the possibilities of using it in heart operations.
"We are considering the possibility of using robots in treating patients with heart ailments at the new heart foundation that is coming up at The Royal Hospital," said Dr Najib al Rawahi, senior consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist at The Royal Hospital.
Electrophysiologists are cardiologists specialising in diagnosis and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms.
Dr Rawahi said that he had used robotics to treat patients suffering from heart ailments, during his tenure in Canada till 2007.
© Muscat Daily 2012
