Story Archives of 'medicine'

In 1985, the world witnessed the first robot-assisted surgery. The PUMA 560 angled its white plastic arm towards the brain of a patient and carefully inserted a biopsy needle. The procedure was a success and the field of medical robotics was born.

Now researchers are creating robots capable of much more than mechanical tasks. A new crop of social robots cheer on stroke victims struggling through physical therapy, help Alzheimer’s patients remember events from the past, and give Autistic children encouragement as they connect with the outside world.

Some patients actually prefer the mechanical voice of these robots over the prompting of therapists and family members. Programming robots to display more and more human-like characteristics raises the question of whether we are coming dangerously close to singularity -- the point at which machines achieve human-level intelligence.

Dr. Jerome Groopman wrote about the rise of medical robots for The New Yorker, where he’s staff writer. He’s also the author of several books including How Doctors Think.

The New Yorker: Robots That Care

(Photo by Roberto Rizzato via Flickr/Creative Commons)

For ten days this summer, Viki Johnson lived in a nursing home. Confined to a wheel chair, she was given sponge baths and had to wait for an aid to place her on the toilet. Unlike the other nursing home residents, Viki is in her twenties and perfectly healthy. She’s a second year medical student participating in the Learning By Living program at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

Each summer, a few medical students are given fake diagnoses and placed in nursing homes to see what it’s like to live as a resident. Viki Johnson joins us to tell us what she learned, along with Dr. Marilyn Gugliucci, Director of Geriatric Education and Research at the University of New England and creator of the program.

New York Times: Experiencing Life, Briefly, Inside a Nursing Home

(Photo by consumerfriendly via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Twenty million Americans are recruited into clinical trials each year. Some participants have cancer or other life threatening illnesses, but many are perfectly healthy. These healthy volunteers are often the first humans to test the safety of a new drug, years before it hits the market.

They face days and sometimes weeks of blood tests and monitoring, but they are rewarded for their time, in cash. Officially they are only paid for giving up their time for science, but some in the U.S. can make as much as $34,000 a year.

By some estimates, there are as many as 10,000 people in the United States who make their living primarily through phase one clinical trials. There’s a growing debate over whether or not volunteers should be paid. Some argue that paying volunteers puts the poorest members of society unfairly at risk, and could produce misleading data that would allow questionable treatments to enter the market.

Alison Motluck wrote about the "perils of the professional lab rat" in the most recent issue of New Scientist magazine. We're also joined by Brandon, who asked that we not use his last name. He was featured in Alison's article and has been participating in clinical trials since 2005.

New Scientist: Perils of the professional lab rat

(Photo by Ana C. via Flickr/Creative Commons)