ABB presents the concept of a mobile laboratory robot for the hospital of the future

Mobile and autonomous YuMi® lab robots will be planned to work alongside medical staff and lab workers

The new robotics skills will be developed at ABB's first global healthcare research center at the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation Institute in Houston

By 2025, malls worldwide are expected to reach nearly 60,000 non-surgical medical robots, nearly quadrupling since 2018

ABB today opened its first global healthcare research center on the Texas Medical Center (TMC) campus in Houston, Texas – showcasing a number of conceptual skills, including a mobile YuMi® robot that will be used to help medical and laboratory workers with their logistical missions in the lab and hospital.

Moving with both arms, YuMi® will be able to sense and navigate its human partner autonomously, learning together to find different paths from one direction to another. It has the potential to perform a wide range of repetitive and time-consuming activities, including preparing medications, loading and unloading centrifuges, pipetting and handling liquids, and picking and sorting test tubes.

The mobile YuMi® can also be used in a variety of logistical operations in hospitals. YuMi® may be able to dispense medications, deliver them to where the hospital needs them, deliver medical supplies to hospital workers, and deliver linens directly to patients' bedrooms.

At TMC Innovation Institute, ABB will develop robots that can perform repetitive, delicate and mundane processes, giving highly skilled medical and laboratory workers the freedom to take on more valuable people and ultimately treat more patients. ABB's analysis shows that automated completion of repetitive tasks can be 50 percent faster than manual processes at the time, and robots are able to work 24 hours a day.

"With advances in disease diagnosis and treatment, the healthcare industry is undergoing a major shift in dealing with an aging population, increased costs, and a growing global shortage of medical staff. Through our new Healthcare R&D Center at TMC, we aim to develop answers to these challenges with the best minds in academia, science and medicine," said Sami Atiya, President, Robotics and Discrete Initiative, ABB. "Our experience in industrial and cobots will provide us with a solid foundation for flexible automation in healthcare. Together with our TMC partners, we will develop top-of-the-line robotics solutions. We're trying to reduce the number of manual procedures performed by medical staff.

ABB presents the concept of a mobile laboratory robot for the hospital of the future

(1/2) The ABB Lab Robotics concept will be designed to perform repetitive, subtle and mundane processes alongside humans, giving highly skilled medical and laboratory staff the freedom to take on more valuable roles and ultimately treat more patients.

The ABB Lab Robotics concept will be planned to perform repetitive, subtle and mundane processes alongside humans, giving highly skilled medical and laboratory workers the freedom to take on more valuable people and ultimately treat more patients.

Other skills demonstrated by ABB at the Healthcare Research Center include the YuMi® robot, which assists with centrifuge handling and tube handling systems, and the IRB 1200 robot, which can handle liquid handling in pipetting applications. All of these are common medical laboratory missions, and robotic automation can be supported by combining consistent performance with a certain degree of flexibility and sequential operation to increase throughput and quality, and together minimize costs.

TMC is the world's largest healthcare city with world-class collaborative research resources, including some of the world's leading companies and hospitals. ABB's new 5,300-square-foot (500-square-meter) healthcare center will be housed at the TMC Innovation Institute, a state-of-the-art center that fosters collaboration in medicine and top-tier skills, connects start-ups with pioneers in academia, and leads technology companies to accelerate the development and prototyping of breakthrough medical skills.

"Texas Medical Center, TMC Innovation, and the entire TMC member agency network are excited to welcome ABB into healthcare for the first time with this incredible and unprecedented new robotic device," emphasized Bill McKeon, president and chief executive officer of Texas Medical Center. He added, "The main goal of TMC, the world's largest healthcare city, is to accelerate research and reduce costs together in order to create faster, more cost-effective solutions for patients in dire need." ABB relies on this founding R&

The robotic automation of healthcare provides a significant opportunity for future increases. According to ABB's internal research, nearly 60,000 non-surgical medical robots are expected to be installed in global malls by 2025, a fourfold increase from 2018.