Nvidia & the Rise of Humanoid Robots in Healthcare

The idea of human-like robots collaborating with people is transitioning from the realm of imagination to actual implementation. The ongoing progress in AI technologies, combined with advancements in robotics, is creating unprecedented opportunities for automation in diverse sectors. This fusion of AI and robotics is not only transforming industries like manufacturing and logistics but also holds significant promise for revolutionising healthcare. The potential worldwide effects of these innovations are expected to be far-reaching, possibly offering solutions to workforce shortages, boosting efficiency and fundamentally altering our day-to-day interactions with machines. Companies such as Nvidia are at the forefront of this innovation.

NVIDIA paving the way for Humanoid robots in medical settings

NVIDIA assists healthcare institutions in harnessing the power of AI and high-performance computing. In March 2024, the company announced a fresh suite of NVIDIA healthcare microservices which include optimised AI models and workflows based on industry-standard application programming interfaces. These serve as building blocks for creating and deploying cloud-native applications used in healthcare. These offer advanced imaging, natural language and speech recognition as well as digital biology generation, prediction and simulation.

We included Nvidia in our Top 10: Healthcare AI Companies. 

Rev Lebaredian, Vice President of Omniverse and Simulation Technology at Nvidia supports the development of humanoid robots, saying that an AI-powered brain is the missing ingredient for creating a useful general purpose robot.

"I believe that they're going to become so common, they'll be like our cell phones. They're going to get cheaper and cheaper very, very quickly," Rev said.

This emphasises the importance of the world still being built for human activity, which includes hospitals. So rather than rebuild to accommodate robot designs, Rev suggests that robots should be built to fit existing environments.

Key factors for AI-powered robots include:

• Being able to balance, walk and navigate
• Using simulations to learn before beginning to work in the real-world 

In healthcare, humanoid robots could assist in surgeries where fine motor movements are vital. They could also help address labour shortages, a worldwide problem for the healthcare sector.

While the future of humanoid robots appears promising, it also brings forth significant concerns regarding safety, ethics, and the implications for human employment. As this technology evolves, it will be essential for industry leaders, policymakers, and the public to participate in continuous discussions on the most effective ways to incorporate these advanced machines into our society.

Mental healthcare meets Nvidia’s digital innovation

One aspect robots won’t have to be concerned about is the quality of their mental health.

The global rise of mental health problems has become a huge concern, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has reported that a considerable portion of the world's population may experience mental health issues during their lifetime.

Access to mental health care is uneven across the world. The median number of mental health workers per 100,000 people is 13, showing the significant shortage of professionals.

When comparing high-income countries with low-income ones, the disparity becomes even more pronounced, with the gap in access to mental health services reaching up to 40-fold in some cases.

With the integration of AI across the healthcare sector, there has been transformative change, from expanding hospital efficiency to widening personalised genetic treatments, AI's impact has been far-reaching.

Spanish startup Therapyside, is a participant in Nvidia's Inception programme for healthcare innovation in addressing the mental health care shortage, through its AI-powered online therapy platform.

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