Robotics in Healthcare: Opportunities and Ethical Challenges

Background and Aims: In recent years, human-robot interaction has garnered significant interest in healthcare. Robots offer potential benefits, such as accelerating patient rehabilitation, enhancing well-being, and improving quality of life. However, their integration into healthcare raises ethical concerns, including privacy, accountability, and patient rights. This review examines the applications of robotics in healthcare, highlighting their benefits and ethical challenges to inform future implementation strategies. Methods: This narrative review was conducted to explore the role of robotics in healthcare. A comprehensive literature search was performed in databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, using keywords such as “robotics in healthcare,” “human-robot interaction,” “ethical issues in robotics,” and “assistive robots.” Articles published between ۲۰۱۰ and ۲۰۲۵ were included to capture recent developments. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies addressing robotic applications in patient care, rehabilitation, and eldercare, as well as ethical implications. Non-healthcare-focused studies were excluded. From ۱۰۰ identified articles, ۲۰ relevant studies were selected after deduplication and screening. Data were analyzed thematically to categorize benefits and ethical concerns. Results: Robots in healthcare demonstrate significant benefits, including supporting elderly care, assisting mobility-impaired individuals, reminding patients of medication schedules, and facilitating remote care to connect hospitals with homes. They enhance rehabilitation and improve patient independence. However, ethical challenges are notable. Studies highlight concerns such as privacy violations, lack of accountability for errors, limited empathy, psychological harm, deception, restricted access, and inadequate data security. These issues underscore the need for robust ethical frameworks to ensure patient safety and trust. Conclusion: The growing interest in robotics in healthcare reflects their transformative potential. However, ethical challenges necessitate further research to establish legal and ethical guidelines that maximize benefits while safeguarding patient rights and values. Future studies should focus on developing strategies for effective and ethical robot integration in healthcare systems, ensuring equitable access and patient-centered care.

کلیدواژه ها:

Robotics ، Ethics ، Patient-Centered Care