Pediatric stereo-electroencephalography: effects of robot assistance and other variables on seizure outcome and complications

OBJECTIVE The safety of stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) has been investigated; however, most studies have not differentiated pediatric and adult populations, which have different anatomy and physiology. The purpose of this study was to assess SEEG safety in the pediatric setting, focusing on surgical complications and the identification of patient and surgical risk factors, if any. The authors also aimed to determine whether robot assistance in SEEG was associated with a change in practice, surgical parameters, and clinical outcomes. METHODS The authors retrospectively studied all SEEG cases performed in their department from December 2014 to March 2020. They analyzed both demographic and surgical variables and noted the types of surgery-related complications and their management. They also studied the clinical outcomes of a subset of the patients in relation to robot-assisted and non–robot-assisted SEEG. RESULTS Sixty-three children had undergone 64 SEEG procedures. Girls were on average 3 years younger than the boys (mean age 11.1 vs 14.1 years, p < 0.01). The overall complication rate was 6.3%, and the complication rate for patients with left-sided electrodes was higher than that for patients with right-sided electrodes (11.1% vs 3.3%), although the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. The duration of recording was positively correlated to the number of implanted electrodes (r = 0.296, p < 0.05). Robot assistance was associated with a higher number of implanted electrodes (mean 12.6 vs 7.6 electrodes, p < 0.0001). Robot-assisted implantations were more accurate, with a mean error of 1.51 mm at the target compared to 2.98 mm in nonrobot implantations (p < 0.001). Clinical outcomes were assessed in the first 32 patients treated (16 in the nonrobot group and 16 in the robot group), 23 of whom proceeded to further resective surgery. The children who had undergone robot-assisted SEEG had better eventual seizure control following subsequent epilepsy surgery. Of the children who had undergone resective epilepsy surgery, 42% (5/12) in the nonrobot group and 82% (9/11) in the robot group obtained an Engel class IA outcome at 1 year (χ2 = 3.885, p = 0.049). Based on Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the robot group had a higher seizure-free rate than the nonrobot group at 30 months postoperation (7/11 vs 2/12, p = 0.063). Two complications, whose causes were attributed to the implantation and head-bandaging steps, required surgical intervention. All complications were either transient or reversible. CONCLUSIONS This is the largest single-center, exclusively pediatric SEEG series that includes robot assistance so far. SEEG complications are uncommon and usually transient or treatable. Robot assistance enabled implantation of more electrodes and improved epilepsy surgery outcomes, as compared to those in the non–robot-assisted cases.

Pivotal Response Treatment with and without robot-assistance for children with autism: a randomized controlled trial

Pivotal response treatment (PRT) is a promising intervention focused on improving social communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since robots potentially appeal to children with ASD and may contribute to their motivation for social interaction, this exploratory randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted comparing PRT (PRT and robot-assisted PRT) with treatment-as-usual (TAU). Seventy-three children (PRT: n = 25; PRT + robot: n = 25; TAU: n = 23) with ASD, aged 3–8 years were assessed at baseline, after 10 and 20 weeks of intervention, and at 3-month follow-up. There were no significant group differences on parent- and teacher-rated general social-communicative skills and blindly rated global functioning directly after treatment. However, at follow-up largest gains were observed in robot-assisted PRT compared to other groups. These results suggest that robot-assistance may contribute to intervention efficacy for children with ASD when using game scenarios for robot-child interaction during multiple sessions combined with motivational components of PRT. This trial is registered at https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/4487; NL4487/NTR4712 (2014-08-01).

Attitudes of the elderly living independently towards the use of robots to assist with activities of daily living

BACKGROUND: Robots are gaining attention as a potential solution to aging. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore the attitude of robot assistance in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) among elderly people living independently. METHODS: The one-on-one interview, buddy robot video and questionnaire survey were used to analyze mean, median, range, and the test results of non-parametric statistical methods such as Wilcoxon sign-rank test statistic and one-sample Wilcoxon sign-rank test statistic, so as to explore the attitude of the elderly living independently towards robot-assisted ADLs and the acceptance of the use of robots in 32 ADLs. RESULTS: The results showed that there were significant differences in the attitudes, usability and ease of use of elderly people towards robot assistance before and after watching the Buddy Robot video and they had a more positive attitude after watching the video. According to the results, the elderly was more receptive to the use of robots in activities such as “reminding to carry objects” and “reminding to take medicine”, while they were less receptive to the use of robots in the group or private activities such as “playing mahjong” and “taking a bath”. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the elderly had a positive attitude towards the use of robot-assisted ADLs, and there were differences in the acceptance of robot-assisted ADLs. The results are helpful to understand the assistance needs and attitudes of the elderly, and provide a reference for the design of assistive robots that meet user needs, and ultimately improve the ability of the elderly to live independently at home.

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF A TERRAIN ROBOT FOR MINING ASSISTANCE AND DATA ACQUISITION

The robot assistance in human’s activities of resource developing has been brought efficient applications, especially in the condition of severe and harmful environment. Inspired by the difficulties behind the above specification requirements as well as realizing the importance and applicable capacity of this field, our paper presents the development of a terrain robot for mining support and data collection. The robot has been designed through the analysis of kinematic and dynamic properties of the terrain robot. Based on the requirements of the robot’s power and the load support, the solution of mechanism, actuator for the robot have been drawn. As a contribution to terrain robotic field, we present an original prototype of Mining Assistance Terrain Robot (MATRob). During development of the MATRob, a basically control design has been developed to increase the ability of integration, and ensure real-time control performance besides a custom-built control panel for users. The robot’s efficiency has been evaluated through several simulation training tests on obstacle overcome, material determination, picture /video captures and data collection.

ROBOTIC SURGERY HAS PROVEN ITSELF AS AN INDISPENSABLE EXTENSION OF GENITOURINARY SURGERIES--- A REVIEW ARTICLE

Robotic surgery evolved in an era of technically cumbersome laparoscopic surgery with its associated steep learning curve. The difficulty faced by laparoscopic surgeons in negotiating this learning curve led to the evolution of robotics. The real benefits of robotic surgery stem from the enhanced surgical precision, miniaturization of the incision, diminished blood loss, reduced pain, and more rapid convalescence. Other advantages of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery are the possibility of articulation beyond the normal limits of the human wrist and three-dimensional stereoscopic vision with higher magnification. The advantages of robot assistance with regard to many ablative and reconstructive uro-surgical procedures are too numerous for urologists to ignore, and some of these are discussed later in this review. However, the long-term benefits of robotic assistance in urological laparoscopic surgery (other than in robot-assisted radical prostatectomy) and the associated cost utility issues remain to be ascertained.

THE ATTITUDE OF THE ELDERLY TOWARDS ROBOT ASSISTED DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES

This article attempted to understand the attitude of the elderly to the use of robots to assist in activities of daily living (ADLs). The study first learned about major items of ADLs of elderly people living independently through one-on-one interviews, and then let the seniors fill in the attitude questionnaire and the acceptance questionnaire after watching the robot video. The results showed that the mean scores of seniors in the attitude questionnaire were greater than 3 (3 stands for neutral), and they highly accept the use of robots to assist ADLs such as reminding people to carry items, reminding to take medicine, reminding important things, reminding the location of items, cleaning and looking for things. The results suggested that seniors hold an open attitude towards the use of robot assistance. The research results can provide an understanding on the user's assistance needs and attitudes, as well as reference for the design of the robot, especially the functional design, ultimately improving the ability of the elderly to live independently and improve their quality of life.

Safety as Bad Cop of Physical Assistance Systems?

Constantly increasing variety of products and customer-specific requirements lead to more complex assembly lines in the shop floors. These new demands require novel systems and technologies such as flexible assembly lines, track and trace systems or assistive systems. In this paper, supporting systems on the physical level are analyzed and in particular robot assistance systems with respect to their safety aspects are discussed. Moreover, the current standards and guidelines in the field of robot safety and their development focus are presented. It is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of what role safety actually plays with assistance systems and how ongoing research may affect it in future.