{"id":410141,"date":"2022-11-28T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=410141"},"modified":"2022-11-28T06:30:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T05:30:00","slug":"fully-automated-robot-diagnoses-arthritis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/fully-automated-robot-diagnoses-arthritis\/","title":{"rendered":"Fully automated robot diagnoses arthritis\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Why we write on this topic:<\/summary>

As the world’s ageing population is steadily getting older, there is a greater need for healthcare. At the same time, hospitals are short of specialists. Robots can help with this. <\/p><\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

Pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints are all symptoms associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis<\/em> \u2013 RA. It is a chronic disease that causes inflammation, especially in smaller joints. Early detection prevents permanent joint damage, discomfort, as well as the loss of accessibility to the labor market. RA occurs at all ages, usually starting in the 25 to 45 years old age group. Due to a severe shortage of rheumatologists – RA specialists – it can take months to get an appointment, leaving patients in discomfort and at risk of permanent damage to their joints. An automated robot is lending a hand to address this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RoPCA<\/a> \u2013 a spin-off company from the University of South Denmark<\/a> (SDU) and Odense University Hospital<\/a> (OUH) in Denmark \u2013 has developed <\/em>ARTHUR, the first fully automated robot for scanning arthritis. It performs an ultrasound test in 15 minutes, and by providing audio and written instructions, guides the patient during the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Doing something together’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The word ARTHUR is a combination of the words Arthritis, Ultrasound<\/em>, and Robot<\/em>. It is the result of three years of research and development. RoPCA <\/em>\u2013 which stands for Robotic Platform for Clinical Automation<\/em> \u2013 was founded in 2019, after receiving a grant from Energi Fyn<\/a> \u2013 a Danish energy company. Then five private investors also joined the venture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt all started when I met professor Thiusius Rajeeth Savarimuthu, the other co-founder, who teaches robotics at SDU.  Our kids went to the same school, so we got to know each other that way,\u201d recalls Dr. S\u00f8ren Andreas Just, cofounder of RoPCA and clinical researcher at OUH. \u201cI was looking at arthritis all day, he was making robots, so we thought of doing something together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising figures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to recent research, RA affects about 0.24 to 1 percent of the population, where women are twice as much at risk. A World Health Organization (WHO) document from 2019 says there will be 2.1 billion people aged 60 and older by 2050, up from just under 1 billion in 2017. Consequently, the number of people with RA is also set to increase. ARTHUR can help now, since it has received CE certification – Conformit\u00e8 Europeenne<\/em>, or European Conformity<\/em> – and is now ready to be used in hospitals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first robot in the world to do so,\u201d stresses Just. “The waiting lists are too long so that patients are left suffering in pain for months. So, we thought about whether arthroscopy and grading disease activity in RA could be automated.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"S\u00f8ren
\u00a9 RoPCA<\/figcaption><\/figure>

S\u00f8ren Andreas Just<\/h3>

RoPCA’s co-founder<\/h4>

He works as a clinical researcher at Odense University Hospital, Denmark. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Robot detects arthritis in 15 minutes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sitting on a chair next to the robot, the user places a hand on the device’s touchscreen. A barcode reader identifies the patient by their health insurance card. All the while, the robot keeps providing information both through the screen and its voice – even including how to use the gel on the hand. Using its camera, ARTHUR takes an initial scan to identify the hand and where the joints are. After that, the ultrasound scan starts. The robotic arm examines 11 joints on each hand, one at a time. Once the scan is completed, ARTHUR analyzes each image for signs of arthritis and measures its prevalence, then sends a report to the doctor and stores it in the patient’s electronic health file. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the process, algorithms in ARTHUR check whether the scans have the quality they need to have. The robot is able to recognize if certain features are not adequately depicted on the ultrasound image of the joint. In that case, the robot asks the patient to take another scan of that joint,” explains Johannes Schaeferhoff, CEO of RoPCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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