The rising robotics investment in healthcare acts as a driving force behind the growth of service robots in the healthcare

In 2020, service robots in healthcare were valued at US$4.85 billion and are proactively expected to rise to US$3.2 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 26.2% during the forecast period. The industry is growing multi-fold owing to the rising investment in the development of healthcare infrastructure, focus toward control of hospital-acquired infections, and deployment of healthcare service robots during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for the development of service robots in the healthcare sector in an attempt to overcome the difficulties and hardships caused by this virus. The use of service robots is advantageous as they not only prevent the spread of infection, and reduce human error but they also allow front-line staff to reduce direct contact, focusing their attention on higher priority tasks and creating separation from direct exposure to infection. This paper presents a review of various types of robotic technologies and their uses in the healthcare sector.

The healthcare service domain is also currently exploring the potential of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and sensors among others into robotic systems. Hence, it is anticipated that these trends will have a significant impact on the healthcare service robots market in the next five years, and the market will grow multi-fold.

The global healthcare service robots market is dominated by a plethora of robotic companies that can be categorized as manufacturers of robotic systems, and industrial robots such as collaborative robots or cobots. Companies are continuously collaborating with research and medical institutions to expand the service robot space.

In the last five years, the market witnessed approximately 59 notable key developments. These included 33 product launches, and enhancements 20 synergistic activities, 2 mergers, and acquisitions, 4 funding activities, among others. Most of the companies are significantly undertaking new product development to not only expand their global footprint and offerings in a bid to consolidate the marketplace. Therefore, new offerings constitute the dominant contributors' strategies.