Introduction
In recent years, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, breakthroughs in technology, and the gradual expansion of application fields, the development of the medical industry has received significant attention. Medical robots, as a deepening application of artificial intelligence in the medical field, can effectively assist doctors in a series of medical diagnoses and auxiliary treatments, promoting the development of medical informationization while alleviating the tension of medical resources.
Medical robots belong to the category of special service robots among service robots, referring to semi-autonomous or fully autonomous robots used in hospitals and clinics for medical or auxiliary medical purposes. They can perform service work beneficial to human health but do not include equipment engaged in production activities. They can be specifically divided into four categories: surgical robots, rehabilitation robots, auxiliary robots, and medical service robots.
1. Current Status of the Medical Robot Industry
1. Advantages of Medical Robots
Medical robots are a new interdisciplinary research field that integrates multiple disciplines, including medicine, biomechanics, mechanics, materials science, computer graphics, computer vision, mathematical analysis, and robotics. They are a research hotspot in the field of robotics both domestically and internationally. Medical robots have advantages such as reducing errors, enhancing safety, simulating surgeries, providing comprehensive care, and reducing the need for human resources. Moreover, machine programs can be set, and they possess significant advantages over traditional medical staff in terms of patience, meticulousness, and physiological fatigue.
Medical robots have a wide range of application prospects, currently mainly used for the rescue, transfer, surgery, and rehabilitation of injured patients. Major products include surgical robots, rehabilitation robots, medical service robots, and health service robots. Among them, surgical robots mainly include laparoscopic, orthopedic, and neurosurgical types, accounting for about 16%. With continuous technological development, surgical robots will evolve towards miniaturization, specialization, low cost, intelligence, and automation, leading minimally invasive surgery into a new era.
2. Market Share of Medical Robot Segments
Currently, medical robots can be divided into four major categories: surgical robots, rehabilitation robots, auxiliary robots, and medical service robots. In the Chinese medical robot market, the largest share is held by rehabilitation robots, accounting for 47%, followed by auxiliary robots at 23%, with surgical robots and medical service robots accounting for 17% and 13%, respectively.
3. Registration of Medical Robot Enterprises
According to data from Qichacha, in 2016, there were only 2,761 medical robot-related enterprises. By 2019, the number of registrations surpassed 5,000. In 2020, due to the impact of the pandemic, the popularity of medical robots surged, and the registration of medical robot-related enterprises increased by 158.3% year-on-year, reaching 13,076, a 3.74-fold increase compared to 2016.
4. Most Upstream Components of the Medical Robot Industry are from Foreign Manufacturers
The upstream of the medical robot industry chain consists of raw materials, functional components, and core components, where core components mainly include servo motors, sensors, controllers, and reducers. The midstream consists of the manufacturing of medical robots and system integration, while the downstream includes equipment agents and various levels of medical institutions, with primary application scenarios in surgery, nursing, rehabilitation, patient transfer, and drug transportation. Currently, China is relatively weak in these components, mostly relying on imports, and the entire market is mainly occupied by the “Four Families” from abroad and other large manufacturers. Although China is continuously developing core components and emerging excellent enterprises, the overall competition is still relatively weak.
5. Market Size of Medical Service Robots
In recent years, China has clearly proposed to develop “medical robots and other high-performance diagnostic and therapeutic equipment,” and the market for medical service robots has shown rapid growth. Data shows that in 2020, the market size of medical service robots in China reached 5.94 billion yuan, and it is expected that in 2021, the market size of medical robots in China could reach 7.96 billion yuan, further increasing to 9.71 billion yuan in 2022. Currently, digitalization and intelligence have become important development directions for intelligent medical robots. With the deepening of domestic industry-academia-research cooperation and the pursuit of capital for industrial hotspots, the R&D progress of intelligent medical robot technology is accelerating, and products will extend to more application scenarios.
6. In 2021, Medical Robot Enterprises Raised Over 3 Billion Yuan
In 2021, the domestic surgical robot industry experienced over 30 financing events. Companies like Shurui Technology, Jingfeng Medical, and Changmu Valley completed two rounds of financing within a year, while Liuyedao Robot has completed three rounds of financing in the second half of this year. The total financing amount for the entire sector exceeded 3 billion yuan. The ability to quickly complete multiple rounds of financing in a short period reflects the core competitiveness and investment value of surgical robots. At the same time, with the support of financing, the market size of surgical robots will continue to accelerate.
II. Future Development Trends of Medical Robots
I. Population Aging Accelerates the Development of Medical Robots
In recent years, China’s population aging has entered a period of rapid development ahead of schedule. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, it is expected that by 2050, the elderly population in China will reach 500 million. Facing such a large elderly population, the difficulty of elderly care has become a pressing social issue in China. Currently, medical robots have become the preferred elderly care equipment under the smart elderly care model. In the era of artificial intelligence, rehabilitation robots, surgical robots, and exoskeleton robots will see more widespread application.
II. Policy Promotion Brings Opportunities for Medical Robots
The rapid growth of the domestic medical robot market cannot be separated from policy support. Since 2015, the state has successively issued a series of important policy documents to promote the transformation and upgrading of Chinese manufacturing, with the medical field being a key focus of support for the research and production of medical robots in various policy documents.
III. More Accurate Human-Machine Interaction and Perception Cognition Capabilities of Products
With the in-depth integration of medical robots with cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, brain-machine interaction, 5G networks, AR/VR, and big data, the interaction level between robots, doctors, and patients will be further enhanced, and there will be more precise perception of data, objects, and environments, promoting the intelligent development of medical robots and achieving integrated intelligent medical care.
IV. Emergence of New Types of Robots such as Single-Port Surgery, Nano-Targeting, and Flexible Robots
Single-port laparoscopic surgical robots have smaller incisions and lower costs compared to multi-port laparoscopic robots. They may become new surgical robot products that break the monopoly of the Da Vinci multi-port surgical robot market. North America, the EU, Japan, and South Korea have successively initiated research projects on single-port surgical robots, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University is leading the development of single-port robots globally, which is expected to become a new emerging segment for China’s medical robot industry to achieve a leapfrog development.
Traditional robots assist humans in work, while micro-nano technology can expand human capabilities. If robot technology can be combined with pharmaceutical research technology, micro-nano robots could drive rapid development in the robot industry within the next 50 years. Currently, there are numerous emerging medical robot enterprises in China, but most are OEM factories with relatively weak innovation capabilities. However, if nano-robots can truly be applied in clinical fields and achieve large-scale application, the market size of medical robots may exceed that of automotive robots.
Overall, the current medical robot industry in China is still in its early stage and relatively small in scale. However, from the perspective of application effects, the large-scale use of robots will be a trend in the future medical field. For domestic medical robots to catch up, they must find new paths and build an innovative ecosystem for medical robots.
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Disclaimer
Source: China Robot Network
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