High-tech healing: Limerick hospital and patients embrace robotic arm

IN RECENT weeks we’ve been hearing how artificial intelligence – AI – is set to upend working life as we know it.

We’ve been warned that disruption is coming, and Ireland had better be ready. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has struck a cautious note, urging that we remain “mindful” of its far-reaching implications.

And while few of us are without some unease about how far technology in general might go – and what roles it may change or even eliminate – we should remember that innovation doesn’t only cause upheaval. It can also improve lives in very real and important ways.

At St John’s Hospital in the city, a new robotic-assisted surgery programme was launched recently. The hospital is now the first Model 2 facility in Ireland to offer such procedures to public patients.

Twelve patients have already benefited. Among them is Clare man Barry Kelly, who was back on his feet – and back refereeing – within weeks of his procedure. He was home the same day, bed freed up, recovery shortened. In a city where our health system is often known for waiting lists and overcrowding, this is a good news story.

The Versius system, which enhances a surgeon’s precision by mimicking the movement of the human arm, may sound like something from science fiction. But it is not. It is here in Limerick, supported by the JP McManus Pro-Am 2022. Importantly, this is technology assisting skilled professionals, not replacing them.

The broader AI wave will undoubtedly test Ireland in the years ahead. But the story of technology is rarely all negative. It is also a story of possibility and of progress that, at its best, benefits us all be it in healthcare, in research, or in our everyday quality of life.

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