The Robot Report

ABB Opens Global Research Hub for Robotics at Texas Medical Center

Organization: ABB
Country: Switzerland
Website: www.new.abb.com
Year Founded: 1988
Number of Employees: 144,000

ABB’s cobots will be used to explore development of non-surgical medical robots.

Description:
ABB’s healthcare research center opened in October 2019 at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. The facility is using ABB’s collaborative robots to explore the development of non-surgical medical robotics systems, including logistics and next-generation automated laboratory technologies. 

This is ABB’s first dedicated healthcare research center. A 20-strong team from ABB Robotics will work in the research facility, which includes an automation laboratory and robot training facilities, as well as meeting spaces for co-developing solutions with innovation partners.

Analysis:
A key element of ABB’s long-term growth strategy is to continue to invest and innovate in underserved robotics sectors. ABB’s healthcare research center could fuel its collaborative robotics business by bringing its automation expertise to new areas such as healthcare.


Throughout the world, the healthcare sector is struggling from the combined pressures of skyrocketing costs, the need to improve the quality of services and results, rapidly aging populations, and a shortage of qualified workers.


Many highly skilled medical workers also spend a large part of their days doing repetitive and low-value tasks. ABB said its analysis showed that repetitive tasks could be completed up to 50% faster with automation in comparison with current manual processes. ABB estimated that by 2025, more than 60,000 non-surgical medical robots are expected to be working in hospitals. - Steve Crowe



 
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