New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
washingtonpost.com
New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
1–10 of 26 posts
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#2so does the machine also open the patients airway and safely insert the breathing tube ?
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#3so does the machine also open the patients airway and safely insert the breathing tube ?
Perhaps that could be done by one of the many other people there.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#4The technology that goes into a self driving car is possibly far more sophisticated than this new machine. Anesthesiologists must have lobbied hard to stop this machine from a more wide spread usage. However the writing on the wall is clear. Machines in many cases are better than Doctors and they will continue to become better more rapidly than say Doctors with their experience. I wish US FDA gives a chance to these innovations and slowly tackle the rising healthcare costs.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#5"But now, after the procedure, she said she saw a potential upside, too: There was no human error, either."
I knew it. Programmers are not human.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#6The technology that goes into a self driving car is possibly far more sophisticated than this new machine. Anesthesiologists must have lobbied hard to stop this machine from a more wide spread usage. However the writing on the wall is clear. Machines in many cases are better than Doctors and they will continue to become better more rapidly than say Doctors with their experience. I wish US FDA gives a chance to these…
Passenger aircraft can take off, fly to their destination, and land all on their own, but it hasn't removed pilots from their jobs. Automation doesn't catch all edge-cases, and in life-or-death situations, there's always going to be human oversight.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#7From the name, I used to think that anesthesiologists just "put people to sleep" or stopped patient's pain.
My view is now different. Their job (for what I'm told) is also to keep people alive and stable. They administer drugs and employ machines and techniques to control body temperature, blood pressure, oxygen levels, heart rate and others. Sometimes it's a simple colonoscopy (like in the article), but other times they are treating people who just had a stroke or a bad accident. They have to react in seconds to the response they SEE on the patient (data coming from machines, but also body movement, change in skin color, eye movement, bleeding, and many subtle changes), connecting knowledge and years of experience. It's also an art to be able to put tubes and needles on all kinds of "strangely" shaped bodies (specially in old people).
A more precise title would be "new machine could one day replace some anesthesiologists". I think it's going to take a while before we can trust machines to keep us alive during emergencies and operations.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#8As someone who has "been under" a few times, I am torn on this. I like the idea of less errors due to a computer, but there is something comforting about knowing that a human expert is "at the wheel".
I know it is irrational, but I feel similar about airplanes and cars -- much more comfortable when you know there is a human at the helm.
Maybe it is the mortal peril part of the equation.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#9so does the machine also open the patients airway and safely insert the breathing tube ?
Or answer codes, sign out medication, or take the patient their consent forms? It's cool, but no replacement for a person.
Re: New machine could one day replace anesthesiologists
#10so does the machine also open the patients airway and safely insert the breathing tube ?
Or answer codes, sign out medication, or take the patient their consent forms? It's cool, but no replacement for a person.
Everything you said will soon be done by a machine. Don't like it? Then go to a lower ranking doctor who doesn't use this technology.