Area of Impact: Politics/Health

Identify two input devices that could allow details of the soldiers medical condition to be determined and communicated electronically to the doctor. (2 marks)

One input device that could allow the medical condition of the soldier to be determined would be a portable X-ray machine that would be able to determine if the soldier has any broken bones or other problems, while a second input device could be a camera, in order to show the surgeon the state of the soldier visually. These would be in addition to devices monitoring his blood pressure, temperature and pulse.

Describe two factors that influence the reliability of sending information between the robot in the battlefield and the surgeon. (4 marks)

One factor that may have an influence on the reliability of sending the information would be the state of the transmitter on the robot. If it's all shot up, the robot's ability to communicate is severely hampered, and the surgeon won't be able to do what is required of him, as his commands may not get through, or only partially get through, endangering the life of the human. A second factor would be the willingness of the enemy to allow radio communications, when it can easily jam them, which could prevent the robot from receiving any of the surgeon's commands.

Explain why governments may fund the development of remotely controlled robots of this type for non military missions. (4 marks)


Governments may fund the development of these robots because of their potential usefulness in a number of other areas. One of the areas they seem most suited for is search and rescue, where the ability of a robot to perform remote medical procedures on trapped people may have an enormous impact on the survivability of people in various disaster areas. A second reason may be the fact that they can be utilized on space missions, where you would no longer need to taake medical officer along to determine the viability and health of the crew.

A hospital is planning to implement remotely controlled robots in local health clinics. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of doing this. (10 marks)


An advantage of installing these remotely controlled robots is greater convience for the patients, as they no longer have to travel to the hospital in order to get surgery. They need only go to their local clinic, rather than having to travel all the way to the hospital in order to get the surgery. Furthermore there is the consideration that there is no human to get in the way. There is a drastically smaller chance of human error costing a life, and the overall survival rate of hospitals would likely increase as a result. On the other hand, there is the disadvantage that a computer error would cost the life of a patient. They are rarer than human errors, but they do still occur. Another disadvantage would be the uncomfortability of the patient, who would be put through additional stress, which could have an adverse affect on thier survival.