The Effect of Autonomous Mobile Robots on Improving Endoscope Reprocessing Efficiency: A Prospective Comparative Trial.

IF 7.5 1区医学 Q1 GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY

Gastrointestinal endoscopy Pub Date : 2025-10-09 DOI:10.1016/j.gie.2025.09.056

Yuqing Shi, Jianrong Bai, Meiling Zhou, Jun Cheng, Xiaoming Zhu, Xiuli Zuo, Rui Ji

{"title":"The Effect of Autonomous Mobile Robots on Improving Endoscope Reprocessing Efficiency: A Prospective Comparative Trial.","authors":"Yuqing Shi, Jianrong Bai, Meiling Zhou, Jun Cheng, Xiaoming Zhu, Xiuli Zuo, Rui Ji","doi":"10.1016/j.gie.2025.09.056","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background and aims: Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have an increasingly wide range of medical applications. However, their use in endoscopy centers remains underdeveloped. This study evaluated the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of AMR-assisted endoscope delivery.Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, comparative trial. An AMR system was built to distribute and retrieve endoscopes. In a five-day week, one day was randomly selected for manual transportation, while the remaining four days utilized robotic transportation, between 21st May and 21st November 2024. The primary outcome was the manpower saved, measured by full-time equivalent (FTE). Secondary outcomes included endoscope distribution and retrieval time, adverse event rate, cost-effectiveness, and nurses' perceptions of work intensity and job satisfaction.Results: A total of 5,393 manual and 21,048 AMR-assisted endoscope deliveries in outpatient endoscope rooms were included in the study. The implementation of eight AMRs reduced endoscope transport workload by 2.18 FTE. The mean distribution time (112.07±33.19 vs. 168.48±69.40 seconds; P<0.001) and retrieval time (69.96±21.08 vs. 91.32±24.89 seconds; P<0.001) was significantly shorter in the AMR-assisted group compared with the manual-delivery group. The delivery failure rate in the AMR-assisted group was 0.15% and no unsuccessful delivery occurred in the manual group. The return on investment (ROI) for the robotic system is approximately 12.8%. Nurses reported lower work intensity and higher satisfaction with the use of AMRs.Conclusions: AMR-assisted endoscope delivery has advantages over manual delivery in efficiency improvement, offering a novel solution for the management of endoscopy centers.","PeriodicalId":12542,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal endoscopy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gastrointestinal endoscopy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gie.2025.09.056","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and aims: Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have an increasingly wide range of medical applications. However, their use in endoscopy centers remains underdeveloped. This study evaluated the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of AMR-assisted endoscope delivery.

Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, comparative trial. An AMR system was built to distribute and retrieve endoscopes. In a five-day week, one day was randomly selected for manual transportation, while the remaining four days utilized robotic transportation, between 21st May and 21st November 2024. The primary outcome was the manpower saved, measured by full-time equivalent (FTE). Secondary outcomes included endoscope distribution and retrieval time, adverse event rate, cost-effectiveness, and nurses' perceptions of work intensity and job satisfaction.

Results: A total of 5,393 manual and 21,048 AMR-assisted endoscope deliveries in outpatient endoscope rooms were included in the study. The implementation of eight AMRs reduced endoscope transport workload by 2.18 FTE. The mean distribution time (112.07±33.19 vs. 168.48±69.40 seconds; P<0.001) and retrieval time (69.96±21.08 vs. 91.32±24.89 seconds; P<0.001) was significantly shorter in the AMR-assisted group compared with the manual-delivery group. The delivery failure rate in the AMR-assisted group was 0.15% and no unsuccessful delivery occurred in the manual group. The return on investment (ROI) for the robotic system is approximately 12.8%. Nurses reported lower work intensity and higher satisfaction with the use of AMRs.

Conclusions: AMR-assisted endoscope delivery has advantages over manual delivery in efficiency improvement, offering a novel solution for the management of endoscopy centers.

查看原文本刊更多论文

自主移动机器人对提高内窥镜再加工效率的影响：一项前瞻性比较试验。

背景与目的：自主移动机器人（Autonomous mobile robots, AMRs）在医疗领域的应用越来越广泛。然而，它们在内窥镜中心的应用仍然不发达。本研究评估了amr辅助内窥镜输送的效率和成本效益。方法：这是一项单中心、前瞻性、比较试验。建立了一个AMR系统来分发和检索内窥镜。在2024年5月21日至11月21日的五天工作周中，随机选择一天进行人工运输，其余四天使用机器人运输。主要结果是节省的人力，以全职当量（FTE）衡量。次要结局包括内窥镜分布和取出时间、不良事件发生率、成本-效果、护士对工作强度和工作满意度的感知。结果：本研究共纳入门诊内窥镜室5393例手工分娩和21048例amr辅助内窥镜分娩。8个amr的实施减少了2.18 FTE的内窥镜运输工作量。平均分配时间（112.07±33.19 vs. 168.48±69.40 s） p结论：amr辅助内镜输送比人工输送效率更高，为内镜中心的管理提供了一种新的解决方案。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Gastrointestinal endoscopy 医学-胃肠肝病学

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

7.80%

发文量

1441

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Gastrointestinal Endoscopy is a journal publishing original, peer-reviewed articles on endoscopic procedures for studying, diagnosing, and treating digestive diseases. It covers outcomes research, prospective studies, and controlled trials of new endoscopic instruments and treatment methods. The online features include full-text articles, video and audio clips, and MEDLINE links. The journal serves as an international forum for the latest developments in the specialty, offering challenging reports from authorities worldwide. It also publishes abstracts of significant articles from other clinical publications, accompanied by expert commentaries.