Robotics technology for pain treatment and management: A review

Higgins, Angela; Llewellyn, Alison; Dures, Emma; Caleb-Solly, Praminda

Abstract

The use of robots for pain management is a new and active research field. The aim of this scoping review is to identify current research, which groups or conditions are being targeted for treatment, which devices are being used, and how effective they have been. Using the PRISMA protocol for scoping reviews, papers were identified using university libraries, Google scholar and additional databases relating to healthcare or engineering including AMED, NICE Evidence, and OTSeeker. Included were articles involved user trials of a robot or device to manage or alleviate pain, with a quantitative measure of pain or pain anxiety. 17 articles were analysed, of which 12 reported statistically significant improvement of pain measures. The scope and trial design of these articles varied widely. Most devices used were socially assistive robots, with others using robots for physical therapy. Most robots were used for treatment of procedural pain. Others addressed chronic pain, particularly in people with dementia. A variety of established pain measurement techniques were used to quantify difference in perceived pain or pain anxiety. There may be benefits to using some robotic technologies to manage pain for both acute and chronic pain conditions, within certain populations. However, this research field is still new, and more studies are required to demonstrate efficacy. Future studies should look to use methodologies from clinical trials to improve the quality of their results.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (Published)
• Conference Name: 14th International Conference, ICSR 2022, Florence, Italy, December 13–16, 2022
• Start Date: Dec 13, 2022
• End Date: Dec 16, 2022
• Acceptance Date: Oct 14, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Feb 1, 2023
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 24, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 2, 2025
• Publisher: Springer
• Pages: 534-545
• Series Title: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Series Number: LNAI, 13817
• Series ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• Book Title: Social Robotics: 14th International Conference, ICSR 2022, Florence, Italy, December 13–16, 2022, Proceedings, Part I
• Chapter Number: 47
• ISBN: 9783031246661
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24667-8_47
• Keywords: Pain; Pain management; Robotics; Socially assistive robots
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10474285
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-24667-8_47
• Related Public URLs: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-24667-8; ; https://www.springer.com/series/558; ; https://www.icsr2022.it/