Information Security in Medical Robotics: A Survey on the Level of Training, Awareness and Use of the Physiotherapist

Abstract

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important aspect to investigate for the adoption and use of care robots, in term of both patients’ safety, and the availability, integrity and privacy of their data. This study focuses on opinions about cybersecurity relevance and related skills for physiotherapists involved in rehabilitation and assistance thanks to the aid of robotics. The goal was to investigate the awareness among insiders about some facets of cybersecurity concerning human–robot interactions. We designed an electronic questionnaire and submitted it to a relevant sample of physiotherapists. The questionnaire allowed us to collect data related to: (i) use of robots and its relationship with cybersecurity in the context of physiotherapy; (ii) training in cybersecurity and robotics for the insiders; (iii) insiders’ self-assessment on cybersecurity and robotics in some usage scenarios, and (iv) their experiences of cyber-attacks in this area and proposals for improvement. Besides contributing some specific statistics, the study highlights the importance of both acculturation processes in this field and monitoring initiatives based on surveys. The study exposes direct suggestions for continuation of these types of investigations in the context of scientific societies operating in the rehabilitation and assistance robotics. The study also shows the need to stimulate similar initiatives in other sectors of medical robotics (robotic surgery, care and socially assistive robots, rehabilitation systems, training for health and care workers) involving insiders.

Artificial intelligence and digital medicine for integrated home care services in Italy: Opportunities and limits

“…Intelligent assistive technologies (IAT) have made great strides; until recently, the areas of rehabilitation/inclusive intervention were usually limited to incontinence aids, active mobilization systems (wheelchairs and lifts), positioning aids (self-elevating armchairs) and aids for the prevention of pressure sores (water mattresses and pillows or the more innovative air mattresses with interchangeable elements). However, this does not rule out the possibility of new critical issues related to: the safety and reproducibility of the software; ethical-legal problems linked to the protection of the privacy of the data subject; and, above all, civil liability for any damage caused by the manufacturer and/or programmer ( 36 , 37 ): if an AI system fails to deliver a rehabilitation treatment, or worse still, harms the patient, who is liable? The developer?…”

Cybersecurity in health sector: a systematic review of the literature

“…On the other hand, the authors mention that medical device data sheets (MDIDS) document and characterize medical device data, highlighting it as an important technology that supports customer safety and innovation in the medical field, launching it as the next generation of the IoT [15]. The authors mention that artificial intelligence, wireless technology, cloud networking, and robotics are emerging technologies such as machine learning, the authors centralize these technologies to aid in symptom detection and quarantine tracking [16]- [18]. Among other technologies the authors mention NanoThing which are tiny bio-electrical devices that can be used in health monitoring and drug delivery [19].…”