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<p><strong>Two gray robots stand quietly behind Bernke Papenburg’s desk. “They’re retired,” laughs the program manager at Rijnstate Robotics, who is responsible for implementing robotic solutions at Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem. “We once used them in the pediatric ward, for play and as a distraction. It turned out that the children cried less and looked back more positively on their time in the hospital. But the robots weren’t very smart. You have to figure out everything for them: for example, which doors they’re allowed to go through and which they aren’t. Sometimes we’d find them in the restrooms.” Still, Papenburg can’t stop talking about robotics—especially when combined with artificial intelligence.</strong></p><p><img src="https://cms.aihub-oost.nl/uploads/Rijnstate_Robotics_7d1b293a09.jpg?token=FM8QX56WM-PGdys28ZuLemW4NMADPYqOEHPgmIYMw0M&amp;expires=1777452975" alt="Rijnstate Robotics.jpg" srcset="https://cms.aihub-oost.nl/uploads/thumbnail_Rijnstate_Robotics_7d1b293a09.jpg?token=o2OHmSZUF8EXTId0HQnZXIPwGHmW5q6DGL6FX6h1FC0&amp;expires=1777452975 245w,https://cms.aihub-oost.nl/uploads/small_Rijnstate_Robotics_7d1b293a09.jpg?token=ou27-b7Cn8Bo8Rx0XZChw6rxPHUTAwAdG77c3iKOvlU&amp;expires=1777452975 500w,https://cms.aihub-oost.nl/uploads/medium_Rijnstate_Robotics_7d1b293a09.jpg?token=C_u7BUJb2iK9bVvU-AkI8O4E3PzhUTdYkjFqWC1YZJo&amp;expires=1777452975 750w,https://cms.aihub-oost.nl/uploads/large_Rijnstate_Robotics_7d1b293a09.jpg?token=H5867ujzfgdQo4Ws3KUdCIh2mrURN2B8pqw9Dbsgr7o&amp;expires=1777452975 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="2208" height="1147"></p><p>Originally a chemical engineer with a passion for biomedical technology, she earned her Ph.D. at the University of Twente. She has been working at Rijnstate since 2019, where she was asked to develop a program focused on robotic surgery. “Within two months, I proposed broadening the scope of this topic to include robotics in general. After all, surgery is just one of the possibilities,” Papenburg explains. “I got the green light. Since then, we at Rijnstate Robotics have been working on three key priorities.”</p><h2>Three Key Areas</h2><p>The first focus area has remained robotic surgery. How do you implement it within the medical world, how do you further develop it, and how can you standardize processes? The second focus area revolves around 3D developments. “This involves visualizing human anatomy using 3D models.” The third focus area is called Nursing Robotics and centers on supporting our own staff, particularly nurses. “Rijnstate Robotics was developed with and for all employees within our hospital,” says Papenburg. “So it’s not just about making improvements in the operating rooms, but also about easing the workload on employees.”</p><h2>Humans and Robots Working Together</h2><p>Papenburg prefers to work from a positive-sum robotics perspective. “There’s also such a thing as zero-sum robotics: robots that work independently. In an environment like a hospital, that’s complicated. Here, there’s no product rolling off an assembly line that a robot can pick up. We work with people. A robot can hardly do that on its own. That’s why we adopt a positive-sum approach: humans and robots work together, and robotics supports our staff physically, administratively, or logistically.”</p><p>According to science, robotics revolves around four factors: sensors (to gather information such as sound or temperature), control systems (converting information into a task or response via an algorithm or AI), execution, and autonomy. “As soon as we see that a case involves three of the four components, we take it on,” says Papenburg. “That’s when the chances of a successful solution are very high.”</p><h2>3D Models</h2><p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used within Rijnstate Robotics. “The current robots that meet all four criteria are often not intelligent and can’t actually do much. For example, they can move a strip of medication from A to B, but in a hospital, we need more than that. Intelligence, in other words. I have high hopes for Large Language Models. You record a conversation with a patient and have it summarized. Of course, as a healthcare professional, you also check whether that summary is accurate. This is also interesting for other industries—think of copywriters or minute-takers.”</p><p>Papenburg also discusses the 3D models used in lung surgery—which could also be of interest to the construction industry, for example. “Robotic surgeries require a smaller incision and provide the surgeon with a better view. In the 3D model, the surgeon can also precisely determine their route through the lungs in advance, which is crucial when, for example, a tumor is present. They can also test out certain procedures beforehand. This way, the entire surgery is prepared digitally. Ultimately, the surgeon performs the procedure in real life together with the robot. A major advantage is that, thanks to this 3D model, everyone present in the operating room is working with exactly the same visual representation. Not a mental image they’ve created for themselves, but a visual representation that is clearly visible on a screen.”</p><h2>Autonomy</h2><p>AI plays a key role in the innovations currently being developed at Rijnstate. “With the help of AI, a scan of the spine is converted into a 3D model. The surgeon then places screws within this model during a herniated disc surgery. In the 3D model, you can examine from all angles whether these screws need to be longer, shorter, or wider for proper positioning in the spine. We then perform a follow-up scan right there in the operating room—rather than, say, a day later, which is much more taxing for the patient—to verify that all the screws have been placed correctly.”</p><h2>Not everything works out</h2><p>A disinfection robot donated to Rijnstate by the European Union—which uses UV-C light to destroy cells and fungi—turns out to be too difficult to program with sufficient precision. “If the bed is even a few centimeters out of place, the robot can’t find its way through the room. Moreover, we’re bound by legal regulations; this process hasn’t yet been recognized as an official disinfection method in healthcare. As a result, a professional still has to perform the standard treatment. That essentially negates the robot’s advantage.”</p><p>Still, Rijnstate Robotics brings significant benefits to the hospital. “Last year, we equipped our nurses in most clinical departments with smartphones running an app that accesses the electronic health record. Using the phone’s camera, you scan the patient’s wristband and immediately have all the patient’s information at your fingertips. The next step is to use this to support the medication process. Solutions like this give our nurses more time to see how the patient is really doing. Because a pale face or tears are still best recognized by a human.”</p>

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<p>Two gray robots stand quietly behind Bernke Papenburg’s desk. “They’re retired,” laughs the program manager at Rijnstate Robotics, who is responsible for implementing robotic solutions at Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem. “We once used them in the pediatric ward, for play and as a distraction. It turned out that the children cried less and looked back more positively on their time in the hospital. But the robots weren’t very smart. You have to figure out everything for them: for example, which doors they’re allowed to go through and which ones they aren’t. Sometimes we’d find them in the restrooms.” Still, Papenburg can’t stop talking about robotics—especially when combined with artificial intelligence.</p>