2025 Healthcare Robotics Summit Recap: HFES International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care

By Suruchi Batra and Merrick Kossack

The 2025 International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care was held in Toronto and included upwards of 700 attendees across the 4-day program, including a day specifically dedicated to the second annual Healthcare Robotics Summit.

The summit was a huge success, bringing together human factors practitioners, researchers, students and clinicians in a collaborative environment to discuss recent trends in healthcare robotics. Highlights included discussions of the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for healthcare robotics, specifically as it applies to healthcare practitioner training; the rapid pace of technology advancements; and considerations for indirect users (e.g., surgical techs, circulating nurses, anesthesiologists) in the operating room.

Following is a general overview of some of the topics and takeaways we should consider as we apply human factors to the world of healthcare robotics.

Key trends and takeaways

In addition to various presentations and panel discussions, the summit included a “town hall” session that facilitated small-group discussions amongst the attendees. The groups included human factors engineers, academics and clinicians. The groups were asked to conjecture where healthcare robotics will be evolving over the next 5 years given the topics discussed during the summit as well as their experiences. Participants considered subjects pertaining to the Technology and Landscape (i.e., trends) of robotics. Interestingly, major discussion points were similar across all groups, highlighting the common goals of the varied individuals. These included responsible AI integration into surgical procedures, defining and understanding true system users and use environment characteristics and standardizing training and adaptation, notably with surgical robotics. Unsurprisingly, AI and technology were hot topics during the conference.

Some of the discussion focused on significant breakthroughs in technology, such as:

• The expansion of life-saving technology to low- and middle-income countries and/or rural areas
• The potential of technology to perform and/or support procedures that were previously unattainable by humans alone
• The opportunity to counteract staffing shortages with robotic assistants

Other topics were more cautionary, expressing concern against repercussions of rapid technological development, such as:

• The potential for developing a critical dependency on technology that results in an inability to do procedures the “old fashioned way”
• The inequality in implementation of standardized training programs globally
• The repercussions of systems designed for highly regulated environments (e.g., USA, EU) reaching highly unregulated environments (e.g., low- and middle-income countries)

Generally, the sentiment was consistent throughout: how can we keep up with the pace of accelerating technological development, guarantee access to these advanced healthcare technologies and ensure our systems continue to be safe and effective? Attendees agreed that the way to do so is to keep these concerns in mind and account for them during system development and maintain pace with advancing technologies.

Specific considerations and action items

The symposium overall was a fantastic avenue to share new breakthroughs in research and discuss key trends in the field. The presentations raised interesting questions such as:

• Are there long-term ergonomic repercussions for users of robotic-assisted surgical devices? For example, are there ergonomic benefits and costs related to surgeon posture, handle grip, or foot position relative to pedals? What about those who support the systems at the tableside and are now required to work around, over, and/or through the systems? Manufacturers generally take system wear and tear into consideration during the development process, but should we also consider user wear and tear over time?
   
• Should robotics be a standardized part of medical student training curriculum or should robotic surgery be a specialty that surgeons must pursue beyond a standardized training program? On one hand, robotics has become an integral part of certain types of procedures. On the other hand, does such standardization beyond specialization develop too much system dependency in students?
   
• Is there a point at which “manual” (i.e., non-robotic) surgery will become obsolete?  As a point of comparison, many of today’s new drivers only learn how to operate a vehicle with an automatic transmission. Could they drive an automobile that has a manual transmission? Could they do so in an emergency? Are we at risk of a similar mentality with robotics? Are these systems reliable enough so that surgeons need only know how to operate with them as opposed to without them? What happens in the case of an emergency (e.g., loss of power to the robotic system)?
   
• Should anesthesiologists and anesthesia-related equipment, tools, and procedures play a more significant role during the product development and usability testing process? One practicing anesthesiologist highlighted concerns related to safety when competing with robotic systems for space and patient access in operating rooms.
   
• How can we combat widespread staffing shortages? Why do these shortages exist? Is there an opportunity to develop reliable robotic assistants to free up staff for more essential tasks? How could shifting from a surgeon-centric to full-OR team-centric mentality impact system design and perhaps help alleviate such issues?
   
• And what about robotic systems in the home environment? How can these be developed to offer safe and reliable assistance to those with sensory and/or cognitive limitations?

While there are huge opportunities for robotics to improve healthcare globally, there are also huge implications for pursuing these opportunities without considering these questions and concerns. The good news is that the conversations are ongoing, bringing together many from industry, academia and healthcare. And they all have the shared goal to confirm that the healthcare robotic systems being developed are not only capable of delivering the right treatment for patients but that the users benefit from their implementation as well.

Contact our team to learn more about the key trends in healthcare robotics and how our team is working to help these trends contribute to positive growth while maintaining strong standards for safety and effectiveness.

Suruchi Batra is a Senior Human Factors Specialist and Merrick Kossack is a Senior Research Director at Emergo by UL.