KR 6 Agilus makes an impression on patients

Hygiene is a top priority in medical facilities such as hospitals and doctors' surgeries. Accordingly, employees regularly have to spend many hours sterilizing instruments - as was the case at Dr Castagno's dental practice in Valsesia in northern Italy. "The assistant had to take care of sterilizing the tools and drills, which took more than six hours every day," explains Dr Castagno. Then there was the bulky protective clothing, the monotonous procedure and the hours spent handling disinfectant chemicals. "So the problem was by no means secondary."

From dentist to technological innovator

In August 2018, Dr. Castagno had the idea of automating this process in order to relieve the staff and invest the time gained in treating patients. The dentist began to research automation and robotics online. Eventually, he met Marco Galvan, who had acquired a great deal of industry expertise. Together they developed a project to automate the cleaning of medical instruments. The two founded the start-up Robota. "Friends and family supported our vision and helped us build the first real prototype," says Dr. Castagno. The prototype took shape and also aroused the interest of other dentists. The idea of turning it into a marketable product gained momentum. And so the dentist turned to Kuka.

Robot is also in use after work

Today, patients entering the dental practice in Valsesia can admire the robot cell in action behind the reception desk. In a glazed island, a Kuka robot tirelessly juggles with dental instruments.

Operation of the compact sterilization cell begins with the manual loading of the machine with the used instruments. The instruments are then automatically decontaminated, rinsed, disinfected by chemical and mechanical processes, washed and placed in a drying station.

The KR 6 Agilus detects the dental tools and moves them through the sterilization steps. In the final phase, each tool is individually wrapped and sterilized so that it is ready for the next use. Once the sterilization cell is loaded, it can operate without human supervision, even after the dental practice is closed. The staff are freed from this unpleasant and unergonomic task and can devote more time to patient care.

A universally popular helper

"Initially, we didn't know how the patients would react to a robot in the medical team," says Dr. Castagno. "But we soon realized that they associated the cleaning island with a high standard of hygiene." The robot behind glass is now very popular with patients in the waiting room: "They love the sight of the tireless robotic arm."