THE first robots were used primarily to do repetitive jobs in car factories or perform dangerous tasks in nuclear plants.

Now, they are used in the health and wellness sectors, particularly in gynaecology, urology, cardiovascular and general surgery.

A cardiologist at the National Heart Centre, using the Da Vinci surgical system, only needs to cut three small holes on the patient for a heart bypass instead of sawing the breast bone open.

The advantage of this minimally invasive surgery with robotic help is that the patient will recover faster.

Medical robots are still relatively new and available only at two hospitals here: Singapore General Hospital and Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

But researchers like Dr Louis Phee of the Nanyang Technological University hope to eventually expand the scope of robotic surgery.

He has two ongoing projects - one to develop a flexible endoscope robotics system to treat gastric cancer at an early stage, and another to develop a pill that people can just swallow for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

And lest you imagine dramatic scenes from movies like The Matrix in which machines rule over man, Dr Phee points out: "A surgeon is still the brain in the surgery.

"A robot is only the extra arm and hand designed to do the task which he can't do with his own hands."

Interestingly, robots are also making inroads into your home to make life easier for you and your family.

For instance, check out Nuvo, a robot designed to be a helpmate and home companion to children.

There is also Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner that has been in the market since 2002. As of January this year, over 2.5 million units have been sold worldwide.

Don't forget the popular and cute Aibo too, the robotic pet dog from Sony.

"The next stage of development is robots understanding human gestures and facial expressions," says

Associate Professor Marcelo Ang of the National University of Singapore. "This will represent a higher-level interaction between humans and robots."

Prof Ang is the founding chairman of Singapore Robotic Games and he specialises in the areas of robotics, mechatronics, automation and the applications of intelligent systems methodologies.

He says that robots are here to stay and they will be beneficial for man. "Robots are just tools, like a hammer. It's the most intelligent tool we've ever invented but it won't take over us.In time, robots will be as common in people's lives as mobile phones and digital cameras."

This article was first published in Health & You, The Straits Times on July 2, 2008.