Thanks to modern advancements, robotics are now finding use cases beyond industries like manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics. That’s especially apparent in sectors related to health and wellness.
Today’s wearable fitness devices can help users independently track their health data. They’re also sophisticated enough to aid in transmitting that information to doctors without wearers having to worry about data privacy issues. Once robotics are integrated, these wearables can become more functional assistive devices that replace lost limbs after amputation or during rehabilitation.
That’s why it’s no surprise that it’s now also being leveraged by the weight loss industry, one of today’s most profitable wellness markets. Amid rising obesity rates, an increasing demand for bariatric surgery, GLP-1 medications, and weight loss coaches is driving it to new heights. As a result, it’s expected to grow in value from $89.9 billion in 2023 to over $93.8 billion by the end of 2024. To meet the demand, the weight loss industry is using robotics to develop those same factors that are fueling its growth. And here’s how…
Tailored weight loss coaching
Demand for weight loss coaches is on the rise due to availability issues. Many commercial diet companies laid off their coaches amid the pandemic, making their services less accessible to people seeking tailored weight loss guidance. That’s where weight loss coach robots help. These were arguably pioneered by the startup Intuitive Automata, which came out with the Autom robot in 2011 and continues to be perfected today. A study from Tufts University finds that these coaches can effectively compensate for the lack of their human counterparts because social robot developers design them to foster one key factor to weight loss success: commitment.
Since weight loss coach robots can stay at home with the user, they can encourage whenever their motivation to continue losing weight flags. These tools also leverage explainable AI to generate, recommend, and justify suggestions like meal choices based on a user’s specific needs, preferences, and activity. Ultimately, this innovation is helping the weight loss industry make personalized advice more convenient and accessible, further boosting the market’s growth.
Enhanced medication delivery
Prescription weight loss medications are arguably the biggest driving factor of the weight loss industry’s success today, with sales for these products doubling in 2023 alone. That’s especially true for semaglutide and tirzepatide, which use the agonist GLP-1 for weight loss. By mimicking the gut hormone GLP-1, these medications can reduce cravings, regulate appetite, and ultimately enhance the benefits of eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. They can help reduce up to 15% of your baseline body weight, which is why they’re considered especially effective for overweight and obese individuals struggling to shed pounds because of genetic factors and pre-existing medical conditions.
However, GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide are taken either orally or via injection. These require passive transport in the gastrointestinal tract, which limits how effective these weight-loss drugs can be. That’s why researchers are developing oral administration microrobots. These can break through the walls of the gastrointestinal tract for more active delivery. They also come with controllable locomotive functions for more targeted drug release. This robotics technology can further boost the results users can gain with weight loss medication, potentially improving the satisfaction they experience when leveraging what’s among the weight loss industry’s most popular products today.
Improved surgical outcomes
Bariatric surgery has been the standard medical intervention for weight loss for decades. The most common kind, the gastric bypass, involves physically reducing an individual’s stomach size so their body is forced to eat less food before feeling full. It’s easy to think that because they’re non-invasive, prescription weight loss medications are pushing it into obscurity. However, the opposite is true: demand for this procedure is hitting all-time highs, making it another factor driving the growth of the weight loss industry. However, bariatric surgery also comes with serious risks like bleeding, infection, and leaks in the gastrointestinal tract. That’s where robotics comes in.
Robots have been changing the medical field for years, helping surgeons precisely and remotely conduct several procedures using the most minimally invasive methods possible. Today, they can do this entire medical intervention using these tools. In fact, total robotic bariatric surgery is now considered more effective than traditional laparoscopic approaches. In observing a single surgeon who performed 498 robotic and 311 laparoscopic bariatric operations between 2020 and 2023, a recent study found that the robots helped better shorten operating times, reduce the risk of complications, and lower the need for patients to be hospitalized after the surgery. These outcomes are only further improving an already highly sought-after weight loss service, further bolstering the industry’s opportunities for growth.
