Declining costs of hardware and robot-enabling software will ensure market growth and encourage collaborations between healthcare providers and technology developers.

The market is primarily driven by the need to streamline operational workflows, improve quality of healthcare, and provide round-the-clock monitoring for geriatric and disabled patients.

The epicenter seems to have shifted from Japan to United States. Many start-ups are cropping up from Silicon Valley, where the future of robotics is being shaped. There is increasing penetration of cognitive computing, mobile application control, and image or speed recognition. Players such as Cyberdyne, iRobot, Aethon and Swisslog have collaborated with healthcare providers and have successfully integrated robots within hospital environments gaining first-mover advantage.

High costs of ownership and lack of reliability on these systems in critical treatment processes are restraining market growth.