Telerobotics and Artificial Intelligence for Remote Diagnostics and Consultation in Rural Medicine

Abstract

Rural populations worldwide face persistent barriers to timely, specialist medical care due to workforce shortages, geographic isolation, and constrained infrastructure. Recent advances in telerobotics combined with artificial intelligence (AI) present a promising path toward bridging this gap by enabling remote diagnostics and real-time specialist consultation. This article synthesizes current knowledge on tele robotics and AI as applied to remote diagnostics in rural medicine, with emphasis on clinical use cases (tele-ultrasound, tele-auscultation, remote physical exam augmentation), enabling technologies (robotic manipulators, telepresence platforms, 5G/low-latency networking), AI components (computer vision, signal processing, clinical decision support), evaluation metrics (safety, diagnostic concordance, latency/throughput, cost-effectiveness), regulatory/ethical considerations, and implementation pathways. We integrate evidence from clinical trials, systematic reviews, and engineering studies to present a rigorous yet accessible roadmap for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers seeking to deploy telerobotics + AI solutions in resource-constrained settings.