{"id":14200,"date":"2008-05-26T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-26T10:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fundacionbankinter.org\/noticias\/terapia-con-animales-verdaderos-y-roboticos\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T23:29:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T22:29:45","slug":"terapia-con-animales-verdaderos-y-roboticos","status":"publish","type":"noticias","link":"https:\/\/www.fundacionbankinter.org\/en\/news\/terapia-con-animales-verdaderos-y-roboticos\/","title":{"rendered":"Therapy with animals (true and robotic)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2013, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, The Lancet<\/strong>, published a study entitled Delphins, dogs and robot seals for the treatment of neurological diseases<\/em><\/a>. One of the most striking things about the work is to include in the same statement real animals \u2013whose therapeutic benefits have been studied and tested for different diseases over the last decades\u2013 and robots with animal appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its promoter is the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology<\/strong> (AIST<\/strong>)<\/a>, in Japan, which years ago decided to bet firmly on a robotic company for the elderly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARO is a robotic companion with the appearance of a seal. At first glance, it might seem like a simple stuffed animal, but PARO<\/a> (its name all over the world except in Spain, where it is called NUKA) is much more than that. The aforementioned work, in fact, endorsed the therapeutic benefits of this robot seal, which weighs 2.9 kilos and costs around 6,000 euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its creators define it as a therapeutic robot in the neurological field<\/strong> and the fact is that many data support it. In 2009, the agency that regulates drugs and food in the US, the FDA, approved it as a non-pharmacological medical treatment and since then its creators have been trying to get more government agencies to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARO has been tested to help people with dementia, cancer, and children admitted or with autism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its creator, \u00a0Takanori Shibata<\/a>, an ftf expert, there is evidence that the number of caregivers will need to double with increasing longevity. Although\u00a0PARO\u00a0would not replace his figure,\u00a0if it would help in the early stages of care for the elderly\u00a0<\/strong>or facilitate the work of caregivers or nursing home staff. The robot has been shown to reduce discomfort in dementia patients and even decrease the need for psychotropic drugs in these patie<\/p>nts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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