This robot is able to draw blood with very high precision

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Blood sampling is sometimes a very tedious medical procedure when patients have fragile or difficult to access veins. Researchers at Rutgers University (New Jersey) and Mount Sinai Hospital (New York) have worked on this problem by developing a robot capable of taking blood samples in a very precise. The results of the first clinical trial have been published in review Technology February 5, 2020.

A DEVICE Guided by ultrasound

The automated device has a very simple operation. Guided by ultrasound, he finds the vein more easily, pierces it with a needle and draws the necessary amount of blood. The robot also includes a centrifuge capable of separating the constituents of the blood for analysis. For now, the system has only been designed to draw blood from the peripheral veins of the forearm.

The results of the clinical trial were rather conclusive. Indeed, the robot had "an overall success rate of 87% for the 31 participants whose blood was drawn"And for the 25 people whose veins were easily accessible, the rate rose to 97%. By comparison, previous studies have lower rates. On average, health professionals have a success rate 73% in patients without visible veins and 60% in people without palpable veins.

Reduce pain and costs

 "A device like ours could help clinicians collect blood samples quickly, safely and reliably, avoiding complications and pain in patients after multiple needle insertion attempts"said Josh Leipheimer, lead author of the study and researcher in biology at the University of Rutgers. In addition to the pain inflicted by repeated tests, this difficulty in accessing the veins would cost, each year, "$ 4 billion a year to United States" because of the waste of material and the loss of time for the personnel … who could, with this robot, concentrate on tasks with higher added value.

According to the researchers, the use cases of the robot – at the prototype stage – do not stop with the blood sample. They are already imagining their creation used in the context of the placement of a peripheral venous catheter, a device for administering intravenous treatments, and for dialysis, aimed at purifying the blood of people suffering from renal insufficiency.

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