Their most recent research results, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, suggest that autonomous systems like the image-guided robotic device could outperform people on some complex medical tasks. Medical robots could reduce injuries and improve the efficiency and outcomes of procedures, as well as carry out tasks with minimal supervision when resources are limited. This would allow health care professionals to focus more on other critical aspects of medical care and enable emergency medical providers to bring advanced interventions and resuscitation efforts to remote and resource-limited areas. "Using volunteers, models and animals, our team showed that the device can accurately pinpoint blood vessels, improving success rates and procedure times compared with expert health care professionals, especially with difficult to access blood vessels," said senior author Martin L. Yarmush, Paul & Mary Monroe Chair & Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Getting access to veins, arteries and other blood vessels is a critical first step in many diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Rutgers engineers have created a tabletop device that combines a robot, artificial intelligence and near-infrared and ultrasound imaging to draw blood or insert catheters to deliver fluids and drugs. Their most recent research results, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, suggest that autonomous systems like the image-guided robotic device could outperform people on some complex medical tasks. Medical robots could reduce injuries and improve the efficiency and outcomes of procedures, as well as carry out tasks with minimal supervision when resources are limited. This would allow health care professionals to focus more on other critical aspects of medical care and enable emergency medical providers to bring advanced interventions and resuscitation efforts to remote and resource-limited areas. "Using volunteers, models and animals, our team showed that the device can accurately pinpoint blood vessels, improving success rates and procedure times compared with expert health care professionals, especially with difficult to access blood vessels," said senior author Martin L. Yarmush, Paul and Mary Monroe Chair and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Having your blood drawn can be the stuff of nightmares -- but maybe a robot could help. Engineers at Rutgers University announced Wednesday that they've built a tabletop machine that combines aspects of robotics, AI, and ultrasound imaging to reliably draw blood or insert a catheter to deliver drugs and medicine. Their research, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, concludes that their blood'bot may even outperform human medical staff. Despite being a common procedure, about 20 percent of blood drawings can prove difficult if patients have veins that are small, rolling, collapsed, or otherwise hard to access, leading to increased poking and unnecessary suffering. That's where the robot comes in.

Having your blood drawn can be the stuff of nightmares -- but maybe a robot could help. Engineers at Rutgers University announced Wednesday that they've built a tabletop machine that combines aspects of robotics, AI, and ultrasound imaging to reliably draw blood or insert a catheter to deliver drugs and medicine. Their research, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, concludes that their blood'bot may even outperform human medical staff. Despite being a common procedure, about 20 percent of blood drawings can prove difficult if patients have veins that are small, rolling, collapsed, or otherwise hard to access, leading to increased poking and unnecessary suffering. That's where the robot comes in.