A US research team has 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.
The findings of the research conducted by scientists at the Rutgers University, suggest that autonomous systems like the image-guided robotic device could outperform people on some complex medical tasks.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, showed that medical robots could reduce injuries and improve the efficiency and outcomes of procedures, as well as carry out tasks with minimal supervision when human resources are limited, reported AFP.
"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, professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Rutgers University.
However, the study also found that failures occur in an estimated 20 percent of procedures, and difficulties increase in people with small, twisted, rolling or collapsed blood vessels, which are common in pediatric, elderly, chronically ill and trauma patients.
Next steps include more research on the device in a broader range of people, including those with normal and difficult blood vessels to access.
"Not only can the device be used for patients, but it can also be modified to draw blood in rodents, a procedure which is extremely important for drug testing in animals in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries," Yarmush said.
