Will Robots Replace Humans to Collect Blood Samples?

Can Robots draw Blood for testing in the Future? A new clinical trial shows robotic technology could draw blood samples safely and more easily.

Highlights:

Collecting a blood sample is one of the most common medical procedures patients experience
But it can also lead to medical care-related injuries to both patients and healthcare providers
To overcome this, researchers suggest that robots could be used with the help of ultrasound

A blood-drawing robot that performed better than healthcare technicians was created by a research team from Rutgers University. This work was reported in the scientific journal Technology ().

Blood collection for testing also called veni-puncture, is one of the most common medical procedures patients experience since blood samples are often required for testing as part of medical examinations.

Blood Groups
The blood group of a person is determined by the presence or absence of certain inherited antigenic substances and certain acquired antibodies in blood.

‘The combination of robotic needle placement and ultrasound guidance for blood sample collection provides a framework for future applications in medical robotics.’

Drawing Blood for Testing Could Be Painful

Veni-punctures are also one of the leading causes of medical care-related injuries to both patients and healthcare providers. Blood draws can be challenging when a vein is difficult to access, often resulting in bruising, inflammation of the vein, and, in rare situations, infections or injuries to surrounding arm nerves ().

Furthermore, accidental needlestick injuries to healthcare workers occur frequently and can be serious. Healthcare-worker infections from needlesticks may occur at a rate of about 3 in 1,000 needlesticks and the most worrisome are exposures to hepatitis and HIV.

To improve blood collection techniques, medical professionals have been investigating the use of ultrasound imaging and robotic devices. Most recently, researchers conducted the first human clinical trial to evaluate a robotic device that collects blood samples for laboratory testing.

Robots Understand a Dementia Patient�s Joy and Sorrow
Robots are being developed that can understand the joys and sorrows of dementia patients and cater to their needs. The robots will be human-like and perform a variety of tasks to lessen the burden of caregivers.

Robots Will Draw Blood Samples In The Future

The ultrasound image-guided robot finds the vein, punctures it with a needle, and then draws blood. Though the trial showed promising results, improvements to the device and more studies are needed before it could be used in clinical practice.

The robots could make blood draws safer for both patients and healthcare providers. The technology could potentially help make blood draws much quicker and easier, especially in people whose veins are difficult to access. It includes veins that can’t be seen or felt easily and those roll out of position easily.

Though the new clinical trial focused on routine blood draws, robots could be adapted for other uses, such as administering fluids or medications through a vein (IV therapy), dialysis, or arterial line placement.

Robots May Soon Help Doctors Accurately Diagnose Breast Cancer on Imaging
Robots (artificial intelligence) may soon learn to accurately detect breast cancer lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans promoting early diagnosis and treatment and to improve patient outcome.

How Successful Were Robots In Taking Blood Samples?

The first clinical trial of the robot involved 31 human participants, including six with veins that were considered difficult to access. The robot successfully drew blood into collection tubes with one or two needle insertion attempts, a rate of 97% in patients whose veins were considered normally accessible and 87% in patients overall ().

The device’s overall successful blood collection rate is comparable to that of manual blood draws, which is about 90%. The device was unable to collect blood from three participants with difficult veins.

Researchers say failures were likely due to veins rolling out of position as the needle attempted to puncture them. No subjects with normal or difficult veins suffered bruising, punctures to the back walls of blood vessels, or other inadvertent injuries.

Robots may be Used for Blood Draws or the Placement of IV Lines
The world’s first automated venipuncture medical device was found to have greater than 95% first stick accuracy than human phlebotomists.

Robots Are Not A Replacement For A Trained Clinician

Much more work would be needed before the robot could be used in a clinical setting. Researchers are planning to make improvements to the device and conduct follow-up studies.

Future research will involve a direct comparison of the success rates and the time needed to complete robot-performed blood draws versus manual veni-puncture, with and without ultrasound guidance. Such research would also involve larger groups of patients.

Whether a robot can ever truly replace a highly trained clinician remains to be inconclusive. It’s more likely the device will be an aid rather than a substitute, freeing up healthcare professionals to spend more time treating patients.

But it could also lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment, with the machine performing the analysis straight away rather than patients waiting days for tests to come back from the laboratory.

This would streamline and decentralize the whole blood-testing process so it could be done in an individual doctor’s office, and patients can be treated based on the result.

The prototype device will need to go through rigorous testing and safety checks before it can be submitted to regulatory agencies for approval. And alongside science and engineering expertise, investors who are prepared to back the project for the long haul will be crucial to the device’s success.

References:

First-in-human evaluation of a hand-held automated venipuncture device for rapid venous blood draws - (https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2339547819500067)
Complications of venepuncture - (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275989947_Complications_of_venepuncture)
New Robot Does Superior Job Sampling Blood - (https://www.rutgers.edu/news/new-robot-does-superior-job-sampling-blood)