Blood sampling robot excels in human clinical trial

This is the claim of a Rutgers University-led team whose automated blood drawing and testing device has been put through a human clinical trial on a blood sampling robot.

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The results, published in Technology, were said to be comparable to or exceeded clinical standards, with an overall success rate of 87 per cent for the 31 participants. For the 25 people whose veins were easy to access, the success rate was 97 per cent.

According to Rutgers, the device includes an ultrasound image-guided robot that draws blood from veins. A fully integrated device, which includes a module that handles samples and a centrifuge-based blood analyser, could be used at bedsides and in ambulances, emergency rooms, clinics, doctors' offices and hospitals.

Venipuncture involves inserting a needle into a vein to get a blood sample or perform IV therapy. It is the world's most common clinical procedure, but clinicians fail in 27 per cent of patients without visible veins, 40 per cent of patients without palpable veins and 60 per cent of emaciated patients, according to previous studies.