venipuncture robot

Rutgers researchers have devised a quicker and easier way to draw a patient’s blood through the creation of a “venipuncture robot.” The machine uses both near-infrared and ultrasound imaging to find blood vessels and create a 3-D image of them before inserting a needle, a procedure that is safer for health care providers, 64 percent of whom will at some point receive a needlestick injury. The tabletop device can test blood instantly by having the sample flow directly to an analyzer. Martin L. Yarmush, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the School of Engineering, and his team foresee portable versions of the device helping EMTs, army medics, and especially those with limited medical training who serve in emergency settings, such as refugee clinics.