Meet the robotics companies rethinking clinical care

Companies are exploring how robotics could reshape routine clinical care, developing devices to perform everyday tasks such as blood draws and ultrasound scans. 

Although the technologies are at different stages of maturity, they reflect a broader push by manufacturers to address health systems’ pressing challenges including workforce shortages and the need for safer, more efficient care delivery.

Here are the three key areas where companies are leveraging robotics to automate care. 

Telerobotic ultrasound

AdEchoTech’s Melody remote telerobotic ultrasound system allows a clinician to perform an ultrasound exam remotely by controlling a robotic arm that holds a probe at the patient’s bedside.

The company received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2017, and began its push into the U.S. market 11 months ago, said Stéphane Pinsard, head of business development for the U.S.

One of the main challenges the company aims to address is the shortage of sonographers at a time when the demand for the exams is growing. AdEchoTech is working with companies that provide sonographer services.

West Orange, New Jersey-based RWJBarnabas Health is exploring whether Melody could be adapted to assist with acquiring transesophageal echocardiography images during structural heart procedures.

The goal would be to reduce radiation exposure for echocardiographers and sonographers who are typically positioned near fluoroscopy equipment, said Dr. Kameswari Maganti, section chief of noninvasive cardiology at RWJBarnabas’ Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Robotic feeding tube placement

ENvue Medical Inc. is developing a robotic-assisted feeding tube tool that uses artificial intelligence.

The ENvue Drive tool is in the prototype phase, and is being designed to automate the process, freeing clinicians to calm the patient during an uncomfortable procedure.

The company’s FDA-cleared ENvue Navigation Platform is used in hospitals across the U.S. to provide real-time electromagnetic guidance during enteral feeding tube placement. It is designed to help reduce complications by using a localization sensor at the feeding tube’s distal tip to track the tube’s path in real time and alert clinicians if it moves toward the lungs.

“It’s always important on a bedside procedure to focus on the patient, on the well-being of the patient because even a mechanically ventilated patient is not fully unconscious,” said CEO Dr. Doron Besser.

In rare cases, a feeding tube can be inserted incorrectly and enter the lungs instead of the gastrointestinal tract, triggering complications that can include a punctured lung or lung collapse, he said.

Robotic blood draws

Vitestro has developed the Aletta Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device, which automates the diagnostic blood collection process.

The company is in discussion with the FDA and plans to take the De Novo classification pathway to seek FDA marketing authorization, said Toon Overbeeke, company co-founder and CEO.

After a patient places their arm into the device, it disinfects the skin and uses near-infrared, ultrasound imaging and Doppler ultrasound to find a suitable vein before inserting the needle. It fills and prepares the ordered collection tubes, retracts the needle, applies a bandage and stores the completed samples for staff to retrieve and deliver to the lab.

Potential customers will be large health systems with high-volume centralized outpatient clinics and lab companies. The device could alleviate staffing issues while increasing capacity, Overbeeke said.
 

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