“The FDA has authorized a robot that can draw blood. The machine, called Aletta, uses near-infrared light and ultrasound to locate a vein before autonomously applying a tourniquet, disinfecting the skin, inserting the needle, changing collection tubes, and applying a bandage. The authorization will allow Aletta to be used on adults in clinics and other medical settings where patients do not stay overnight,” reports The Doomslayer.
The FDA explains:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today authorized the Aletta, the first standalone robotic device that can draw blood from a patient’s arm without hands-on operator intervention. The device is authorized for use in adults in outpatient settings and must be operated under the oversight of a supervisor trained in phlebotomy. One phlebotomist can oversee up to three Aletta devices at the same time, which may help address the current phlebotomist shortage in the U.S…
The Aletta autonomously handles each step of the blood draw, while a trained phlebotomist initiates each session and remains available to respond to any issues throughout. The device guides the patient to position their arm, after which the patient or supervisor presses a button to start the blood draw. The Aletta then uses near-infrared light and Doppler ultrasound to locate a suitable vein and tell it apart from arteries. If no appropriate vein is found, the device will not attempt the procedure.
Once a vein is identified, the Aletta proceeds through the remaining steps on its own: applying a tourniquet, preparing the skin, inserting and disposing of the needle, changing collection tubes and placing a bandage.
Doctors used a surgical robot to carry out incredibly complicated spinal surgery.
Drones will deliver blood to accident victims at the scene of the accident, from a Tampa hospital.
Japan is turning to robots to care for its elderly as its birth rate shrinks. “With around a third of its population over the age of 65, Japan is increasingly turning to robots to care for its elderly citizens. New research suggests that this isn’t as dystopian as it sounds. A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, which surveyed robot adoption in Japanese nursing homes, found that the machines are associated with improvements in both the quality and productivity of elder care,” says the Cato Institute. Robots improve care in the nursing homes, and also improve the productivity of the humans working in them.
Rented robots are doing “the worst jobs,” helping factories keep their human employees, reported the New York Times.
“Amazon has developed a warehouse robot that can be assigned tasks using plain conversational English (and haul around carts weighing up to 400 kilograms),” which will enable normal people to easily manage it. It will likely cost less than $40,000 to produce. The new Proteus robots will soon join the over 1 million robots already used by Amazon.
Robots with artificial intelligence are spreading on Japanese farms. On some American farms, there are drones with artificial intelligence, and robots that use artificial intelligence to kill 100,000 weeds per hour. Scientists have developed tiny robots to repair damaged cells, and nanorobots to destroy cancerous tumors.
Robot waiters are increasingly being used in South Korean restaurants, which are facing a labor shortage.
Robots are already being used for food preparation, such as the salad-making robot used by the Sweetgreen restaurant chain.
