Can drawing blood be done by robots?

‍What’s happening:‍

• Dutch healthcare robotics startup Vitestro has raised €20M in a new financing round
  
• The round saw notable participation from multiple venture capital funds including NYBC Ventures, Invest-NL and the European Innovation Council Fund
  

The big idea:‍

• Viestro’s technology uses infrared to locate a vein on patients and an ultrasound to map an image of the blood vessel
  
• Viestro’s artificial intelligence powered robotic device then uses this information to identify the right location to puncture and inserts a needle to draw blood with extreme precision
  

By the numbers:‍

• Vitestro has raised €46M from government grants and venture capital funding since inception
  

Why it matters:‍

• Hospitals and clinics globally have been dealing with a shortage of nurses and doctors, which has spurred a flurry of new startups aiming to improve patient care through technology and robotics
  

Going deeper:‍

• Vitestro is currently running the world’s largest scale clinical trial for autonomous blood draws in the Netherlands through multiple collaborations with independent hospitals and clinics
  

The fine print:‍

• Vitestro’s robotics technology will not be allowed to draw blood on patients outside of their ongoing clinical trial until they receive a formal certification for their device from healthcare policymakers in the European Union

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