Toward Robotically Automated Femoral Vascular Access

This interdisciplinary research presents significant progress toward developing a robotic system capable of performing automated femoral vascular access, a critical medical procedure required in emergency medicine, surgical interventions, and various diagnostic procedures.

Clinical Motivation: Femoral vascular access is a fundamental procedure in emergency medicine and interventional procedures, requiring precise needle placement into the femoral artery or vein. The procedure’s success depends heavily on operator skill and experience, and complications can have serious clinical consequences. Robotic automation could improve procedure consistency, reduce complications, and enable access in challenging environments or when expert clinicians are unavailable.

Technical Challenges Addressed:

• Anatomical Localization: Developing computer vision and sensing systems to accurately identify femoral vascular anatomy in real-time
• Robotic Precision: Implementing control systems capable of the fine motor skills required for safe needle insertion
• Safety Systems: Ensuring robust fail-safes and human oversight capabilities throughout the procedure
• Real-time Feedback: Integrating multiple sensing modalities to provide continuous procedure monitoring

Multidisciplinary Collaboration: This work represents a unique collaboration between:

• Robotics Engineers: Developing the robotic platform and control systems
• Computer Vision Researchers: Creating algorithms for anatomical detection and tracking
• Emergency Medicine Physicians: Providing clinical expertise and procedure validation
• Critical Care Specialists: Ensuring clinical relevance and safety considerations

Research Significance: The development of automated vascular access systems has profound implications for:

• Emergency Medicine: Enabling rapid vascular access in time-critical situations
• Remote Healthcare: Providing advanced medical capabilities in underserved or dangerous environments
• Skill Standardization: Reducing variability in procedure outcomes across different operators
• Training Applications: Supporting medical education through consistent, repeatable demonstrations

Technical Innovation: The system integrates advanced robotics with medical imaging and real-time sensing to achieve the precision and safety required for clinical applications. The research addresses fundamental challenges in medical robotics, including the need for absolute safety, real-time decision making, and seamless integration with existing clinical workflows.

This work represents an important step toward autonomous medical robotics systems that could transform emergency care and expand access to critical medical procedures in challenging environments.

Recommended citation: N. Zevallos*, E. Harber*, Abhimanyu, K. Patel, Y. Gu, K. Sladick, F. Guyette, L. Weiss, M. R. Pinsky, H. Gomez, J. Galeotti, and H. Choset. (2021). "Toward Robotically Automated Femoral Vascular Access." 2021 International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR). pp. 1-7.
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