ARPA-H Awards $31.1M to Siemens Healthineers for Autonomous Endovascular Stroke Robotics

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has awarded Siemens Healthineers (搜索)搜索该词条 up to $31.1 million over five years to accelerate the development of autonomous, remote, endovascular robotics. The funding is part of the agency's Autonomous Interventions and Robotics (AIR) program, led by ARPA-H program manager Ileana Hancu, and is intended to bring faster stroke treatment to more people.

Siemens Healthineers (搜索)搜索该词条 will contribute $5.4 million as a cost share over the course of the project, bringing the total combined investment in autonomous remote endovascular robotics development to as much as $36.5 million. The company believes a combination of endovascular robotics, image guidance, and dedicated devices will significantly impact how neurovascular procedures will be performed in the future.

Addressing a Critical Access Gap in Stroke Care

With a focus on neurovascular robotics, Siemens' technology is designed to enable robots to perform long-distance treatment of acute ischemic stroke (搜索)搜索该疾病 through mechanical thrombectomy without direct human input. Mechanical thrombectomy is a minimally invasive procedure that removes a blood clot from a blocked blood vessel in the brain to restore blood flow following an acute ischemic stroke. When performed promptly, it can significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce the risk of long-term disability.

Today, the procedure is almost exclusively available in comprehensive stroke centers, which means that large parts of the population are excluded from access. According to ARPA-H, more than half of the U.S. population lives over an hour from a thrombectomy-capable clinic, and only an estimated 12% of 335,000 eligible stroke patients receive mechanical thrombectomy each year. There are not enough surgeons trained to perform the life-saving procedure, the agency said.

AIR's goal is for stroke patients to receive thrombectomy procedures at the nearest hospital, improving health outcomes and life expectancy, according to ARPA-H.

A Broader Federal Investment in Robotic Stroke Treatment

The federal awards for the stroke treatment projects, totaling up to $175.3 million over five years, extend beyond Siemens Healthineers (搜索)搜索该词条. Philips North America (搜索)搜索该词条 was awarded up to $33.7 million to create an autonomous robot for performing mechanical thrombectomy and other neurointerventional procedures. MIT spinout Magnendo (搜索)搜索该词条 will receive up to $32 million to support development of a magnetic robotic navigation platform for autonomous endovascular intervention. The University of California, San Diego is also among the recipients of ARPA-H funds for robotic stroke treatment.

Stryker查看公司主页, which established a strategic partnership with Siemens Healthineers (搜索)搜索该词条 last year to develop robotic neurovascular interventions, is a subrecipient in the project, Siemens Healthineers said. The company's separate partnership with Stryker involves developing a system that could perform a range of elective and emergency neurovascular procedures, including treatment for strokes and aneurysms.

Leadership Perspective

"Early access to the right treatment makes all the difference for stroke patients. By integrating robotics, imaging, devices, and artificial intelligence, we want to transform the way endovascular therapy is delivered, towards greater accessibility and precision across a broader range of care settings," Philipp Fischer, head of advanced therapies at Siemens Healthineers (搜索)搜索该词条, said in a statement.

Fischer also commented on the ARPA-H investment: "The ARPA-H investment is a big step in advancing autonomous remote endovascular robotics for the benefit of patients and communities around the world."

Autonomous remote endovascular robotics for acute stroke treatment is under development, but is not commercially available.