Getting an injection or blood test is definitely not a pleasant experience for anyone; in fact, for most people, it can trigger trauma.
According to a survey published in PLOS One, 63.2% of the global adult population has some amount of needle phobia; survey-based research conducted on children also shows similar figures. Even for those who can be nonchalant about this necessary medical procedure, a blood test can become traumatic when the medical practitioner struggles to find the right spot to reach a vein, requiring injections at multiple spots, multiple times.
A Dutch medical robotics company, Vitestro, has developed a machine called Aletta to address this pain point for patients and medical practitioners. Although the machine has existed since March 2025, it has again made global headlines this August by securing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the first fully autonomous blood-drawing device.
Aletta first flashes near-infrared light on the arm, making veins more visible for the machine to detect. Then,, using ultrasound, it identifies the vein's depth and width. With a Doppler test, it verifies blood flow to ensure it's a vein and not an artery. After these three steps, the machine determines the exact entry point and angle for the butterfly-needle injection using AI image detection. The entire blood collection process is then automatic. The machine refuses to draw blood if it cannot find a suitable vein, eliminating the fear of multiple injections.
While rapid advances in technology and artificial intelligence raise tensions among future generations about jobs, security, and employability, they also reduce the tensions and trauma of day-to-day life, including in healthcare.