AI-Enabled Robotic System Aims to Expand Access to Stroke Thrombectomy

Ischemic stroke outcomes hinge on rapid access to endovascular thrombectomy, yet many eligible patients live far from comprehensive centers and miss critical treatment windows. Hospitals also face geographic and workforce constraints that limit around-the-clock interventional coverage. A new ARPA-H–backed initiative now targets AI-enabled robotic support for remote, supervised endovascular care to expand timely access to thrombectomy.

Philips has been selected for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Autonomous Interventions and Robotics (AIR) program and will receive up to USD 33.7 million to advance AI-enabled robotic procedure automation for stroke care. The effort focuses on expanding access to specialized stroke interventions by enabling remote-assisted and increasingly automated endovascular procedures. Philips will collaborate with Johns Hopkins University and Boston University to develop and translate the enabling technologies.

The program builds on the company’s Azurion image-guided therapy platform by integrating imaging, robotics,AI-enabled automation, and smart interventional devices into a unified workflow. Development priorities include endovascular navigation, robotic device control, image-based procedural guidance, workflow automation, and remote intervention capabilities. The solutions are designed for supervised autonomy under expert clinical oversight to support safe, image-guided performance.

Academic partners will concentrate on key subsystems that underpin remote and automated stroke interventions. Johns Hopkins University will develop autonomous device navigation, while Boston University will advance steerable catheter technologies. The coordinated work aims to establish the technical foundation for an interventional suite in which robotics, AI-enabled automation, and smart devices operate cohesively.

The unmet need is significant: in the United States, approximately 335,000 patients each year are eligible for thrombectomy, yet only about 12% receive it, and more than half of Americans live over an hour from a capable hospital. Globally, fewer than 3% of eligible patients with large-vessel occlusion receive mechanical thrombectomy, while stroke remains the world’s second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of death and disability combined. The technologies described are under development; future clinical use or commercial availability will be subject to applicable regulatory requirements.

“This ARPA-H program accelerates our long-term vision for image-guided intervention. We’re helping shape a future where expert care is no longer limited by geography or workforce constraints. The goal is not to replace expertise, but to make expertise scalable and accessible,” said Bert van Meurs, Chief Business Leader Image-Guided Therapy at Philips.

“Robotics has the potential to improve precision and accuracy in endovascular stroke care, while also extending specialist expertise through remote procedures. I am excited to work alongside Philips and the academic partners in this program to translate this potential into clinically meaningful innovation, developing technologies that support clinicians and are designed to improve patient outcomes,” said Dr. J Mocco, Chair of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and an additional clinical collaborator with Philips.