This Robot Draws Your Blood With a Needle. Patients Love It.

Toon Overbeeke's friend had a father going through chemotherapy — and every hospital visit meant failed attempt after failed attempt to draw his blood, because chemo had damaged his veins. The question was simple: isn't there a better way?  That question sent Toon — a mechanical engineer who'd left a partner-track career at Bain to ride a motorcycle 30,000 kilometers through Iran, Pakistan, and 28 other countries — on a mission to build something that had never existed: a fully autonomous blood-drawing robot. HeToday, as Toon is CEO of Vitestro, the company behind the Aletta system: a robot that uses infrared imaging and ultrasound to find your vein, positions the needle, and draws your blood, all without you ever seeing the needle. They've completed over 10,000 blood draws with a safety profile that beats manual phlebotomy. And elderly patients — the ones everyone assumed would resist — turned out to be the biggest fans. This is a conversation about robotics, human psychology, and what happens when someone refuses to accept "that's just how it's done."Subscribe to First in Human: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd Visit Vitestro online: https://vitestro.com/Connect with Toon on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/toon-overbeeke-a3012825/