You sit down and put your arm in the cradle. You press a button. The machine takes it from there. A near-infrared light sweeps your inner elbow, hunting for a vein. A puff of alcohol hits your skin.

The Aletta from startup Vitestro uses near-infrared light and ultrasound to find veins, then executes the blood collection process from tourniquet application to bandaging.

Imagine sitting down for a routine blood test and, instead of a compounder searching for a vein, a robot scans your arm, identifies the right vein, inserts the needle, fills the tubes and even puts on ...

The practice of drawing blood has changed very little over the decades. It looks about the same now as it did 50 years ago. That process, however, may be about to get a modern makeover. Several health ...