# A ROBOT-ASSISTED PERFUSION SYSTEM TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY IN THE CARDIAC OPERATING ROOM

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2024 · $668,161

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
 The vast majority of pediatric and adult cardiac surgery procedures worldwide involve the use of
cardiopulmonary bypass with a dedicated and highly customized perfusion system. Cardiac surgery
procedures are complex and entail safety-critical activities, requiring continuous coordination between four
subteams: perfusion, surgical, nursing and anesthesia. This environment demands outstanding technical and
non-technical skills (e.g. teamwork, communication and situational awareness).
 Over the past few decades, technological advancements have improved the safety and efficiency of the
perfusion system, however, despite substantial progress, recent studies continue to report a high incidence of
preventable intraoperative adverse events among cardiac surgery patients. The perfusion system, in particular,
relies heavily on the expertise and skills of the perfusionist, and there is currently no computational intelligent
system to support perfusionists' optimal decision-making during the critical phase of cardiopulmonary bypass.
 In this proposal, we seek to develop a data-driven approach to learn from expert perfusionists how to achieve
optimal outcomes for cardiac surgery patients. Rather than attempt to engineer a solution, we propose to
develop a computer-based apprentice that can learn from high-quality demonstrations of perfusionist actions to
infer gold-standard patient care. Our goal is to develop and evaluate a Robot-Assisted Perfusion System
(RAPS) that can be integrated into the cardiac surgery workflow as a non-human teammate. The RAPS will
support the perfusion team in a way that perfusionists still will keep control of the perfusion system (i.e. human-
in-the-loop), but cognitively supported and guided by the RAPS.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10907677
- **Project number:** 5R01HL157457-03
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Roger Daglius Dias
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $668,161
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10907677

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10907677, A ROBOT-ASSISTED PERFUSION SYSTEM TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY IN THE CARDIAC OPERATING ROOM (5R01HL157457-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10907677. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*