The study showed that venous blood — drawn from the arm — reflects coronary platelet activity, offering a safer, simpler test method. Credit: 2025 Hirose et al. CC-BY-ND ...

Scientists at the University of Tokyo have developed a groundbreaking AI-powered technology that can non-invasively monitor platelet activity in real time, detecting potentially deadly blood clots.

University of Tokyo. "Seeing blood clots before they strike." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 May 2025. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2025 / 05 / 250515132126.htm>.

The spinner enters the blood vessel through a catheter, just like existing tools. Once in place near the clot, it spins rapidly—up to 40,000 revolutions per minute.

Artificial intelligence can cut the diagnosis of blood clots in the lungs to a few minutes, instead of hours. And an AI-assisted system being tested enables non-technicians to do it.

According to Dr. Ouma, “Blood clots in the body can be detected through angiography and venography; imaging procedures that use special dyes to help ‘light up’ the inside of the body.

In blood-vessel-model and live pig tests, the milli-spinner was able to reduce the volume of clots by up to 95%, allowing for successful clot removal on approximately 90% of first attempts.

These blood clots, which form in veins deep in the body, affect about 1-3 of every 1,000 U.S. adults. They are most common in older adults, and frequently occur in the legs.

Blood clots in the arms can cause swelling, pain or discoloration of the arms just like in the legs. "What we see most commonly are patients who recently traveled. They spend 10 or 12 hours in the ...