The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is examining an innovative robotic medical approach designed to travel within the human body, identify traumatic injuries, and administer life-saving treatment, improving survival prospects for wounded troops before they can be evacuated to hospital care.
The concept, known as Medics Autonomously Stopping Hemorrhage (MASH), leverages artificial intelligence to steer advanced sensor systems toward injury sites and automatically deploy clotting and tissue-repair materials.
In an operational setting, combat medics would create a small incision in the torso, enabling MASH to release robotic elements capable of temporarily sealing or suturing critical internal wounds.
DARPA has stressed that the initiative is not aimed at developing entirely new robotic platforms, but rather at enhancing existing, battlefield-tested medical tools with greater autonomy and intelligent functionality.
The MASH programme is structured as a two-phase effort spanning three years.
Phase 1, set to begin in the summer of 2026, will focus on key technical development areas such as improved wound localisation and artificial clot generation.
By the end of the first 24 months, the system is expected to independently detect active hemorrhaging and accurately identify internal injuries.
Phase 2 will concentrate on system refinement and optimisation, with the objective of preparing the technology for potential battlefield deployment within an additional 12 months.
