AIR
Autonomous Interventions and Robotics
What if we could perform life-saving interventions autonomously?
The Problem
- Many Americans do not have access to specialized facilities with advanced surgical expertise, including for time-sensitive surgeries.
- Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer from strokes caused by a clot blocking large blood vessels in the brain. The only way to effectively treat such a stroke is a thrombectomy, a procedure where a highly specialized surgeon removes the clot to restore normal blood flow. Unfortunately, there are not enough trained surgeons to perform these procedures for everyone who needs them. Only 12% of the 335,000 eligible stroke patients get this life-saving treatment each year.
- More than half of Americans live over an hour away from a hospital that can perform a thrombectomy. The longer treatment is delayed, the higher the risk of serious long-term disability or death. Every 10-minute delay in treatment adds about $10,000 in healthcare costs.
- Even surgical procedures that are not as time-sensitive, such as biopsies or kidney stone removal, often require people to travel long distances, missing work and incurring high costs. These procedures can also be invasive and cause complications.
The Solution
- Autonomous Interventions and Robotics (AIR) is a game-changing robotic surgery program aiming to increase access to life-saving surgeries. If successful, AIR will revolutionize surgery by enabling robots to perform entire interventions without direct human input.
- Stroke patients will be able to receive curative thrombectomy procedures at the nearest hospital, vastly improving health outcomes and life expectancy.
- Small AIR robots (microbots) will introduce a new paradigm for medical interventions transforming invasive procedures in advanced care settings into minimally invasive procedures performed in a general practitioner’s office, and, in the future, anywhere.
- All Americans will be able to receive simpler, less invasive and more affordable treatments anywhere in the U.S., not just in highly specialized medical centers.
Only ARPA-H can...
- Transform surgical care and stroke treatment for patients by taking on high risk projects and mobilizing our nation’s most advanced technological and clinical expertise.
- Bring together scientists, engineers, surgeons, and industry to create safe, autonomous medical robotics.
- Strengthen the U.S. economy by driving breakthrough innovation that is so vital to small and large domestic companies in this growing field.
Solicitation
What ARPA-H needs to solve this problem
The AIR program aims to solve these problems by developing robots that can do parts of or entire surgical interventions on their own. The program’s focus is twofold: first, to develop autonomous robotic systems that can perform thrombectomies, making curative stroke care available to all Americans. Second, to create very small, mechanical, electronic, or hybrid devices (microbots) that can perform medical procedures independently, revolutionizing healthcare delivery.
Notice ID: ARPA-H-SOL-26-146
ARPA-H invites interested parties to review the solicitation, which is posted and maintained on SAM.gov. The solicitation outlines the opportunity and its requirements, key dates and deadlines, submission documents and templates, evaluation criteria for submissions, and information on how to apply.
Key Dates:
- Proposers’ Day: December 16, 2025, Bethesda, MD (Hybrid)
- Solution Summaries due: January 26, 2026
- Proposals due: March 30, 2026
Reminder: Dates are estimates and are subject to change. Please reference the solicitation for the most up-to-date information.
Ready to apply? To submit a Solution Summary or Proposal, sign-in to the ARPA-H Solutions Portal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Review responses to common questions about this funding opportunity asked by others in the proposer community.
You can also ask a question.
Proposers' Day
This is an optional event for the proposer community to learn more about this opportunity, ask questions, and make connections. This event is not intended for patients, patient advocates, the media, or general interest audiences.
Event date: December 16, 2025
Event location: 6001 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, MD (Hybrid)
Details subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, reference the Special Notice (ARPA-H-SN-26-146) on SAM.gov.
Teaming
ARPA-H anticipates that teaming will be necessary to achieve the goals of AIR. Prospective proposers are encouraged to form teams with varied technical expertise to submit a research proposal.
To facilitate this process, we have created a teaming page where prospective proposers can share their profiles and learn more about other interested parties.
Program Manager
"The AIR program aims to increase access to life-saving surgeries. Millions of Americans will be able to be treated at their local hospital; chronic disability after stroke will become a thing of the past. We envision care extending beyond the four walls of a clinic to anywhere you can take a container of microbots."
