Expanding access to stroke care: Neurosurgeon
Dr. J Mocco on robotics and AI
Aug 26, 2026 | 1 minute read
Philips today announced it has received an award under the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)) Autonomous Interventions and Robotics (AIR) program to advance AI-enabled robotic procedure automation for stroke care. The program aims to develop technologies for remote-assisted and increasingly automated endovascular procedures, helping expand access to advanced stroke care.
We asked Dr. J Mocco, Chair of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and a clinical collaborator with Philips, to share his perspective on the challenges facing stroke care today, the potential of robotics and AI to extend specialist expertise, and why collaboration between clinicians, industry and government could help shape the future of endovascular care.
Q. Despite major advances in stroke treatment, what are the biggest challenges you still see today in getting patients timely access to life-saving interventions such as mechanical thrombectomy?
A: Unfortunately, the vast majority of patients never get a chance to undergo the life-saving procedure that is a stroke thrombectomy. Thrombectomy is one of the most powerful treatments in all of medicine, and yet well over half of patients do not receive it in time to cure their stroke. By advancing, improving and embracing robotic technology, we can transform care paradigms and bring this robust therapy to tens of thousands of patients in the US, and millions across the globe.
Q. You have seen neurointerventional stroke care evolve significantly over your career. Looking at developments in image-guided therapy, advanced devices and more recently AI, which innovations have had the greatest impact, and what do you think the field is now ready for next?
A: The field of neuro-intervention has changed dramatically over the 20+ years I have been practicing. There is essentially no tool that I use today regularly that was even available back when I undertook my training. That’s just one example of the tremendous progress that has occurred over the past two decades. With the advent of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, I am confident we will see an even more dramatic evolution of the field, that will allow us to help many, many more patients.
Q. Robotics is emerging as a new frontier in endovascular intervention. From a clinician's perspective, what is most exciting about the potential of robotics and increasingly AI-enabled procedure automation in stroke care?
A: The most exciting part of robotics and artificial intelligence growth into the clinical realm is the opportunity to bring important and powerful therapies to patients who otherwise would not have had a chance to receive them.
Q. If these technologies reach their full potential, what could they ultimately mean for physicians and patients, particularly patients who today live far from centers with specialist neurointerventional expertise?
A: If these technologies reach their potential, we will improve healthcare for countless numbers of patients over the coming years. Right now, so many patients never even get a chance to receive critically important therapies. With artificial intelligence augmenting robotics under appropriate physician guidance, we will be able to help those patients in ways they’ve never been able to receive care before.
Q. The ARPA-H AIR program brings together Philips, academic engineering expertise and clinical leadership to advance remote-assisted and increasingly automated endovascular procedures. Why is this kind of collaboration important, and what would success look like to you?
A. In my opinion, the vast majority of transformative advancements in medicine over the past number of decades have come from synergy between clinicians and industry. For treatment to be viable, it takes substantial investment and certain pragmatic realities must be addressed, and industry has proven to be well positioned to aid in those aspects of things. However, these advancements also require clinical insight and rigorous scientific methodology, without which they would not bring the benefits we would otherwise hope for. This is why the clinician – industry collaboration is so important. ARPA-H represents a relatively new manner in which the government can dramatically jumpstart such initiatives for the benefit of the population. It is modeled on the highly successful DARPA program, and is designed to help facilitate the truly transformative advancements that the nation needs, but seem out of reach for the standard clinician-industry paradigm. ARPA-H is an exciting and powerful new way to advance healthcare and improve the health of our nation, and indirectly the world. Dr. Mocco is a paid consultant to Philips in the context of its ARPA-H grant.
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