AI and Robots Revolutionize Medical Triage

1/25/2026

Triage, a practice dating back to Napoleonic battlefields, is getting a 21st-century upgrade. The University of Pennsylvania's PRONTO team is leveraging Meta’s SAM and DINO models to build autonomous systems that can assess injuries in chaotic environments where human responders might struggle or face extreme danger. In-Depth Highlights: Navigating the Fog of War In mass casualty incidents like explosions or building collapses, seconds count, but conditions like dust, fog, and darkness often hinder rescue efforts. The PRONTO system deploys drones and ground robots to cut through this chaos. They act as the eyes on the ground, locating victims buried under rubble or hidden by smoke before human medics even arrive. The AI That "Sees" Trauma The core innovation lies in how the robots interpret what they see. Using Meta’s SAM (Segment Anything Model) and DINO, the system doesn't just recognize a human shape; it understands injury. By using text prompts like “wound?” or “blood?”, the AI can pinpoint physiological signatures—such as respiration and heart rates—without needing massive amounts of pre-labeled training data. From Challenge to Real-World Rescue This initiative is part of a rigorous three-year DARPA challenge designed to push technology to its limits. By simulating high-stakes, low-connectivity environments, the project aims to move these tools from research concepts to essential field equipment, giving first responders a critical edge in saving lives when resources are scarce.