An autonomous catheterization assembly includes a catheter arrangement for insertion into the vascular system of a patient. In an embodiment, the catheter arrangement includes a sensor arrangement to sense a condition in the interior of a vessel of the vascular system, a shape adjustment device arranged in a distal portion of the catheter arrangement, and an actuator arrangement to control the shape adjustment device to adjust the shape and/or orientation of the distal portion of the catheter arrangement. The autonomous catheterization assembly further includes a propulsion assembly to propel elements of the catheter arrangement through the vascular system of the patient; a route computation module to compute a route through the vascular system to a target; and a control unit to actuate the propulsion assembly based upon the computed route and/or in response to a sensed condition in the interior of a vessel of the vascular system.